Red
Red Cherry Shrimp Breeding
Red Red Cherry Shrimp are one of
the simplest animals to breed in the aquarium.
There are 3 main things to be concerned with
when attempting to breed Red Red Cherry Shrimp,
inducing breeding, breeding / carrying of eggs,
and raising the young. If all 3 variables are
taken care of Red Red Cherry Shrimp will breed
in an aquarium and their population will grow
rapidly.
Inducing Red Red Cherry Shrimp to breed only
requires a sexed pair of shrimp, stable water
parameters, and a food source. Male Red Red
Cherry Shrimp are smaller and less colorful than
the females. Females often have a yellow
“saddle” that is the eggs developing in her
ovaries. When Red Red Cherry Shrimp are
juveniles it is nearly impossible to determine
their sex. Another sexual difference that is
less obvious is females have a rounder and
longer tail section. This sexual difference can
be used to determine the sex of less colorful
females, such as wild colored.
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| Bright
red female Red Red Cherry Shrimp
carrying eggs. |
Berried
Adult Female. Noticed the green
eggs. Egg color does not affect
the color of the hatch. |
Water parameters should be kept extremely
stable and with in acceptable ranges. The pH of
the aquarium water should be with in 6.5-8.0.
The temperature should be kept between 70-80°F.
Water hardness is not important as long as it is
not at either extreme, soft or hard.
When breeding, Red Red Cherry Shrimp need a
consistent food source. If the shrimp population
of an aquarium is small to moderate, often times
the naturally occurring algae is an adequate
food source. If supplemental feeding becomes
necessary blanched vegetables and prepared fish
foods are also good food sources.
Once a female and male are sexual mature (4-6
months old) and the above-mentioned requirements
are met, they will breed. Breeding occurs right
after a female molts. She will then hide and
release pheromones and the male will find her
and breed with her. After breeding the female
will carry the fertilized eggs under her tail
until they hatch.
Molting is the process of shedding the
exoskeleton of a Red Red Cherry Shrimp (and
other invertebrates). This allows the shrimp to
grow in size and re-grow a new exoskeleton.
During this period, the female shrimp is very
vulnerable and she will hide in what ever space
she can find that makes her feel safe.
While hiding, the female Red Red Cherry Shrimp
will release pheromones (sexual hormones) into
the water notifying the male she is ready to
breed. This pheromone causes the male to search
for the female and often times the male will be
observed swimming threw the water column while
searching. This behavior is in direct contrast
to their normal lifestyle of living on the
substrate or plants / decorations.
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A
female and male Red Red Cherry Shrimp.
Top: Female Bottom:
Male
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When the male finds the female they will
breed. The male will deposit his sperm in the
female. Once the sperm is deposited the female
will pass her eggs threw the sperm on their way
to the underside of her tail. The eggs are
constantly fanned by the female’s pleopods
(swimming legs) to keep them oxygenated and
clean. The fertilized eggs will remain under the
females tail until they hatch.
Once the eggs hatch, the juvenile young are tiny
replicas of their adult counterparts. They have
no larval stages like most saltwater and many
freshwater shrimp have. The young shrimp will
eat the same foods that adults do. They will use
their claws on their front legs to rip off small
edible chunks of the foods.
When raising young shrimp it is important that
there are no predators in the tank. Very few, if
any, fish can resist taking a small shrimp as a
midday snack. If breeding shrimp are in a tank
with predators the only way to ensure young
shrimp will grow is to provide plenty of hiding
spaces, but even this will not guarantee
success.
Including live Java Moss, Christmas Moss, or any
other extremely slow growing aquatic plant in a
shrimp tank will help increase the speed the
young will grow. These slow growing plants
harbor micofauna and other food sources for
young shrimp. While not required for successful
breeding, these slow growing plants will lead to
faster growing, healthier shrimp.
As long as the 3 main variable in breeding
shrimp are understood, inducing breeding,
breeding / carrying of eggs, and raising the
young, breeding Red Red Cherry Shrimp can be
very easy and rewarding.
All
the above information is © 2007
TheShrimpFarm.com. If you would like to
use this information on your website, please
either link to http://www.theshrimpfarm.com
or http://www.theshrimpfarm.com
as the source of the information. Please
also email Dan@TheShrimpFarm.com
if you use the above information!
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