# red cherry shrimp care



## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

i know everyone has RCS, theyre like the invert equivalent of java moss, but im still not totally sure how to take care of them. I have a sorta densely planted 10g tank with 4 RCS in it that i bought from an LFS. Everyone seems to have huge overpopulations of RCS, but mine just kind of sit and hide. i haven't been feeding them anything, but theyre still alive. other than the RCS, my tank has one oto, one dwarf gourami (whose mouth is so small she cant even eat most of the flakes she gets), and three swordtail fry that are like 4 months old and havent grown at all (all from the same batch, one is about half an inch long including tail, and two are about an inch long.), and two amano shrimp. oh, and a clam. Is there anything special that i should do for them, and special foods or plants they like to hide in or anything that could get them to reproduce (i definitely have 1 male and 3 females), or at least grow a little? (only one has much size to it, the others are still quite tiny).


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Personally, I'd add more shrimp. I think a bigger population will help them feel more secure in the first place.

Shirakura and Mosura are some of the best shrimp foods. Mine also like Hikari sinking wafers. Keep the shrimp well fed, make sure they have places to hide, and you should end up with berried shrimp before too long.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

thanks laura! btw, im a fan of your tanks, i was looking at some of them the other day and they really are impressive!

the juvy swordtails and dwarf gourami wont eat them, will they? i actually thought that i only had 3 left until i saw the 4th one hiding in a little nook in my DW.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Thanks for the compliment! 

Yeah, they'll probably eat shrimplets, but adults should be fine. If in the long term you don't get any berried shrimp then I'd probably try to find a new place for either the gouramis and swords or for the shrimp, since sometimes shrimp won't breed in the presence of potential predators.

Also, do you have a cover over your filter intake so it won't suck in shrimplets?


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> Yeah, they'll probably eat shrimplets, but adults should be fine. If in the long term you don't get any berried shrimp then I'd probably try to find a new place for either the gouramis and swords or for the shrimp, since sometimes shrimp won't breed in the presence of potential predators.


Ditto:thumbsup:

Do you have any PVC pipes or caves or anything that the RCS can hide in or anything? Moss also provides some cover for the babies.

Oh and referring to Laura's first post, don't _over_feed them...3-4 times a week is good enough.

Buy sinking fish pellets (shrimp pellets, algae wafers, etc.), anything that the RCS can eat to survive.


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## kangshiang (Jun 28, 2006)

"dwarf gourami"..........this is never a good idea put your shrimp with this buddy.
Think about it when you have a juicy steak in front of your face...what are you going to do? even the steak is too big as a meal...but believe me ..just a bite and your shrimp will say goodbye to you.....


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

haha yeah... ill put the gourami in the big tank, and im thinking of giving my swords back to my LFS. they were fun at first, but i think ive moved on to bigger and better things, like angels and gouramis and hatchets. all the ones i have now are babies of the first few that i got anyway. 

i do not actually have anything covering my filter intake. i'm not sure where to get the sponges that people use, i think they look pretty ugly anyway. what else can i put over the filter? is there anything smaller?

also, will shrimplets be okay with neon tetras? i have a 5g tank with 5 neons and a TON of algae in it, im hoping to breed them once i get some peat. also, will RCS eat tetra eggs? what about oto eggs? (hoping to someday breed oto's, too.)


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## fishbguy1 (Feb 29, 2008)

neons will eat baby shrimps. They also might take chunks out of adults. I've seen some pretty big adult neons that they are pretty viscious...I once had a 10 gallon with 9 neons in it and man were they evil. Almost like little piranhas when it waas feeding time...haha


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> i do not actually have anything covering my filter intake. i'm not sure where to get the sponges that people use, i think they look pretty ugly anyway. what else can i put over the filter? is there anything smaller?


http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/204382/product.web
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/211272/product.web

I'd recommend one of those to put over your filter. Just squeeze it out over the sink to clean it.



> also, will shrimplets be okay with neon tetras? i have a 5g tank with 5 neons and a TON of algae in it, im hoping to breed them once i get some peat. also, will RCS eat tetra eggs? what about oto eggs? (hoping to someday breed oto's, too.)


Neon Tetras will eat baby shrimp, but in my tank, they don't eat the adults.

I'm not sure about RCS eating the eggs or not:confused1:


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## secondaccess (Nov 30, 2008)

I wouldn't trust any fish with a very low population. They might peck at your shrimp to when they get big eat them whole. Also I saw when my RCS tank had fish, not big of a population bloom.

Also make sure now to overfeed or you will get little buys like copepods, planaria, flatworms.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

well, i took out the swords and gourami, so now its just 4 RCS, 2 amanos, and 2 otos. I also changed out my 30g filter turned on low output for my old 5g filter that i turned onto higher output. the intake for the filter is way up at the top of my tank where itd be hard for little shrimplets to get to. also, the intake only have little slits in it, that TINY shrimp could probably fit through, but after the first real molt or two theyll be fine.

with just lagae eaters in the tank, can i just leave the lights on for longer instead of feeding them? no one in here would eat flake foods and i dont have any algae wafers...


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

Put in a small slice of cucumber or zuchinni for a day or so, Make sure you place it in the microwave for 10 or 15 seconds first to soften it up and kill any bacteria on it. They love that and the amano's and the otto's will too. Make sure that you take it out in 24 hours or so or the tank could become polluted.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

dthb4438 said:


> Put in a small slice of cucumber or zuchinni for a day or so, Make sure you place it in the microwave for 10 or 15 seconds first to soften it up and kill any bacteria on it. They love that and the amano's and the otto's will too. Make sure that you take it out in 24 hours or so or the tank could become polluted.


