Baby shrimp growing

D

debdp

Premium Member
I was doing some stuff on the computer and turned to look at the sun corals in the refugium and some movement caught my eye in the CPR in tank refugium in the same tank. At first I thought it was a piece of mysis shrimp that was being moved around by the current since I just fed the sun corals but it was a live baby cleaner shrimp. It has to be over a week old because I know it's been about that long since one of the shrimp flicked it's egg load. This little guy seems to be thriving and quite happy flicking its way around the chaeto. The way it's moving around though I don't think it'll stay in there for long but I'm really surprised it's done so well for this long. I was going to thin out the chaeto but I guess I'll let it sit for awhile, see how the little guy does if he manages to stay in there.
 
That actually looks like a Mysid shrimp to me. I've got hundreds upon hundreds of them in my sump/fuge. I have no idea what baby cleaner shrimp look like though so they may be just that! good luck if it is.
 
@hooterhead wrote:
That actually looks like a Mysid shrimp to me. I've got hundreds upon hundreds of them in my sump/fuge. I have no idea what baby cleaner shrimp look like though so they may be just that! good luck if it is. said:
These are definitley baby cleaner shrimp... I have two that are always carrying eggs as they're a mated pair. About every few weeks one of them releases the live larval shrimp. My first attempt to raise them failed within a few days most likely due to ammonia in the small container. Since that time I've missed every release because it takes place early in the morning after the lights are totally out. So by the time I get up they've been processed through a few pumps or have fed my many sun corals.

But since I've rearranged my tank and moved the sun corals and added an in-tank refugium in the refugium they seem to get trapped there. Amazingly they have to go through a Mini-Jet pump before getting dumped in the refugium. A closer look this morning and there are several shrimp in the bottom of the refugium... but different sizes. Some very tiny which leads me to thinking they came from the recent release, but some like the picture above are much larger which may have them in the refugium longer. I also saw a few this morning in the main tank back by the nori sheets I roll up for my nerite snails. Two have already escaped the small refugium and are flitting about the main refugium. I can't get them. They're very, very quick and always manage to get into places I can't put the turkey baster.

Now that I know some can survive the twirl through the mini-jet I may try to figure out how to put up some sort of filter in the chaeto box to keep them inside there at least until I can put them in something else inside the tank. Like maybe super fine netting or something. All ideas are welcomed. Timing would be an issue. I can never quite get the day they're due. I know when they're close, the eggs are white and you can see the small black spots for eyes and I figure it'll be a day or so but I still miss it. Guess I'll just have to keep trying.
Click to expand...
 
supercool.gif
alt="">
 
That's Awesome that not only did you get the cleaners to breed but you also managed to get pics. I've got like 100 or so baby peps that wont hold still long enough for a good pic. Unfortunately, that number is dwindling quickly. Please keep us posted with updates.
 
Very interesting indeed!

I have a pair in my tank that seem to be always releasing eggs as well.
As for the netting, perhaps try a hobby shop for some sort of cloth and cut it to size. I would recommend the netting on the brine shrimp nets, but I don?t know where you would get that (with out the rest of it of course).

If your in-tank fuge is like mine, they may have found their new home through the other little holes the powerhead is not using.

As far as hatching/raising the young - I have thought about just catching one of the adult shrimp and put it in a 10g tank or something similar in size (that has already been set up and cycled, etc.) when I think they are about to release the eggs. The only thing I would change is perhaps use air pumps for the water circulation rather than powerheads, so the babies won?t get hurt/sucked in.

Are you putting in extra phyto or some sort of very small food for the babies in the fuge?
I might try this down the road.

Nonetheless, how fortuitous to have them move themselves to the in-tank fuge. Best of luck, and please keep us posted on their progress.
 
Not to disappoint you, but it's pratically impossible to raise cleaner shrimp in an aquarium environment. :wink:
 
@blide wrote:
Not to disappoint you said:
Yes, I'm quite aware... that's why I'm so surprised that I have some thriving in the tanks. I did quite a bit of research on rearing them previously. Most successful have been peppermint shrimp because of their shorter larval stage. But cleaner shrimp... in any environment... are extremely difficult - that's why they cost more I guess. I paid $30 each for the two I have so you know they are spoiled rotten :) hand fed, etc.

But since they insist on providing me with plenty of larval shrimp I might as well try to raise them. I had pretty much given up, but the survival of these few have given me some hope.

Attached is a diagramed picture.
Click to expand...
 
Awesome! I have the same thing happening in my tank but they are Peps. I got some cheato from "MO" and here lately they have been populating my tank!

I never used any phyto before but once I saw some swimming about, I started dosing. They're in my display, tank return, and refugium.

I'm not doing anything to keep them live other then just feeding phyto. I think some of the larger ones are eating the frozen food mix I feed my tank too.

But any how... GOOD LUCK!
 
@blide wrote:
Not to disappoint you said:
Very true. Correct me if I am mistaken, but the difficult part in raising them is feeding them and not being eaten by other residents in the tank. In this case, she may have more success since they are isolated under the cheato. I am hoping it is just a matter of finding something they will readily eat that is not too small (not to mentioned, in the pic, they seem much larger than I have ever seen). Hopefully they will grow without incident *fingers crossed* .
Click to expand...
 
Here are some reference pics...

I found this molt floating in the main tank. It looks like it was a good molt which is great for the baby shrimp... but since it's in the main tank it's just a matter of time before one of the mom's has it for a snack.
 
The next pics are of the current eggs. The first picture with the green eggs... they're fairly new and will be a while before ready for hatching. This shrimp is the parent of the babies in the tank now.

The second picture and added close up are eggs that are close to being released. You can see they have turned white and those little black spots are their eyes (very similar to mysis shrimp).
 
Well I was unprepared but she dropped her load tonight and this time I could get some. The best I could do was line the chaeto box with some felt. I cut off all the pumps and pulled out about 2 gallons of water with baby shrimp. After lining the chaeto box with felt poured them slowly into the lined box. I remember now from the first time that they spend almost all their time on the bottom so that's how they managed to stay in there and grow. So for now I've got part of the outflow on the corner so that only some of the water goes into the box for circulation but not the full flow. Just enough for the water to slowly seep through the felt. Hopefully I can come up with something bigger to tie into the tank (like Marc did with his sun corals) that I can transfer them to later. I have very little hope in accomplishing it but worth trying. The elaborate setups I've seen others try makes it look like way too much work for someone with not a lot of free time. Sorry the pic's not too clear, but all the little white spots the arrow points to are some of the larva.
 
Looks like you are doing it right, but how are you going to keep the felt clean to keep it from catching detritus and other organics and becoming a nitrate factory? :?
 
It'd be interesting to try the seahorse method, where you would suspend a small ROUND goldfish bowl at the top of your fuge, but you drill a small hole in the side of it and run an airline into it. Very light flow, good oxygenation. Start feeding rotifiers and go buy yourself some brine shrimp eggs for when they get bigger.

At $30 a pop and no shortage of demand... could be a goldmine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top