# Insert crazy laughter here!



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

k, I have both male and female Red Cherry Shrimp. All of my water params were great, except for the Nitrates being high. I have fixed that problem and they are now normal.

I have lots of hiding places for the shrimp, live plants and moss balls. They get plenty of food, (shrimp bites as well as left over fish flakes, blood worms, glass worms, algae, algae wafers, zucchini, frog bites and lettuce). It's only a 10g tank, so I don't want a population explosion, but I mean, come one.... one or two berried females would be nice! (There are no predators in the tank either. The guppies show absolutely no interest in them at all).

My females keep getting yellow and green saddles. They NEVER become berried. What is going on?

Also, if they never get fertilized, will the females just drop the eggs and I'll find a bunch in the tank?


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

in freshwater shrimp, the eggs never leave the saddle until the shrimp has mated. if you ever see them carrying eggs under thier tail, it is officialy pregnant with fertilized eggs. that said, it means your shrimp aren't breeding. i would put the culprit as the guppies, even though they dont have any interest in the adult shrimp, they would destroy all the babies. i have never had my shrimp berry up in the presence of a fish... what has worked for me in the past is removing the fish, lowering the temp to about 75 degrees, and lowering the water by about 4 inches. over the next few days i slowly replace the water with distilled water and bring the temperature up to 80 degrees and just hold it there until they start molting again and they usualy start breeding. im not sure if changing the water and temp is necessary, i just figured a long time ago that it would be a good idea to simulate more rain(lower dissolved salts) and warmer temperatures(summer).


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Hmmm... I'll have to try that. When the guppies and Cardinals go, I won't be replacing them. (Will the Cardinals be a threat to the guppy eggs?) The Dwarf frogs, snails and bamboo shrimp shouldn't be an issue, as they are completely docile critters.

How often do the females get saddles? I'm assuming after some time of not mating, the eggs will 'go bad' and then the saddles will turn brown/black like they normally are. How often is it between the un-fertile brown saddles to fertile yellow saddles?

Thanks!


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

the saddles wont go bad, they are actualy the ovaries, so it works just like any other animal with ovaries. from what i have seen, the saddles turn yellow and stay that way until they mate, then while the eggs are developing(berried) they shrink and turn a darker color until they are ready to breed again. i have noticed that they usualy breed shortly after molting, and when mine are in the presence of fish, they never seem to molt. guppies are actualy livebearing fish, and im not sure how much your cardinals would mess with thier fry. i have kept guppies and cardinals and neon tetras in the same tank before and had the guppies multiply, but only a few of the babies live. im not sure if it was the fish eating them or they just starved... wasnt really trying to breed guppies. your frogs, on the other hand, would defenitely try to eat anything that moves that can fit in thier mouths. now that i think about it, they are probably the most likely thing in your tank to eat both baby fish and baby shrimp. even dart frogs have to be seperated as tadpoles, or they will eat each other.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I didn't think the frogs would even see the baby shrimp since they are so small, and dwarf frogs can't see except for shadows. The frogs get hand fed by me, and they hunt by smell.... they don't attack the adults, so I assume they wouldn't attack any babies..... maybe I'm wrong.

That sux! I don't have any other tanks and now they won't breed. (how long do they live? at least I'll have the adults).


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

i wouldnt be surprised if they did. i thought my dart frogs were licking a rock until i noticed tiny white specks. turned out they were eating mites.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Eww! Well now I'm really sad! I don't have anywhere to separate them, and won't have the money until we move (which is still a few years away).

How long do they live? At least I can enjoy the adults.

When I eventually set up my 65g tall aquarium, will RCS be o.k. in that?


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

hmm... after looking more into african dwarf frogs, you might get away with raising a few guppy fry if you have a plant they can hide in near the surface. now that i think about it, ive only seen mine eat stuff at the bottom and compete with my catfish. if there is any fish that will find out how to multiply in the most unlikely situations, a guppy is it. so far as life span, im not really sure. i know of a friend who had one for 7 years, mine died at the age of at least three(i dont know how old they were when i got them). i have heard of some sources saying they can live much longer, but most say an average of four to five years in captivity. as for the shrimp, as long as there is nothing that eats them, a 65g tall would be fine.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I've got 2 male guppies, so I don't need to worry about babies. I'm more wanting the shrimp to have babies, since they are so small I don't think they would cast a shadow that would make the frogs chase them..... so far tons of saddles but no berries.


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

ive heard of people keeping berried shrimp in a breeder net until the babies hatch. if you ever get berried females, you could try that and just keep the babies in there until thy are big enough to run away from predators.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

This is very true! Thanks! (Now if only they would realize the frogs aren't going to hurt their babies and breed!)


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