Rcs Gender

[hawil]

No all my cherry shrimp are in with various fish, the only time I did have a tank dedicated the cherry shrimp they bred up a storm and then the heater malfuntioned and cooked nearly every single one of the shrimp. Doing water changes I possibly do lose the odd shrimplet even though I have a really fine mesh over the intake on the siphon hose, but the numbers would be minimal, and I don't put the fish water down the sink/ drain it all goies out on my gardens or lawn.

How often should I change my water? I have only a pair of RCS and not sure if its male and female. It has been only 5 days since they arrived. How long does it take for them to breed (assuming I have a pair)?

It is only a 4gal tank. With an airtsone. Can't find any filter that is small enough for this tank.

 

[Baccus]

These are the best pictures I can get of male cherrys for the moment

In the background of the second picture you can see a berried female carrying green eggs.

While you only have two shrimp, the water should be fine with 25% or even less water changes once a week, since you dont have a filter you could do smaller changes more frequently, becuase trust me shrimp are poo machines. Do you have live plants in the tank for the shrimp? They will be much happier with a nice clump of Java moss or similar to pick over and hide in.

Generally I see females with saddles (in readiness to breed) at about 2-2.5cm, females generally eventually get to around 4cm while the males often stay a tad smaller, the female in the above picture with the male is only young (possibly her first time at breeding) , you can tell this because of her size in comparison to the male and she is not fully coloured up yet. Once old enough to breed you can pretty much expect the female to shed her excoskelaton (leave it in the tank for the shrimp to eat) and then she will breed, she will carry the eggs for roughly a month and then the shrimplets should hatch just prior to the female shedding her shell again.

 

[hawil]

These are the best pictures I can get of male cherrys for the moment

In the background of the second picture you can see a berried female carrying green eggs.

While you only have two shrimp, the water should be fine with 25% or even less water changes once a week, since you dont have a filter you could do smaller changes more frequently, becuase trust me shrimp are poo machines. Do you have live plants in the tank for the shrimp? They will be much happier with a nice clump of Java moss or similar to pick over and hide in.

Generally I see females with saddles (in readiness to breed) at about 2-2.5cm, females generally eventually get to around 4cm while the males often stay a tad smaller, the female in the above picture with the male is only young (possibly her first time at breeding) , you can tell this because of her size in comparison to the male and she is not fully coloured up yet. Once old enough to breed you can pretty much expect the female to shed her excoskelaton (leave it in the tank for the shrimp to eat) and then she will breed, she will carry the eggs for roughly a month and then the shrimplets should hatch just prior to the female shedding her shell again.

I see. So once a week and a frequent WC will suffice. Thanks
I have 1 Pygmy Chain Sword and it is growing, some kind of roots is crawling across the substrate. I really would like a java moss but it is hard to get one here in my location.

Thanks for the image. Now that I look at it, my two shrimps are almost the same in color which are really red and almost the same size. I think I got 2 females Both of them molted the other day.

 

[Baccus]

If you cant get Java moss easily, cherry shrimp will be pretty much happy with any sort of bushy plants, even Java fern they happily hang out in the roots of.

Of high grade cherry shrimp you can get quite red males, I know some of my young males I have trouble telling them from immature females. If you think you have two females keep and eye out for the saddle appearing in them, that is a dead cert for sexing them. Also if you get the chance to pick out some more shrimp go for a less coloured one that should be a male. A lot of people make the mistake of wanting the redest of the red when they first get shrimp not realising the males are usually much planer. I see it all the time at my local pet shop where I sell my cherry shrimp, the big red females are the first to be sold while the males are left behind as dull and boring.

The males might look dull or drab, but they are a lot more active especially when a female is ready to breed the males go nuts racing around the tank looking for the female.

 

[hawil]

If you cant get Java moss easily, cherry shrimp will be pretty much happy with any sort of bushy plants, even Java fern they happily hang out in the roots of.

Of high grade cherry shrimp you can get quite red males, I know some of my young males I have trouble telling them from immature females. If you think you have two females keep and eye out for the saddle appearing in them, that is a dead cert for sexing them. Also if you get the chance to pick out some more shrimp go for a less coloured one that should be a male. A lot of people make the mistake of wanting the redest of the red when they first get shrimp not realising the males are usually much planer. I see it all the time at my local pet shop where I sell my cherry shrimp, the big red females are the first to be sold while the males are left behind as dull and boring.

The males might look dull or drab, but they are a lot more active especially when a female is ready to breed the males go nuts racing around the tank looking for the female.

So maybe this is a high grade shrimp? I think I will never trust any LFS again, before buying I clearly stated a pair so it should be a male and female. Anyway, if nothing comes up like breeding I'll go get a sure male.

So even without a male present, the saddle will appear anytime? If it will appear, does this mean the female is ready to breed? I thought that the saddle will only show if the female is already having her eggs.

Btw, will it bother them to turn on the lights during night time?

 

[hawil]

How about this shots?

