# 4 Months in and Shrimp are not breeding?



## Shadelin (Apr 20, 2017)

Is there a chance they are all male? That would have been dumb luck... 
I think the ideal temp for breeding is 72 F (one of the videos I was watching said that). 

Video name...
How to Breed Freshwater Shrimp - The Most Important Factor 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKlgtCC406Q 

but i am sure you know about all of it already if you came here asking...


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## harley (Jul 24, 2015)

Shadelin said:


> Is there a chance they are all male? That would have been dumb luck...
> I think the ideal temp for breeding is 72 F (one of the videos I was watching said that).
> 
> Video name...
> ...


Or all female? One time I purchased 10 Cherrys & they were all female. :/

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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

I've run into zero breeding and am not sure what to do about it. What are you feeding them? More protein should help with egg development but...


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## JMally27 (Jan 19, 2017)

Shadelin said:


> Is there a chance they are all male? That would have been dumb luck...
> I think the ideal temp for breeding is 72 F (one of the videos I was watching said that).
> 
> Video name...
> ...


I keep the tank at 25C because of plants and other stocking. 72F is 22C but I have kept and had shrimp breed rampantly at 25C. I don't think temp is the issue just by other setups with shrimp at a slightly higher temp than 72. I really appreciate the help here though. I've been baffled thus far.



harley said:


> Or all female? One time I purchased 10 Cherrys & they were all female. :/
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk


I started with an initial group of 5 and then sourced another group of 5 for this very reason. Just from looking at there bellies I'm pretty sure I have mix of both, the males being more slender females with a much rounder belly. I'm thankful for the suggestion.



Yukiharu said:


> I've run into zero breeding and am not sure what to do about it. What are you feeding them? More protein should help with egg development but...


I don't "feed" them anything. I have T5HO and they feed on algae. Perhaps adding more protein might help here. I appreciate the help here. I've always read that high protein diets is bad for them. Do you have any suggestions for balanced food that doesn't dissolve quickly. I prefer the pad type shrimp food for water quality purposes and to see if they actually "like" the food.

Looking at the pics, does anyone thing there might be signs of a fungal/bacteria problem that's preventing the breeding? I know I only have pictures of two but those pics are indicative of what the rest look like,


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Females should also clearly have saddles... if they don't have saddles, then you have all males or immature females in the group.


Here's a page where it appears every single rili is female... at least, all the ones you can see their backs, they have saddles.

Red Rili shrimp photos @ Shrimp Tank




Feeding protein at least once a week may help to encourage breeding, too... such as frozen blood worms or fish flakes.


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

I feed mine the same omega one pellets I feed my fish. They accept them just fine, but they don't eat that much in general.
I do recall that too much protein is bad for them, but there's nothing wrong with feeding them a high protein food twice a week or something.


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

Nitrate over 40 can affect RCS


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## JMally27 (Jan 19, 2017)

Zoidburg said:


> Females should also clearly have saddles... if they don't have saddles, then you have all males or immature females in the group.
> 
> 
> Here's a page where it appears every single rili is female... at least, all the ones you can see their backs, they have saddles.
> ...


I definitely have a mix of both in comparing body types. Pic #1 should be a male. Also, because of @Yukiharu suggestion I've bought "GlasGarten Shrimp Dinner Pads" which has 33% protein. I'm hoping they take to it.



Yukiharu said:


> I feed mine the same omega one pellets I feed my fish. They accept them just fine, but they don't eat that much in general.
> I do recall that too much protein is bad for them, but there's nothing wrong with feeding them a high protein food twice a week or something.


Once a week? Got it!



NickAu said:


> Nitrate over 40 can affect RCS


Nitrates hover around 20ppm a week but I'll keep a closer eye on it this week. If need be I'll get some java moss to help soak up nitrates.


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## JMally27 (Jan 19, 2017)

Excuse the quality of the pics here but this is a smaller female, right? Or do I have the sex wrong?


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## KWaters (May 1, 2017)

It looks like a female body-shape wise, but the pic isn't good enough for me to say for sure if there's a saddle present. It looks like there is one, but I have some trouble sexing rilis.


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

Looks like a saddle to me. It's a good sign.


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## JMally27 (Jan 19, 2017)

My apologies...

Until about 30 minutes ago I've always determined the sex based on body shape alone. I thought the saddle referred to the belly. I had no idea it was the yellow "thing" as I've called it up until now. Again, my apologies. The good news is I have at least 3 of the 10 that have saddled and also, I added a wafer and while most of the males left it alone the saddled females took to it like a necessity.

Another bad pic but a saddled female right?


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## harley (Jul 24, 2015)

JMally27 said:


> My apologies...
> 
> Until about 30 minutes ago I've always determined the sex based on body shape alone. I thought the saddle referred to the belly. I had no idea it was the yellow "thing" as I've called it up until now. Again, my apologies. The good news is I have at least 3 of the 10 that have saddled and also, I added a wafer and while most of the males left it alone the saddled females took to it like a necessity.
> 
> Another bad pic but a saddled female right?


I'd say yes, that's a saddled female.

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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

Yes that's female


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

It probably sounds stupid, but a saddle like you would see on a horse! If you have adult shrimp and you can see the saddle (or the eggs underneath them), it's the easiest way to sex them!


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## JMally27 (Jan 19, 2017)

Still absolutely no luck whatsoever. It's got to be the UV sterilizer, right?


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Have you tried feeding protein once a week?

Maybe not enough algae? Can you feed a tiny amount of algae/spirulina pellets twice a week?

Have you tried doing a water change with colder water?


I wouldn't think the UV sterilizer would be an issue, but you can certainly take it out.


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## JMally27 (Jan 19, 2017)

@Zoidburg I've been feeding protein once a wek and do 50% water changes with cold water which drops the temp from 25C to 19C returning to 25 over the course of a few hours. There's a sufficient level of algae in there, even more so because I've been having brown algae issues. The UV sterilizer is the only difference in this tank. I turned it off on Monday night and I if it is the sterilizer I'm predicting berried shrimp within the next two weeks if not this week then definitely next week after Sunday's WC.

The difficulty is that a colony of shrimp is a necessity for this build to progress. So I've got my fingers and toes crossed in hope.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

It may help to add a different source of algae to the tank... something like this product.

Algae - OMG Aquatics



Will be curious to see when they start reproducing!


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