# Shrimpzoo’s Crystal bee shrimp breeding guide - Making it easy



## Dan's85 (Mar 18, 2013)

Sticky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

Should add blanch veggies, i feel like fresh veggies is one of the most important food in their feeding schedule!

Personally, i feel like 20L is the most ideal tank for breeding shrimps, but 30 gals are great too!


I broke so many of your rules, lol. I won't mention them cause i dont want to teach people my bad habits =(.


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## mjbn (Dec 14, 2011)

aluka said:


> Should add blanch veggies, i feel like fresh veggies is one of the most important food in their feeding schedule!
> 
> Personally, i feel like 20L is the most ideal tank for breeding shrimps, but 30 gals are great too!
> 
> ...


I don't think there is one "set" way to keep shrimp. A lot of people are successful using their own little techniques and opinions, but this is just one of the ways as well

Great write up shrimpzoo!


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

mjbn said:


> I don't think there is one "set" way to keep shrimp. A lot of people are successful using their own little techniques and opinions, but this is just one of the ways as well
> 
> Great write up shrimpzoo!


Oh i know that, I mean it as his way is the more proper way, my way is the "i'm lazy and i'm lucky my shrimps are alive" way. It's why i didn't want to mention which rules i broke, so people dont follow my footsteps...


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

The thing that bugs me is people always recommends 20 gallon+ tank to start a shrimp tank. IMO the perfect size is the standard 10 gallon for beginners.


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

I vote STICKY!!!!!!!!! Great!!!!!


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

i would say 10, if i can find a 10 gallon long =< LONG tanks are the best shrimp tanks!, lol


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## Julianzh (Jul 28, 2011)

> - Do not change what works. Leave your tank alone as much as you can. This means, don’t touch your filters unless they are 95% clogged and isn’t flowing well, and don’t perform water changes unless absolutely necessary. The less you mess with your tank, the more likely your shrimp will breed. Shrimps like stability.


I'm going to try this, I always feel like I do a little to much of water change.


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## Xforce (Aug 17, 2011)

personally I don't agree with all the parts written here but nice guide. roud:


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## pinoyghost2 (Feb 13, 2012)

The only thing I will add to this is that baby shrimps need lots of biofilm to survive the first weeks of life. 

I keep my back walls of my tanks covered with green algae I only scrape the front so I can see what's going on in my tank. I allow it to grow on rocks etc, this gives the babies lots of food for survival.

I have tried veggies, spinach/nettle leaves with my Taiwans and mostly they are left alone. I can see many of my shrimps eating on the back wall of my tank where I have the green algae growing, so I know they are eating well. My babies that I put in there 2 weeks ago and all still alive and growing good, so there is enough biofilm in my tank to sustain them.

I have raised shrimps for over 3 + years now (every kind you can think of) and have used everything from 8 gallon - 30 gallon tanks. I currently have a 15 gallon holding my Taiwans and its working out just fine, so I don't think having a bigger tank is a must for shrimp keeping. 

I raised 300+ OEBTs in a 10 gallon square tank with just pebbles, driftwood and a sponge filter.

I don't do water changes, only top ups. I check PH and Ammonia levels only, and I don't check TDS. I use RO/tap mixed and add montmorillionite clay for mineralization in my tank, along with Kordon Amquel+ water conditioner.

The key to shrimps keeping is Keep it simple! Stop fussing with your tanks, you are only stressing out your shrimps. Shrimps will live in dirty unfiltered water with no food for weeks, what does that tell you?

Keeping shrimps is a trial and error procedure, you need to go through it yourself and learn from your mistakes. Everyone keeps shrimps differently, so saying this is how you do it might not work for everyone!


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Tank size: Not sure the recommendation of 30 gallons is necessary. Crystals are so hardy now that beginners could be fine with a standard 10gal tank.

Substrate: Could be a good idea to list a bunch of different substrates that are somewhat current on the market

Water: I'd list several different products. Shirakura Ca+, Mosura Mineral Plus Ultra, et al. Salty Shrimp products are my favorite but they certainly aren't the only ones on the market.

