Noob red cherry shrimp breeding project

Warrensmentor

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 29, 2012
574
0
0
Virginia
I've been feeding occasional ghost shrimp to my ray and after getting tired of buying something others are successfully breeding, I'm giving it a shot! I have serious doubts that I could successfully breed ghosts, but I've read that red cherry are much easier. So I took out all of the fish from my 10 gallon and put them in the 120. I ordered 20 red cherries for $26 shipped from ebay. I got them today and I'm happy they all are healthy and alive in the tank, but man, they are juvenile. Small little guys. Its going to take some time till any magic happens. Any way, there are 20 cherries, and I have 12 ghost shrimp in there too that I won't use as feeders, I'll give them a chance to breed too. I have a small penguin 100 filter on the tank but I'm not too concerned, the suction is not all that strong. So here is a pic of the tank. Stay tuned and I'll make updates and tell you how things work for me.

uploadfromtaptalk1330032357607.jpg
 

Fat Homer

Mmmmm... Doughnuts
Staff member
Moderator
MFK Member
Mar 16, 2009
9,428
3,688
478
----
Have you considered feeding your rays defrosted prawns?

The reason i ask is coz although cherries breed rather quickly... With a rays appetite, i doubt you'll have enough to feed you fish long term... Especially if your only using a 10G tank


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 

Warrensmentor

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 29, 2012
574
0
0
Virginia
Good call homer, you're absolutely right. My ray is eating defrosted prawn everyday already, but I like to give him some variety and a bit of sport. Right now he also eats black worms and we are working on pellets. So I'll probably have enough for my needs in the 10 gallon. If not, I have a 30 I can move the operation to.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

Fat Homer

Mmmmm... Doughnuts
Staff member
Moderator
MFK Member
Mar 16, 2009
9,428
3,688
478
----
^ Ahhhh... okay, i thought you wanted the cherries as a main food source, which would obviously cause problems since they are pretty small, and rays can be be pretty big eaters from what i've heard...

But yeah, if your already have other sources of food, and the cherries are more for "sports" to give your ray a bit of exercise i say go for it... i've even heard of an LFS' owner mention to me that one customer put 20 Crystal Red Shrimp in a 3ft X 1.5ft tank and after just under 2 years had over 3000+ shrimp... so i guess depending on how much you want to feed your ray, you may or may not need a larger setup...

Either way good luck with it and let us know how it goes...
 

bkbennett

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2012
68
0
0
Oklahoma
Awesome! Thanks for starting up this project. Can't wait to see how it goes, cause I might be setting up my own soon! Always good to give our critters some exercise on top of their normal diets! Subbed!
 

merob5407

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2012
6
0
0
Illin
I will be following this thread, and one of my friends is also about to start this same project also with a 10 gallon tank:D
 

Warrensmentor

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 29, 2012
574
0
0
Virginia
I've done research and our seems to me that not only will these small farms be a nice, easy, free food source, but we may also have enough to sell to private parties. I hope once they are multiplying that I can even do some trade with my lfs that aren't even carrying them as of now. One was before they closed to move and had them at 11.99 each! Even if none of that happens, its still a fun project for me! Win win win.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

LEVI_L

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2012
78
0
0
Charleston IL
View attachment Red Cherry Shrimp.bmp Nice! that would be amazing! i am goin to start on my project and will be making a new thread but im gonna keep up to date on this one as well! How many do you think i could get initially for my ten gallon and would it be worth throwing in a few ghosts for possible mixes? or shud i completely avoid them since they eat young?
 

Fat Homer

Mmmmm... Doughnuts
Staff member
Moderator
MFK Member
Mar 16, 2009
9,428
3,688
478
----
Start with cherries and once you get good ag it you can look into crystal reds where if you can find the right market make some nice change


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store