My second berried Blue Jelly Shrimp has just hatched her eggs two days before I was expecting them. She has only been berried for 22 days, that is two days less than my first Blue Jelly. She was hiding inside the coconut cave, it seems to be the favoured place for my Berried Shrimps to hang out and they have not only passed their eggs down from their saddle to their Pleopods inside there, and spent a lot of time in there whilst berried, but they also seem to retreat back inside when it is hatching time.

I have managed to spot three tiny little shrimplets from this new batch, and I am surprised at the size difference between them and my first batch of shrimplets. I had not realised how much they had grown. It is not so much the length that has changed, it is more that the older ones seem to have bulked out and look more stocky in build, though I think they are also a little longer.

The first thing I noticed was a tiny thing floating at the top of the tank. I managed to fish it out and put in onto a piece of paper. Looking under a microscope (yes, I really am that obsessive), I could see that it was a larval looking shrimp, it had teh overall body shape, but no legs. AT first I assumed that it was a Ninja Shrimps shrimplet as they cannot survive in freshwater. I then noticed my Blue Jelly was just inside the cave and was looking paler than she had been looking earlier. That was when I saw two tiny Blue Jelly Shrimplets sitting just outside the Coconut cave and realised that what I had fished out must have been a Blue Jelly Shrimplet that had not fully developed for whatever reason.

One of the most important aspects of keeping shrimp is the quality of the water. If the conditions aren't right then the shrimp won't survive let alone live long and healthy lives. I have read so much about water quality over the past year since going from muddling along with my two Orandas (and getting most of their care completely wrong up until now), and getting my second fish tank for the Platys.

I am really angry with myself for not doing my research four years ago when we decided to get a few goldfish for our boys (had I have done my research then we would never have brought any goldfish at all). I based it all on the fact that I had kept goldfish as a child. We used to win them at the fair, and would take them home and keep them in a tiny unfiltered fish bowl where they would last for a year or so if we were lucky and that the giant goldfish called Jaws that my mum had for about fifteen years (also a win at the the fair) was just a freak of nature. I assumed that was all they needed and that they were short lived, so didn't think twice when my kids asked for a fish. Now I know how much care and space they need and that they are not short lived at all I will never ever buy another goldfish (unless I have room for a big enough tank or a big garden pond).

Anyway, water quality is the key, and as I am hoping to breed my Blue Jelly Shrimp (as well as caring properly for the fish in my other two tanks) I needed to invest in the proper kit. I had tried using the test strips but they are not all that accurate (unless you want just a quick reading to see if anything is at odds), and I had brought a separate Ammonia test from API as this is one of the key problems that need to be prevented in a Shrimp tank. As the API tests are the best (that I have found anyway), I decided to invest in the API Freshwater Master Test Kit and found a great seller on ebay who was selling them for just £19.99 including postage which was a real bargain, (I used Specialist Marine Aquatics but there were several sellers at a similar price).

The test kit arrived yesterday and is really simple to use. I was really happy that the water tested perfectly so all is going well so far

I brought my first Shrimps just a few months ago. To be honest they were (and I hate to admit it) a bit of an impulse buy. I was actually going out to get a few platys to add to my community tank and get a bit of colour and I saw these funny little shrimps scampering about in the tank. I was told that these Yamato Shrimp would be fine in my aquarium so I took one to start with and before I knew it I was totally in love with her and after a bit of research I was soon rushing back to the store to get her some friends.

The more I read about Shrimps the more it sparked my interest, and the more I watched my four funny little chaps the more I loved them. I became quite obsessed, even to the point of naming them (Sherman, Sheldon, Sharon and Sheryl). I totally bored my family with tales of what the shrimps were doing, but they were just so comical and entertaining to watch.

It was during my research that I started to realise the huge variety of Shrimps that were available. One in particular stood out for me, the Blue Jelly Shrimp (Neocaridina Heteropoda var. Blue Jelly). I was really lucky and managed to find a breeder who was selling them and who was also really happy to give plenty of advice (I am slowly becoming a bit of a nerd, but if it helps my Shrimp who cares).  So I placed my order with www.easishrimp.co.uk and have started off my first dedicated Shrimp tank with five of these beautiful Shrimp and will see where that takes me.

Since I received them on 23rd January they have settled really well. The tank is regularly littered with their old shells as they are growing rapidly, and they are also slowly getting their saddles (four of them appear to be females and the last one is hopefully a male) so I am anticipating the pitter patter (or splish splash) of tiny little Blue Jelly Babies in the coming months.