Feeding: The protein and veggie portions are a bit misleading. Many veggies contain tons of protein. Would be a good idea to point out that it may not be necessary to feed a shrimp tank every day unless you've got a ton of shrimp. And if you do, only be fed what they can finish in an hour or two with certain exceptions. Not necessary to make a paste out of powdered foods - dispersing them throughout the tank allows babies to get at them. If you're using a sponge pre-filter, that should be easy to rinse on the regular.

Plants: Could list tons more. When using substrates like Aquasoil Amazonia, one isn't limited to things like Anubias and moss because it is packed with nutrients.

Equipment: Filter brands & sizes could get confusing unless more options are listed or you keep it as generic as possible. Tons of people use UGFs with active substrates.

Explaining the three filter times in your post would help beginners.

Laws: Tanks don't have to be shrimp-only - Otos are great, snails can be amazing. You could start with two shrimp or 50, be sure the '10' number is just a suggestion. Topping off a quart of water in a 20 or 30gal tank, it won't need to be dripped in. Could even be poured in slowly in a tiny tank with little issue, as long as there hasn't been extreme evaporation.

Test kits: What kind should people use? KH? GH? Copper?

…

I think you're off to a great start.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback guys 

I'll try find the time to fix some of the kinks in my guide with your comments in mind ;D


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

P.S. Someone please be sure to alert me when everyone feels comfortable with this thread's contents so it can be added to the sticky.

Thanks!


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Updated the guide:

- 10 gallons is now stated to be the recommended tank size. I assume we can all however agree that the larger volume of water the better.

- Importance of bio-film being established has been addressed in the substrate section along with how long the tank should run before adding livestock

- Test kit components has been addressed

- UGF and brief filter descriptions have been supplied along with guidance on what model to choose

- Snails & Otos have been mentioned under Laws & Recommendations

- Substrates and Remineralizers alternatives have been listed

- Addressed veggie foods and their protein content (using Allen Repashy's post)

- Small list of blanched veggies added in

- Inserted quick blurb that due to nutrient rich substrate, more variety of plants are available to be placed into tank.

- Tops offs and WCs changed to slowly poured instead of dripped unless major evaporation occurred

- Address that this guide may not work for everyone and may have their own techniques on breeding

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for the input everyone, I hope I addressed most of the issues and made the guide much better.

Feel free to post any information you feel I am missing out, this article is meant to help everyone out there who is interested in breeding crystal bees


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

I'm thinking the most important step for a shrimp tank is the 4 weeks (at least) preparation for biofilm to develop and water stabilization before adding the shrimp in.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

sayurasem said:


> I'm thinking the most important step for a shrimp tank is the 4 weeks (at least) preparation for biofilm to develop and water stabilization before adding the shrimp in.


Bio-film and stable parameters are now addressed in the Laws & Recommendations section due to importance.

" - It is recommended to leave the tank running for two or more months before introducing livestock. This way, bio-film will be established and the tank's water parameters can be confirmed as stable. Baby shrimps need lots of bio-film and stable parameters to survive during the initial weeks of life."

Thanks


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## Christof (Jan 17, 2013)

I'm very curious how shrimp react to photo periods and different light frequencies?


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## Asphalt Art (Apr 18, 2013)

I have recently turned to introducing a few large mystery snails after a full cycle. They will help continue the cycle by providing waste, and the slime path will be pretty much everywhere in a few weeks (if not a few days). IME I have introduced shrimplets after one week with 100% survival with this method and I rarely feed.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

@Christof
To my knowledge, I don't believe light will effect the shrimp itself. It will only effect the surroundings of the shrimp (growth of algae/plant growth) - in terms of photoperiod 

and effect how you see their colouration (more white, tinge of blue, etc generally for photography) - in terms of light frequency.

I know some people who use a certain "photo-period" just to save money on electricity. There does not seem to be any effects on their shrimp vs when they did a normal 8-12 hour straight lights on.

