# Berried fire reds are hiding...not eating



## Jill (Mar 13, 2012)

Hi all.

I am a fairly new owner of fire red shrimp (2-3 weeks). I noticed about a week ago that 2 females are berried, but I rarely see them. It's a 6 gallon tank with only the shrimp in it (between 15 and 20...mostly shrimplets). The only hiding place where I would not be able to see the shrimp is in the coconut shell hut. Some times they come out to eat....some times not. I kept thinking they had dropped the eggs because I couldn't see any berried shrimp, and then I would see them again. :? 

Water is testing perfectly. No ammonia, no trites, trace trates, ph of 7.4. Tank is moderately planted with wisteria, xmas moss, dwarf sag, rotala indica and colorata. There is a magnolia leaf in there that I boiled briefly before putting into the tank.

Why are my shrimp hiding? Are they sick? :help:


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Just for reference - how long was the tank running prior to adding shrimp?

Often, it can take a couple weeks for them acclimate and get used to a new environment. Even then, shrimp can spend a great deal of time in hiding. Many times they hide in areas you aren't expecting them to hide.

About 50% of their diet is typically biofilm growing on the surfaces in your tank. With such a small amount of shrimp in your tank, they may be eating less than you're expecting because they're feeding from what's already established.


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## Jill (Mar 13, 2012)

I fishless cycled it using media from an established tank until it could convert 1 ppm of ammonia to trates in 24 hours....I think it took like 10 days. They get 1 shrimp pellet or crab/lobster pellet or veggie (half a pea or a tiny piece of zucchini) per day except on Sunday (fasting day for all tanks). The shrimplets seem most excited about the food.

I also haven't noticed any molts since I got them. I guess they could be molting in the coconut hut. 

I've kept ghost shrimp in another tank for about 6 months. They molt regularly, but I have never had a berried one....which I always thought was strange.

Thank you for helping me. I hope I'm overreacting....lol.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

I'm just curious, what is your TDS?


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## Jill (Mar 13, 2012)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> I'm just curious, what is your TDS?


I don't have a test kit so I have no idea. It's never been an issue in my other tanks....I've never had a reason to test. I could have the LFS test for me if you think it would help.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Berried shrimp hide more than non berried ones, especially if there are fish in the aquarium. Are there fish in with them? If so, that is why your shrimp are hiding.


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## Jill (Mar 13, 2012)

No fish in there. I think only the berried are behaving this way. The other shrimp seem perfectly fine. One of the berried is an older shrimp...she is large and BRIGHT red. The other one is obviously very young.


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

I have two berried CRS amongst 20 other in a 20G Long with two pieces of DW. I spend a lot of time watching them everyday but I'd be lucky to find the berried ones in any given day. I thought they dropped the eggs or have died but they show up every once in a while. I don't think there's much to worry about. TBH, other than ensuring water is good for all shrimps, there's not much we can do anyway.


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## shrimp pliskin (Mar 16, 2012)

This is typical. She's just instinctively trying to keep her eggs safe. As long as her color looks okay and she's grazing for algae you have nothing to worry about.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

You also probably don't need to feed everyday with that few of shrimp. Even with a 100+ in a tank, I only feed every 2 days and it's a few Fluval shrimp granules, 1 small hikari algae wafer, small piece of spinach, etc. As Liam said before, they are scavengers. They will eat and eat and eat when food is there, but it doesn't mean it's good for them. It's like a dog. You can feed him a raw steak and 3 hours later he'll eat another one. He may puke it up, get sick, but when you offer a 3rd steak, he'll go for it again.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Jill said:


> I also haven't noticed any molts since I got them. I guess they could be molting in the coconut hut.



When was the last water change? the PH is on the high end of their range, still within limits but high. if you are already pinning 7.4, it may very well peak beyond that...

Your tank also might be calcium deficient. Have you considered conditioning the water with calcium montmorillonite or some other type of natural clay/mud?

its good to feed blanched veggies. try adding some spinach to their diet.


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