Do this!! I just did it and within a minute all the shrimp were on it:icon_eek:


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

The shrimplets will still get into the intake, no matter how high in the tank it is. They'll be all over the tank.


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## DataLifePlus (Nov 4, 2008)

Hello, I was thinking of adding some RCS to a 15-gallon tank heavily planted with dwarf anubias. My concern is the potential tankmates: tons of guppies, a bristle-nosed pleco, and 1-3 small zebra loaches. What do you all think?


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

datalifeplus, its probably not a good idea. unless you have some sort of refugium or whatever, the loaches will definitely eat them. guppies will also eat the babies and harass the adults, and i dont know about plecos. if you have a smaller tank, establish a decently sized colony of RCS, and then try to introduce them to the bigger tank.

lauraleellbp, ill try to find a cloth or something to put over it. i actually have some extra "some-assembly-required" filter cartridges for the bigger filter that i took off today, i could probably cut that up and use a rubber band to secure it around the top. do you think that would work well?


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## DataLifePlus (Nov 4, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> datalifeplus, its probably not a good idea. unless you have some sort of refugium or whatever, the loaches will definitely eat them. guppies will also eat the babies and harass the adults, and i dont know about plecos. if you have a smaller tank, establish a decently sized colony of RCS, and then try to introduce them to the bigger tank.
> 
> lauraleellbp, ill try to find a cloth or something to put over it. i actually have some extra "some-assembly-required" filter cartridges for the bigger filter that i took off today, i could probably cut that up and use a rubber band to secure it around the top. do you think that would work well?


Thanks for the info. Yeah, I have an extra 10-gallon they will go in for now.

I figured the loaches would be a problem. I bought three of them to keep my MTS population in check. I'm not sure if they're eating the snails at all. And I don't even know if there are still 3 loaches. They are super nocturnal and I only ever see one at a time.


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## Azhar (Sep 11, 2008)

I have 3 berried cherries. How long will it take for the shrimp to hatch?


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

i think around 30 days, im not sure though. whenever it does happen, i think there will be a lot of them for cherries. i dont really know specifics. 

will the baby cherries eat zucchini and stuff too, or do i have to feed them hikari baby food powder stuff?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> lauraleellbp, ill try to find a cloth or something to put over it. i actually have some extra "some-assembly-required" filter cartridges for the bigger filter that i took off today, i could probably cut that up and use a rubber band to secure it around the top. do you think that would work well?


Yep, that should work just fine. :thumbsup:

I feed my RCS Shirakura food, Hikari sinking wafers, flake food, spirulina, and whatever else I have on hand. They aren't picky eaters.  They love bloodworms; I've no idea how they cram whole bloodworms inside themselves, but I've watched them do it! :icon_eek:


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

what veggies can they eat? i dont usually have any zucccini or cucumber on hand, but i always have some lettuce and broccoli (plus, feeding my fish is a great way out of broccoli for dinner! haha)


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

LOL Send me the broccoli, I love it!

Actually, I don't think they'd be able to eat the florettes, but the broccoli leaves would probably work. Romaine lettuce is better than iceberg (for the same reasons it's better for humans) but lettuce also would be fine. It can help if you either freeze or lightly blanch the veggies first to help break them down.

Don't let them just rot in the water, remove any that goes uneaten by the next day or so.


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## southerndesert (Sep 9, 2007)

Depending on your water temps you should see young in 21 to 25 days...


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## Azhar (Sep 11, 2008)

SouthernDesert. Thanks... The temp is 75F. Now I notice 3 berried shrimps.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

okay thanks! ill go for some lettuce. why is romaine better than iceberg for humans? i mean, i like romaine more, but why is it better? wow what a strange question... but yeah, salad for dinner tonight.

how long does it take the babies to become mature? like when can they make more RCS? or at least be big enough that small fish cant eat them?

also, check out my tank journals, i'd like someone other than my parents' input, and so far im the only one whos posted on them and it makes me sad 
...haha


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## quasi-starfish (Nov 17, 2008)

My shrimp love frozen peas. Just defrost them, and remove the skins. They eat the whole thing - nothing to remove. The SAEs love them too.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

yeah, i blanched some romaine and threw it in there with a weight on it and they dont seem too interested


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Dark green veggies contain more iron and other minerals than light green. Light green also tend to be made up of more more water, dark are more fiber.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

oh cool! thanks. now, they basically completely ignored the bundle of romaine, everyoen except one amano. should i take it out now? what are your RCS's favorite foods?

also, i discovered a 5th RCS today. what??? it hasnt been nearly long enough for a baby to have grown up, its fully grown and everything. how could this have happened? im guessing it was a mistake by the LFS guy, i think he accidentally caught a male with the females and didnt see it when i paid.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I feed my RCS mostly Shirakura food (Gabeszone had a thread in the S&S somewhere, and it's not that expensive especially considering it gets shipped from Japan- $10, I think?) and Hikari sinking wafers. But they'll eat just about anything; flakes, frozen food, etc.


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## Round Head (May 23, 2008)

Nobody talks about shrimps being sensitive to CO2.
So that you know, they are sensitive to high levels of CO2.


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