@Asphalt Art
lol I actually use Ramshorn snails and put them in the tank during the cycle to help the process. Slime trails and the infusoria that comes from it is awesome XD

And the MTS I toss in the tank will do the same thing but I use them more for aerating the substrate since they do a good job at stirring it up


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i now crs tend to slow down breeding in the winter months. or mine did the 2 years i had them. all my shrimp do for that matter. i think in fact light does play a part in shrimp behavior though. i did an experiment over the winter with one of my tanks. i would keep the light on for a good 12 hours a day on average. and to my surprise the tank with the light on did not drop in breeding. not quite sure why that is. but it worked.


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## Asphalt Art (Apr 18, 2013)

I haven't been able to get any MTS yet locally so I don't have much personal experience to their benefits at the moment. Using snails as "placeholders" in the tank I see as an incredible benefit though. Having 6 of them in a 10G actually saves time to me by avoiding the Ammo dosing to prevent BB die-off until I figure out what to actually use the tank for.

Yes, I admit to have Multiple Tank Syndrome. It is bad enough that I keep 2-4 tanks cycled _just in case._ You just never know when a deal will pop up (like all the prego ghosties from Petsmart the other day when I went to go get some new toys for the dogs. Clerk seemed confused when I asked for all of them. I am a sad case lol.


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

Asphalt Art said:


> I haven't been able to get any MTS yet locally so I don't have much personal experience to their benefits at the moment. Using snails as "placeholders" in the tank I see as an incredible benefit though. Having 6 of them in a 10G actually saves time to me by avoiding the Ammo dosing to prevent BB die-off until I figure out what to actually use the tank for.
> 
> Yes, I admit to have Multiple Tank Syndrome. It is bad enough that I keep 2-4 tanks cycled _just in case._ You just never know when a deal will pop up (like all the prego ghosties from Petsmart the other day when I went to go get some new toys for the dogs. Clerk seemed confused when I asked for all of them. I am a sad case lol.


HA, we''re on the same boat. I have 3 tanks cycling and i am already planning another one =<... i dont even know what i am putting in them yet.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

wicca27 said:


> i now crs tend to slow down breeding in the winter months. or mine did the 2 years i had them. all my shrimp do for that matter. i think in fact light does play a part in shrimp behavior though. i did an experiment over the winter with one of my tanks. i would keep the light on for a good 12 hours a day on average. and to my surprise the tank with the light on did not drop in breeding. not quite sure why that is. but it worked.


How much did you leave lights on before? lol, only conceivable theory I could think of is leaving lights on that long maybe your lights produce a lot of heat and heated the tank during the winter months XD shrugs*


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

It might just be algae and biofilm growth. During the winter months water temp tends to be lower, so plant growth is slower. But with the increase in photoperiod could have made up for it and kept the plant growth.


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## 12redblue (Aug 4, 2013)

Newbie question: If the substrate is only good for say a year and it takes a month or two to cycle before putting shrimp in you only have 10 months before changing substrate. So do you have to then get a second tank up and running to move them to? Change substrate, cycle and move them back???


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

12redblue said:


> Newbie question: If the substrate is only good for say a year and it takes a month or two to cycle before putting shrimp in you only have 10 months before changing substrate. So do you have to then get a second tank up and running to move them to? Change substrate, cycle and move them back???


Don't worry, I have not seen a hobbyist lasts for more than 10 months with just one tank. :hihi::hihi:


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Some people run a 2nd tank as a temporary home until the new substrate leeches out (as you said).

Some people just move them into a bucket with a sponge filter and replace the substrate in their main tank and wait it out.

Some preleech their substrate and dry it out to use straight away when their main tank's substrate expires.

Some replace 1/3rd of their substrate so that the 2/3rd of the expired substrate can combat the leeching and keep established bacteria in the substrate.

What I did was preleech my substrate and place it into a HOB breeder box so I didn't need to tear down my tank lol (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3820009&postcount=95).


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## 12redblue (Aug 4, 2013)

randyl said:


> Don't worry, I have not seen a hobbyist lasts for more than 10 months with just one tank. :hihi::hihi:


Not to worry I have 4 - its just my hubby will _____ me if another tank appears. I'm sure no one else has that problem!

I guess its a yearly chance to rescape!!!


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