With crustaceans that can be kept in aquariums, we met relatively recently, in the last half decade. Someone could argue, they say, even Zolotnitsky described shrimps from the distant Amazon in the Lover's Aquarium, and in the 1970s, another author, M. D. Makhlin, discussed their relatives who lived in Lake Khanka. But few saw crustaceans. But about the mass and did not have to say. Who would have thought that there was such a tiny shrimp cherry? The most popular crustaceans of those times were perhaps Daphnia and Cyclops.
First cherries
"Abyssal celestial abysses" two decades ago, when animals from Asia suddenly began to appear on Russian aquarium markets. With the fish we were familiar with, we found on sale creatures never before seen: newts, frogs, blue Cuban and red Florida crayfish. And after them the neocaridine shrimp and cherry shrimp “arrived” to the aquarists, which caused a sensation so far unprecedented. That's about the latter, and today we’ll talk.
Description
Cherry shrimp, also called "cherry" (Red Cherry, Fire Red), refers to dwarf shrimp. These unusual creatures came to us from Vietnam. Shrimp cherries are mutable. The color of crustaceans is affected by feeding, and age, and the power of light, and the presence of shelters, and temperature, and, of course, heredity. The color of the environment in which the shrimp cherry is very influences the color saturation. If, for example, you plant some bright fish (for example, a guppy), it will certainly react with a change in color. Moreover, this can be either a brightness increase or a tarnish. The crustacean is actually tiny, a maximum of 1.5 cm long (extremely rare - more), with a massive cephalothorax and tiny claws.
Gender differences
Actually, there are no difficulties. Females are larger, with a darker color. The underbelly is curved, while in the male shrimp it is elongated. Keep shrimp-cherries in the aquarium for a very short time and gender discrimination will not be difficult for you.
Females have a "saddle" in which they have ripening eggs. It is located at the very top of the shell (at the head). The saddles of many females are yellow. Some have green ones. This is explained by heredity - in the natural (wild) conditions of Neocardina Heteropoda they are almost emerald. The presence of a saddle indicates a willingness to reproduce (fertilization).
Caviar caviar is usually yellow, although a greenish hue is acceptable. With a green saddle, the caviar will be green. The color of tiny seeds does not matter. Shrimp males are more agile, smaller, lighter. On their backs are strips, along the hull and sides are specks.
Conditions of existence
These shrimp (aquarium cherries) are quite unpretentious and, without a doubt, can be recommended even to beginners, inexperienced aquarists. They are ready to be satisfied with the small volumes of housing provided. For example, they feel great and successfully reproduce even in twenty-liter aquariums. With thick planting with plants, filtration is not necessary. Especially the shrimp cherry loves Javanese moss and floating plants.
Desired temperature +18 ... + 25 ° , pH - up to 7.5. Quite sensitive to copper, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates. Cherry is able to tolerate short-term drops from 15 to 30 degrees. However, long-term maintenance under such conditions will lead to their inevitable death, therefore it is better to adhere to average indicators. Actually, room temperature is quite suitable for them.
Once a week, it is desirable to replace a third of the water. A full update is undesirable.
Feeding
How to feed shrimp cherries? They are omnivores. Shrimp will gladly eat any laid food. Do not disdain the corpses of their relatives, snails and fish. In addition, cherries love to feast on detritus and algal fouling. In aquariums where there are fish and live algae, shrimp can not be fed at all - they feed themselves. How? Eating the same feed that you will feed the fish. The so-called flake foods that are enriched with spirulina, contain carotenoids and astaxanthin are optimally suited. Pills for catfish are also suitable. Overfeeding is undesirable.
It is believed that these crustaceans are gradually destroying algae (filament, beards). A moot point. I must say that if the cherry eats the plantings, then not too willingly. True, the thread that had to be fought continuously will really disappear. But the cessation of growth of this species of algae is explained, rather, by the lack of peace - shrimps are quite active and constantly trample on delicate greenery. They, like chickens and geese, released into the garden with grass, will turn it into a platform without a single blade of grass.
In connection with a faster metabolism, cherries are eaten often, albeit little. Of course, you don’t have to wake up at night to feed them again. But omit a slice of zucchini, carrot or a slice of pear tied to the fishing line, preferably. You can also feed them before bedtime "living dust", which they adore. But dry food, perhaps, should be limited. Enriched with protein, in large quantities, it can even harm. In addition to frozen bloodworms on the eve, daphnia and brine shrimp are also suitable for feeding such preparations from the freezer, such as pepper (Bulgarian), eggplant, parsley. True, before this, vegetables are chopped as finely as possible with a knife.
Willow leaves, oak, maple are also suitable. True, they are fed after a week of drying and grinding (grinding).
Breeding
Breeding shrimp cherries is easy. The main rule is not to disturb her. To do this, you may have to remove the fish from the aquarium.
First, the caviar is hatched under a shell (we already wrote about this a little higher). A bright spot appears on the back. Over time, the eggs "move" under the tail, where they develop a couple of weeks (sometimes longer). The female has been caring for eggs all this time, regularly shaking them.
The end of the term can be determined by the black looking eyes of the babies. Childbirth is approaching ... Shrimp are born tiny, about 3 mm, but already fully formed and able to eat like adult relatives.
Under suitable conditions (clean water, not too dense initial population), the reproduction rate of these crustaceans is impressive. Probably, shrimp cherries can be compared in this case with fruit flies, which from one pair can produce thousands of offspring. At one time, the shrimp brings relatively few cubs (about a dozen on average), but the number of spawning is impressive: discarded babies, which become sexually mature in a couple of months, are replaced immediately by new caviar.
Neighbor shrimp cherries (compatible with fish and other crustaceans)
Cherry shrimp is quite peaceful. But if you plan to put it in a common aquarium, then you should immediately think about the neighbors and possible consequences. Who can these crustaceans live with? All non-aggressive fish will be excellent neighbors. It can be swordsmen, and gourami, and guppies, and catfish, and barbs, and tier, and megalechises. These can also be added: corridor (all species), singulata serpenticobitis, whitefin ornatus, dwarf bovia, sapphire tetra, multicolor pectilla, pristella, aphyocharax (all species), melanotenia, cherry melanotenia, erythrozone, ternia, neon (all) eleanotenia (all types) and others.
Crustaceans can be kept with more aggressive fish, however, then the shrimp will multiply much less, since maintaining constant vigilance will take away the forces that are needed for reproduction.
Cherries get along well with other shrimp. Although it is likely that larger ones will take away food from smaller ones. By the way, a fight for shrimp food is a common thing. True, it does not come to tearing off the antennae and claws. Usually the "division of property" ends with a joint meal.
Breeding rate
The main plus (and at the same time a drawback) is the breeding rate and survivability of these crustaceans. Six months later, the bottom of the aquarium will appear red and constantly moving. Catching shrimp cherries manually is extremely difficult. This is not always possible to do after a complete restart of the aquarium. Aquarists say that even careful washing of each shelter and each piece of algae does not always save. And after such measures, as it turns out, two or three pairs of crustaceans will still remain. And reproduction will begin again.
Color fastening
Cherry shrimp is known to be artificially bred, its ancestors were transparent. In aquariums, these crustaceans gradually return to their wild color. It turns out that in order to maintain brightness, tight control and trapping of poorly pigmented individuals (which, again, is extremely difficult) and constant updating, that is, the spreading of “fresh blood”, are necessary.