10 gallon macro sexy shrimp

BruceW

New member
Here's a pic of my sexy shrimp tank which was rescaped about 2 months ago. The tank has 5 sexy shrimp and a few of aiptasia.
 

Attachments

  • Sexy8.11.jpg
    Sexy8.11.jpg
    72.7 KB · Views: 0
Looks nice. Can you give some more details on the equipment you are using and what if any supplements you are dosing?
 
Equipment

10 gallon glass
Whisper hang on filter rated at 30 gallon and a Rio 50 powerhead with sponge attachment.
50 watt Ebo heater
65 watt PC 10,000k bulb

Livestock

20 lbs black live sand
5 lbs live rock
5 Thor amboinensis sexy shrimp
A few aiptasia
Caulerpas prolifera, brachypus and unknown small species
Red hair algae ( I am slowly getting rid of it except on the seawhip skeletons)
Some green bubble algae and a few odds and ends macros.

Dosing is 6-8 drops of Kent Marine iron with every water change.
Water changes are about 3 times a month about 15-20%
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2400.5.jpg
    IMG_2400.5.jpg
    98.3 KB · Views: 0
  • IMG_2394.5.jpg
    IMG_2394.5.jpg
    74.7 KB · Views: 0
  • ss.07.jpg
    ss.07.jpg
    87.4 KB · Views: 0
looks great. do you feed the shrimp?

I usually feed them once a day as they eat like pigs and I am trying to breed them. As you can see the female in the close up photo is carrying eggs.

I top off this tank about twice a week to handle the evaporation.
 
very nice tank. I love sexies and im seariously looking at adding some to my macro tank. What green macro is that in the lower left corner? Its lovely.
 
Looks really nice. You'll want to eradicate the aiptasia before they take over the tank.

I pull out a few at a time and it seems to work for this setup. Actually I left them in so that the sexy shrimp can use them for another food source as they eat slime and bacteria off anemones in the wild.
 
I like sexies a lot. Can they coexist with other shrimp that are larger than they are like Harlequins and Fire Shrimp? I worry about their small stature.
 
Does it work? Have you seen the sexies utilize the aiptasia this way?



All I know is that they started breeding like crazy since I allowed the aiptasia to grow in this tank. The lone male mated with all four females and they were all carrying eggs. I have seen them go into the aiptasia and take out food from their tenticles. They don't seem to go into the aiptasia or avoid them either so I don't really know but it was worth a shot because they are over two years old and I was getting desperate to breed them before they die of old age. I don't think that their lifespan is as short as I have read online.
 
I think the "red hair" is the tetrasporophyte stage of Asparagopsis taxiformis, a fragile and finely filamented algae that shows up regularly if reef tanks. In your setup I think it's a nice contrast to the green.

Good luck breeding Thor!! Reading through Kirkendoll's Peppermint Shrimp breeding book makes shrimp rearing sound pretty intimidating.
 
Is breeding realistic? I am reading your thread and considering a new direction. Recommend any literature.

If you Google Thor amboinensis breeding you can find some info. Although it is not easy to raise them I do have many years (54) experience in raising things including over 300 species of FW fish and 5 species of seahorses. I am always looking for a new challenge.
 
LOL ninjabum. Well Im thinking of not getting the candy pistol and just getting some more sexies. Maybe 7 or 8. I need to pick up other stuff too so thats my budget for the year. Next year I will maybe get some more :)

Sorry for side tracking.

Yes breeding would be cool. Most things I see about breeding them they are in a tank to themselves and its usually bare. I wonder how a full blown macro algae tank would fare? There is more stuff to eat and food is trapped much easier in the macro. There are also a ton of places for babies to hide.
 
That is kind is kind of why I asked. It is anything but scientific but the basics seem to be available maybe with a little push in the right direction (appropriate feed).
 
Back
Top