Cleaner Shrimp Breeding

[kahlah]

Hello,

I'm trying to see if anyone has any information what-so-ever about how to improve the chances of survival of the soon to arrive offspring of not one but (I think they are both "pregnant"....very strange since I only own 2!) 2 Cleaner Shrimp. I haven't found anyone that has been able to keep them alive for more than 2 days and think that it would be nice if I could keep them alive.

They are in there own tank (30 gal) with sand and nothing else(only one piece of rock...very empty...). I recently broke the tank down and folded it into my 90gal but didn't move the shrimp because of the 18 inch Snowflake Eel in the main tank.

I should note that I had no plans to have my shrimps reproduce, but, I guess that is how it works out no matter what kind of kids you have, they grow up and start having kids (with or without your permission!!!)! If you know anything that I can do to improve the chances that the offspring will survive would be awesome!

Thanks

 

[FuEl]

It is always great to know of other people who actually bother to try to raise cleaner shrimp. It's not unusual to find both shrimp with eggs as they actually are capable of fertilizing one another.

The larvae can be started off immediately on newly hatched brine shrimp and cyclopeeze and other foods when they grow big enough. You must control the aeration carefully once they hit around 9-10 days of age as it is during this time they are liable to have their long appendages broken by aeration trauma. Try not to handle them too much and if you do, you must be very gentle as they are very fragile.

The 2 main things that you can do to maximize survival is to change as much water as you can daily and to avoid overcrowding the larvae. If you can do these 2 things well survival will be rather good. I started off with about 30 larvae a month ago. So far only 1-2 died. However it is still too early to tell if I will be successful this time as they take 4-5 months to settle. If you fail the first time don't be discouraged. It is only through practice that you get better at it.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

what type of arreation do you use? and how do you collect the eggs?

 

[FuEl]

I use either wooden or normal airstones. As long as you get the aeration strength right it would'nt matter which you use. Normal airstones do have a tendency to crush larvae if you put them down without looking. The shrimp will hold the eggs for about 13-14 days before releasing the larvae. Usually happens after your lights are out. To collect them just shine a torch in one corner and all the larvae will gather there for you to siphon them out.

 

[Gordonious]

Besides a siphon, anyone know an easy way to get the larvae out? I have a thread on this topic at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=828496 .

I've always thought about breeding cleaner shrimp. Is it rare that they will when you get a pair? I had originally purchased a pair myself because I had heard they were better in groups then alone but literally, as I finally put one of them in the tank after a long acclimation, one of them landed on the outstretched arm of a brittle star and it had an expensive snack. I've never eaten a single shrimp that costs that much! Damn star fish. (sorry my vent on cleaner shrimp)

Jon?

 

[FuEl]

You could try using a small micron net if you prefer. Does'nt seem to harm the larvae as long as you do it carefully. For fish larvae it's a different thing.

 

[kahlah]

I appreciate the info, here is a pic of one of the expecting mothers. Sorry about the graininess, was a bit hard to get the photo without a high ISO (at least so that you could see the eggs)

 

[kahlah]

Well, just a few minutes ago, the first of the two started "kicking" loose the newly hatched babies. My wife says that they are cute....Unfortunately, due to some problems in the main tank, two "black" clowns were moved into the tank...so chances that any will make it will be slim to nil. I'd say that there were probably 150-200 and now maybe upwards of 30% of them are gone. The clowns were really going to town...something akin to a starving man at an all you can eat buffet. I wish that I could have provided a better way for them to live (that was the initial plan, and I will probably still provide them food, so they have a slim chance) but perhaps a survival of the fittest type situation is best. Who knows, maybe some will live. The other shrimp should hatch its in a few days and then there will be even more. If they make it I will try to get some photos.

 

[Yhee]

My fish know when its hatching time they encircle the shrimp and wait for a midnight snack =( They actually take turns

 

[kaserpick]

What is the smallest tank you can use to raise the larvea? Both of my cleaners have eggs as well. By the way, how often that this occur?
Thanks for the info.

Thumbs up!
Kaserpick

 

[FuEl]

You can raise them in containers anywhere from 2-3 liters onwards. Main thing is not to stock too much larvae and not to overfeed. Ease of cleaning the container should be considered as well. For me I clean out the rearing vessel daily, scrubbing off all the biological slime that accumulates in a day. I even go to the extent of scrubbing clean the airstone and air-line tubing every day. Don't feel comfortable leaving the slime/gunk to accumulate.

 

[kahlah]

Quick update, the one that just hatched out now has a new batch(not sure, but is clutch appropriate in this case?) of eggs. Not even 48 hours passed before the new ones showed up. It took just enough time for her to molt and then she had more. The second one looks to be prepareing to hatch out tonight, but that is only a guess based on the way the eggs look. Is it common for them to reproduce this rapidly/regularly?