7.8.08

RCS madness

Whoa, it has been some time since I posted anything. I've been hit with a some sort of "career crisis" up to a point I can't decide on a career path that I want. So much for working for a company that wants to do everything but achieves nothing. Well, maybe I'll rant about this later if I feel like it.

For now, following my previous post about Red Cherry Shrimps, I've started a species tank (RCS species of course) about 2 months ago to experience shrimp keeping myself. Tank specs are as follows:

Size: 2ft x 1ft x 1ft
Substrate: Shirui Sand + Gravel
Lighting: 36W Azoo 10,000K PLL
Filter: Hang on Back (HOB) 600L/h
Cooling: 2 x DIY 3" Fans
Hardscape: Bogwood
Flora: Singapore Moss (I think), Java Moss, Microsorum Pteropus "Windelov", Java Fern
Fauna: Red Cherry Shrimp
CO2: DIY 2L Yeast bottle + ceramic diffuser
Fertilization: Seachem Potassium + Micro (Cheap one I got from LFS) once a week.

I started off with 3 RCS. 1 Male and 2 Female. I originally had 10 RCS which was in my first 1.5ft tank. 7 of them died when I took down that tank and transfered to my nano tank. My guess is poor acclimatization. I used the same method as acclimatizing fish rather than the drip line method recommended by many shrimp keepers.

On the bright side, the 3 that survived started breeding within the first week they were inside their new home. Yeay!! I had them in the new tank the very first day it was setup. Since I used half of their old tank water and filter (HOB 250L/h), it cycled quickly. Also, I used inert substrate therefore no worries about substrate leaching excess ammonia into the water column.

As all shrimpkeepers said, RCS will breed like rabbits once they are comfortable and settled in. Within the first week 1 female was berried. About 4 weeks later she gave birth to ~20 shrimplets. The were so small (a few milimeters long) I hardly noticed them at all. Right after that another female was berried and just recently gave birth. I squinted and so far I've counted a dozen new shrimplets and the number just keep adding up. Now the first female that's berried is berried again!! This time I see a lot more eggs than her first pregnancy, and as of last night, I can see tiny black dots within the eggs. The eggs should be due in another week or two. Right now I'm feeding them a quarter of an algae wafer once a week. There's a lot of moss in the tank and recently the tank is getting some hair algae (unstable CO2 injection I presume) and staghorn algae. Manual removal seems to help a bit but the staghorn just keep coming back. Hair algae is under control however.

So, to recap, I started with 3 RCS. Within 1 month, its 20+ RCS, and at 2 months I have 30++ RCS. Might be even more!! The first batch has grown to about ~1cm length, while the second batch is still in its infancy, roughly 3-4mm each. Lots of moss in the tank, a dash of algae and cool water = happy shrimps.

I'll try to get some pics up this weekend, but its damn hard to get a decent pictures of those tiny guys. :D

2 comments:

  1. My take is wait another 2 weeks or so before taking pictures unless you have super macro lenses, tripod and super duper patience!

    Jangan lupa cover your HOB intake with fine mesh or else the shrimplets will all be sucked in and then you'll be feeding everything else in your tank with compote of RCS.

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  2. Thanks for the suggestion 'nyau, I only have a point & shoot camera and a tripod. That said, I got a few decent shots of the shrimps today.

    and yes I covered the HOB intake with filter sponge ^_^

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