Fire/Blood Shrimp with pink eggs

[hot_amigo]

Ok, so I have had a fire shrimp in my 75 gal tank for maybe a year. It was lonely so I added another to keep it company. Before it was acting really depressed and would hardly ever come out. Now it is happy and they stand next to each other and eat/hunt together (searching for leftovers). I recently got some much smaller ones for a tank that I started at work. This time I got three and they all chose a rock as soon as I put them in. But none of these act like the two that I have at home. So it got me thinking that maybe I had a pair that would eventually mate.

I have been reading up on how to breed clownfish from FB's and Dazed's threads and I have recently noticed that these two shrimp have been hanging out extra close and today they were practically on top of each other. I thought they had just become really good friends or possibly even paired up. But I didn't actually think that I would be able to get anything out of them.

I had a LFS set up my tank about a year and a half ago an my nitrates have been off the charts since i have had it. They set me up all wrong with bio balls etc... so now i have been working on getting them down to try to keep what i have living. I think the lowering the nitrates (Thank you Melev) and special care i have been showing the tank has got the whole take "awake" I have had a Emerald crab let off its larva in my tank previously - That was really cool.

Anyway, back on topic... I noticed this eve that my fire shrimp was swimming differently this evening when I went to feed them. They were really active trying to catch the food and I noticed that the one's swimmerettes (?) were really puffed up and weren't going completely down like they usually do. I think I will be a father soon.

I don't even know where to begin with something like this. I have been trying to practice on getting BBS and feeding them to the tank and my next step was to learn "greenwater" then the hardest, or from what i have read, rots. I really want to try this out so I am hoping somebody out there knows or has some leads that I could go on to at least try to get these guys to live.

Any and all advice is welcome, and I know that my chances are slim to none, since I have very limited experience in this area.

I also apologize for putting this in the "fish breeding" area, but not sure where else to go with it

Please Help and I will try to get my BF to take pics ASAP.

 

[hot_amigo]

They hatched

They hatched

I stayed up later last night in hopes of not seeing the larvae hatch into my tank. I wanted to have a chance to get a 20 gal to put the mother shrimp in so that I could just have them in there. On my way home i decided to get some tanks and a thermometer so that I could transfer tonight.

I only noticed the eggs last night during feeding, and I keep reading articles in which I should get a 20 (I got a 20 long) so that they larvae have enough space so that they are not bumping into things continuously. I have an air pump and airstones and now the 20long with the heater. I also got a couple of small tanks (a 5.5 gal and 2.5 gal.) just in case.

So I had my bf get ready with the camera so that when I fed everyone tonight we might be able to catch a glimpse of the eggs so that I could post them for everyone to see. Unfortunately, the eggs must have hatched either during the day or last night (and I didn't take notice this morning), but the are no longer there javascript:smilie('') .

From what I have read, the female molts after hatch and the male will do his thing again while she is vulnerable and slow, which will produce another batch in two weeks time.

I will be posting on here as soon as we see the eggs again. But so far I have learned that the pink eggs are the ones that are ready to hatch, and now I am at least prepared with my new tank. Just have to be patient now.

I will be posting again soon and hope to hear more information from all of the experienced reefers here. Thank you for your help so far.

 

[malachai]

I look forward to hearing how this progresses, I have a pair which are definitely bonded and have been closer as of late, so keep us updated.

 

[hot_amigo]

Well, I have noticed eggs again this week. So after a couple of hours of chasing her around the tank I finally just decided to move the rocks to get her. Now the shrimp is in a 1/2 full 20 gal long tank with some airstones and a heater, and a small piece of LR so that she doesn't feel so lonely and desolate in there. I took 5 gal. from the main tank and 5 was new sw. I think it will be another few days before we see anything. I will try to post pics today.

 

[hot_amigo]

They Hatched!!!! Again....

They Hatched!!!! Again....

Yes!!! They hatched in only 6 days!! I was waiting for around the 2 week mark. I have been reading up on them and they are supposed to come approximately every 2 weeks and they hatched only 6 days from the last ones!! Now I don't have any BBS prepared to feed them. I put some cysts in there with them in hopes that they would get a chance to eat them just as soon as the bbs hatched and I started a batch the way i usually do. I didn't put very many in at all, but I don't think they will hatch before the little shrimps (?) starve. darn it. I guess we will see.

Also, my bf has a rebel XTI that I got him for his birthday a couple of years ago, but we don't have a macro lens. So any pictures that we take will not come out right? Is there a way in the mean time to finagle the camera into taking a half-way decent picture of them so that I can post them for you all? Anybody know any tricks? I might have to get an early b-day present

Also, I have this thread in the fish breeding section. Should i post a link to this thread, or post a link on this thread to the other so that I only have one going? I wasn't sure which section it fit under better.

