My patience has paid off

I still haven't got a tank for cherry shrimp yet and I went out shopping with mum, to this random shop where they sell stuff at clearance prices, and stumbled across a small tank, about 30cm x 20cm x 20cm, it was soooo cheap!! It was £12.99 for the tank, a sponge filter and pump, plant, and net!

So I bought it and it's all set up now with the gravel and stuff bought for the big tank prior to owning axie's . Also got live plants, a lamp and a little table. Oh and a hidey castle for them.

So this leads me to some questions:
- I haven't bought a heater, will i need one? ( my room is upstairs, remains about 22-25 degrees C and tank is next to the radiator)

- I have heard that in pet shops, they only sell one gender of RCs', so do i need to buy a breeding group on ebay?

Thanks in advance!

sounds like b&m bargains xD

That is an amazing bargain! Wish I found things as cheap as that here, haha.

I got a whole lot of cherry shrimp for super cheap from a fish breeder I found through a random classifieds page. I would maybe do a search first to see what comes up. I'd also got some (of both genders) from a pet store previously but in comparison to the private breeder they were of a much lower quality - pretty much barely red at all.

If you want them to breed they will need to be at higher temps, I've read 24-25 degrees is the best but it is debatable. The thing you must worry about with shrimp is that they need stable water parameters, cherry shrimp will live in all different types of water and temps but if it changes often it'll be bad for them. So if you think you can keep the temp constant then don't worry about a heater. Also, make sure your tank is perfectly cycled before you get the shrimp, they are very susceptible to things like ammonia and nitrites, even low amounts nitrates can be bad for them.

Good luck! Cherry shrimp are awesome

I know, what a find!

I put some filter start in, and had a sponge from my axie tank in there for about a week. I have ordered a 25watt heater as a backup and also some tetra-safestart which I read about in a few places and they said it worked to start up the cycle.

Plants are still alive!!

And roughly how long should I wait once the water cloudy-fies and then clears?
Should I buy the shrimp online then as I read that somewhere too, and also, I don't think they sell both genders in the shops here...

I'd try aquabid.com it's a pretty good place for shrimp and plants.

You'd have to ask the local shop if they sell both sexes. depending on the size of the shrimp they wouldn't be able to tell if they were small.

males are smaller and less colorful then females and their tails are diffrent shaped, thinner, because the males don't use them to hold eggs.

okey pokey

I used tetra safestart on my axie tank and it seems to have helped cycle it,I've only had the tank 3 weeks with my 3 axies in and had no spikes or anything,0 nitrite,10 nitrate,though ammonia has tested about 0.5?but water changes drop it back to 0-I did keep adding it every water change on the advice of the guy at the aquarium but ran out this weekend...so for me it definitely helped


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