Mr. P's Shrimp Colony: Part 3

Recently, in Mr. P’s shrimp colony, we have seen at least 10 new baby shrimp! In the shrimp colony we are seeing a lot of different transparent colored shrimp. We have seen breeding between the red, orange, and white shrimp, leading to cross colors and increased transparency in the color.
In order to keep the babies living a happy life in this tank, Mr. P has special baby food for the baby shrimp. This is a brown powder that provides them with the necessary nutrients to grow. Mr. P has also been adding mineral food which helps them strengthen their shell. Every time they grow, they end up outgrowing their shell, so having the minerals is important so they can keep creating a new shell. Shells are important to the shrimp because it helps form their structure and they would die without the shell.

If there are not enough minerals, they aren’t able to grow their shells, which means they can’t go into the molting process. Molting is when they break out of their shell and grow a larger shell. If Mr. P is able to keep these shrimp alive, it would take 3 - 6 months before these babies are ready to reproduce and grow the shrimp population even more. The adult shrimp will continue reproducing in the meantime which means we will have a thriving colony of shrimp in the chemistry lab. 

The adult shrimp have been doing very well. They have been surviving for a long period of time and they have been reproducing. To promote healthy breeding, Mr. P has been alternating between food that is high in protein and normal food which is more plant based. That allows them to produce healthier eggs. Healthier eggs are great to have because that betters the chance of making babies. A number of the female adult shrimp have been seen carrying eggs in their lower tail structure. Mr. P says that at least three of the female shrimp have been carrying babies which means hopefully soon, we will have another round of babies in the tank. 

The reason the colony is still thriving is because Mr. P is switching the water every day which removes any impurities and waste in the water. This gives them a more safe and healthy environment to live in. The plants have also successfully rooted in the tank, and they have grown a lot (as you can see in the photo above).

The matten filter, which is a filter that gently pulls water through without posing any risk to the babies, has finally developed enough bacterial film. This helps process the waste in the water as well.

Lastly, the snails that Mr. P added to the tank a few months ago have been doing very well and none have died. They have been cleaning all of the algae from the glass and leaves of the plants. When you look at the snails in the tank, you can see that they are constantly searching for food. If you look really closely you can see their fang looking teeth, cleaning every inch of space in the tank.     
Hopefully in a few months, we will have a lot more babies and a lot more adults for even more reproduction. This will give everyone in the class something to be excited for.