 

[Baccus]

Top one although its not fully red looks to be female, going by the side skirts, but I can't see a saddle forming it could be just the angle of the shots, the other shrimp could be a female as well but it doesn't seem to have as well developed side skirts as the shrimp in the top picture. I am inclined to guess that you have two females there.

 

[hawil]

Top one although its not fully red looks to be female, going by the side skirts, but I can't see a saddle forming it could be just the angle of the shots, the other shrimp could be a female as well but it doesn't seem to have as well developed side skirts as the shrimp in the top picture. I am inclined to guess that you have two females there.

So maybe this is a high grade shrimp? I think I will never trust any LFS again, before buying I clearly stated a pair so it should be a male and female. Anyway, if nothing comes up like breeding I'll go get a sure male.

So even without a male present, the saddle will appear anytime? If it will appear, does this mean the female is ready to breed? I thought that the saddle will only show if the female is already having her eggs.

Btw, will it bother them to turn on the lights during night time?

 

[Baccus]

If you mean turning on the tank light when the room has been in darkness, it will shock them for a little bit (sort of like somebody barging into your bedroom at 3am and yelling wakey wakey while they rip the blankets off you) but I wouldn't say it will stress them into dropping dead on you. If your turning the room lights on while the tank light is off, it will still surprise the shrimp but not as much as thier home suddenly shifting from total darkness to brightest of days.

Sad to say when asking for a "pair "of anything most pet shops will just throw any two of the same species into the bag/ cage/ box. When dealing with the pet trade its always best to stipulate a male and a female, that way if the creature can be easily sexed then the pet shop should make every efforyt to fullfill your request.

I am pretty sure even without a male the saddle will still appear in the back of the female , but the eggs wont move to the tail/ swimmer leg area unless she has mated successfully with a male. Can't say I am 100% sure of this becuase I haven't kept any sole females.

 

[hawil]

If you mean turning on the tank light when the room has been in darkness, it will shock them for a little bit (sort of like somebody barging into your bedroom at 3am and yelling wakey wakey while they rip the blankets off you) but I wouldn't say it will stress them into dropping dead on you. If your turning the room lights on while the tank light is off, it will still surprise the shrimp but not as much as thier home suddenly shifting from total darkness to brightest of days.

Sad to say when asking for a "pair "of anything most pet shops will just throw any two of the same species into the bag/ cage/ box. When dealing with the pet trade its always best to stipulate a male and a female, that way if the creature can be easily sexed then the pet shop should make every efforyt to fullfill your request.

I am pretty sure even without a male the saddle will still appear in the back of the female , but the eggs wont move to the tail/ swimmer leg area unless she has mated successfully with a male. Can't say I am 100% sure of this becuase I haven't kept any sole females.

Usually, I turn on the tank light before turning off the room light to lessen shock.

That has been a problem for most LFS, they just put it in without knowing what it is.

Oh I see, though right now I don't see any changes on the two. I'm confused with my other RCS, sometimes it goes pale then back to that intense red same with the other RCS.

I think I'll get myself a male tomorrow. It should be smaller and pale than the females right?

 

[Baccus]

Pretty much, a male wont usually have the full bodied intense red of the females, he will usually have like red barring across his back or have almost nonexistant colour.

 

[hawil]

Pretty much, a male wont usually have the full bodied intense red of the females, he will usually have like red barring across his back or have almost nonexistant colour.

Okay. I'll be more careful in finding a male.

This is just bad luck. My LFS just closed down due to no reason
Now, I can't find any other source.

By the way, I have liquid Co2. Can I inject a 0.5mL in the tank every night? How much will it affect my RCS?

 

[Baccus]

I don't use any co2 on my tanks, but I know it can cause bad swings in pH and that is bad for shrimp.

Shame your LFS shut down, but you might find somebody on the forum close to where you are who has RCS for sale, just check the classifieds on this forum. Otherwise you can often find online fish shops that will post out various fish etc.

 

[hawil]

I don't use any co2 on my tanks, but I know it can cause bad swings in pH and that is bad for shrimp.

Shame your LFS shut down, but you might find somebody on the forum close to where you are who has RCS for sale, just check the classifieds on this forum. Otherwise you can often find online fish shops that will post out various fish etc.

I have a Pygmy Chain Sword and it might die without Co2 or i'm just wrong.

I reckon there won't be anyone near me I'm from Asia

 

[Baccus]

Hey your in luck (depending which part of Asia) but the original wild form of cherry shrimp are from your neck of the woods . There is bound to be some one nearby that has them.

I think you will find that with good lighting and the waste from the shrimp the dwarf chain sword will grow fine, maybe a bit slower without co2 and ferts but it will grow fine.
Here is Fissiden growing in my tank fine with no ferts added or Co2

And here is my cory tank chock a block with plants again no cO2 or ferts except fish and shrimp waste.

The big leafed plant at the back is an Amazon Sword, there is around 5 or 6 packed away in the back corner.

And another of my tanks same set up as all the rest with more Amazon swords

Not really sure what advertising you would have with regards to pets in your area but maybe a wanted add in a local paper could also turn up some shrimp or check on Ebay or an online equivelent