My CB Shrimp is Prego!

[MountainM]

Hey everyone,

Just wondered if anyone had some insight on what I can do to maybe keep some of the hatch alive, I have a pair of cb shrimps and the large one is just full of eggs, I've got a 10 gallon empty tank here... I thought first move would be to get them ... or just the prego one out of the main tank and in to here... correct?


Thanks

Doug

[pbutkovich]

First let me state that I have no experience with raising shrimp, fish etc. I have recently read some good information though. I do not know about the shrimp specifically, but many fish and sea horses will abort if they are moved to a new tank. This may only be the case with specific species though. I would be hesitant to move them until I found out for sure. See if you can find any articles specific to CB Shrimp. Good luck and keep us informed of your success or failures so we can all learn with you.

[jtremblay]

Short answer:

If they're like cleaners and pepps, can't be done.

Long answer:

If they're like pepps and cleaners, it is theoretically possible, but you need a round tank with flow going around the circumferance. If the fry hit any kind of solid surface, they get damaged and will probably die -- the round tank design effectively keeps them in the middle out of harm's way.

The fry, however, do make a delicious and nutrietious snack for most of your carnivores :D

And yes, it's amazing to watch shrimp spawn. When I had a pair of cleaners, they'd go off about once a month. I'd have some very, very happy fish in the morning.

Jason

[MountainM]

Hmm I have a big round tube tank at home... tall round and skinny, I suppose it would work.... So anyone have any experience at all with coral banded shrimp spawning?

[jtremblay]

You might want to nose around Dr. Ron's forum at RC for this. He many not know how, but might have some academic sources with info.

Jason

[MountainM]

I tried a post

[pbutkovich]

This a quote I found in one breeding book.

“After about 14 days, the eggs hatch and the tiny larva float around the aquarium. With care, the larva can be dipped out and transferred to a rearing tank. Fed on Rotifers and enriched live baby brine shrimp, the larva go through a series of 5 or more molts. The problem that every aquarist runs into with raising shrimp is that the larva will not metamorphose from this final larval stage to the juvenile stage without the presence of a certain set of environmental cues. The larva stay in this final stage for weeks, even months, then finally die….. The difficulty in rearing these shrimp is that it is not known for sure what these cues are, and how they can be reproduced in captivity.” Hemdal, Jay. Aqurium Fish Breeding, Barron’s 2003

Jay goes on to say that it has happened that some aquarist luck into the right conditions, and the shrimp reach the juvenile stage, but it is very rare. Pepperment shrimp seem to be the species that people have had the most success with.

Good luck. Find someone that has some Rotifers local to you and see if you are one of the lucky ones!!

[MountainM]

Thanks pbutkovich

[Dman]

There are other sources for information including the captive breeding forum on RC and the Breeders registry. I've looked into this as well, needless to say it's far easier to use the offspring to feed your reef tank than it is to try and raise the fry.
The closest I recall anyone ever getting is about 65 days before they all died. That's a whole lotta work for absolutely no payoff.
I'm not trying to discourage you, 50 percent of all advances in marine mariculture have been brought about by hobbiest doing things the "wrong" way. Just thought I would let you know beforehand what you might be getting yourself into.
Dman

[MountainM]

haha yea, still trying to figure out what I wanna do... anyone else want a try at it ? lol

[Dadeo]

Heck, I'd go for it....we learn by trying right?!? As long as it isn't going to harm anything else in the tank, including the prego shrimp, you will gain some experience at very little cost...hey then you could answer our posts when we want to try it!

Good luck!

[chris/dawn]

have had luck with breeding fish.....not shrimp....what works for me is to move the babies to a blacked out tank with a small hole in the canopy to let light in....this way the babies are attracted to the light and tend to school under it in the central location thus avoiding bumping into corners etc....for filtration i have used a small air-driven sponge filter to limit the water movement in the tank....hope this helps....also curious if it would work for invertebrates...cant see why not but you never know until you try....good luck..:)

[pbutkovich]

for filtration i have used a small air-driven sponge filter to limit the water movement in the tank....
Sponge filter is very important from what I have read. Also if you are going to remove them from the tank, make sure you "dip" them out with a container, and don't use a net.