 

[hot_amigo]

Still alive

Still alive

Hello all,

The lens on the camera is just the short one that came with the camera. I am not sure what kind it is, but I ordered it from Dell as it was cheaper than the other vendors at the time. I asked my bf to take a pic this eve. he has but it isn't all that great. I will definately have to get a macro lens for a better shot. But I am going to try using my digital camera as well to see if I can get a better shot. I will post all pics tonight.

I stopped the bubbles for a short second to take them and since I don't have any bbs to feed them I have given them frozen rots to sink their...teeth...mandible mechanism ? into lol so anyway i hope that tydes them over until the bbs hatch. I also have taken the one who was carrying the eggs out of the tank...I didn't have a chance this morn. before leaving for work. From what I have read it will molt and then breed again, and either one will carry the next batch. I will try just this one for now. I don't have all that much space to keep every batch. Although I would love to, my bf would probably not like the tanks all over the house. It is bad enough that the 20L is sitting on the floor in the living room

I still have the airstones going at full capacity and they are just whipping right through the bubbles but it doesn't seem to be affecting them. I don't want the bubbles to be too few and not have enough oxygen in there either. Any advice on this topic?

Also, I do not know what the levels of the Amm./nit/nitrates are in that tank. I am not sure how to clean it without sucking the little buggers up? Any advice on this one?

I have also asked my LFS if they wanted to take them in, but they are not set up to do so. I love those guys and they have experience with the peppermint shrimp in the past. They have told me that these guys will molt every 2 hours and that i need to keep a high level of Iodine in the tank. Does this sound right?

I will post a pic next and look forward to hearing from all of мои друзя (my friends)

Shawn

 

[hot_amigo]

I hope this works fingers x-ed sorry about the image. Best I can do until the b-day

 

[hot_amigo]

I took some pictures now that I have finally got the bbs to hatch and have some good food for the zoea's. Take a look. I hope this link works. Let me know what you think. In some pics you will notice the swimming legs and can also see the feeding legs and the eyes. They are so cool to watch. This is day three after hatching ( 3 dah). May have to post one by one if this doenst work.

http://s366.photobucket.com/albums/oo104/hot_amigo/

 

[RobynT]

Simply amazing! I hope you have success and look forward to updates.

 

[hot_amigo]

z3 7 dah

z3 7 dah

I did some house cleaning today. I woke up to a molted tank of z3's some are still in z2 stage, but for the most part z3. Very neat. I decided to try my hand at cleaning their tank today. Which was a very slow process since the tank is sitting on the floor. I only did a 2 gal water change with new saltwater. I don't seem to have any problems with hydroids (knock on wood), although not sure what they look like either.

For the cleaning I just took a five gal. bucket and some airline tubing to siphon the gunk off of the bottom. Then once I finally had two gallons worth I went through it cup by cup to take out the shrimp who had made it through accidentally. I hope I got them all. I did that by using a Tablespoon to scoop them out by one-sies and two-sies; this took FOREVER. There has to be a simpler process. Then I used the airline tubing again to siphon back in 2 gal. of new water. Since many of the left over bbs were sucked out along with the dumped water I put a fresh batch in there with the Shrimp. I turned off the airstones, put a light on them so that they all would congregate at the top and have a better chance of 'running' in to one another. Now I have the air back on and the light back on my QT (I haven't kept a light on the bfs (Baby fire Shrimp) only just borrowing it for a few hours each day so they have a better chance at catching the bbs).

There seems to be so many in there still and I expect to have the next molting on Tues (z4 according to Luis -the links are very helpful thank you!) I hope to take some more pics then to post for everyone to see!! Today is day 7 after hatching. I think that is all there is to report for now. Still hoping that there is an easier way to do water changes. If anyone knows of a better/easier way to clean w/o sucking these guys up and all, that would be a great help.

Also, does anyone know if putting a bubble filter in there would suck them up and/or just be another thing to get them caught and killed on, or is it something that would be useful in keeping the water quality up?

Thanks all!!

 

[jbc123]

And what do you plan to do with 300 fire shrimp?

 

[hot_amigo]

shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich, jumbalaya

Just kidding. I have asked the lfs's round here and they said that they would help to sell them. I think this is best so that they aren't buying and taking from our oceans. Of course if anyone wants to trade or something like that I am open. Just depends on how many actually make it I suppose.

 

[Myrddraal]

Very cool, good luck! Check out Project DIBS or MOFIB if you have problems getting rid of them once they're a sellable size.

 

[jbc123]

You can mail me a couple!

 

[hot_amigo]

OMG!! I think I have horrible memory skills...I think it is PTSD from Iraq... Anyway, after looking at my babies this morning I must have forgotten to turn the air back on...I turn it off so that I can look at them fairly still. I didn't realize it until I got home about 12 hours later There are many that are dead now...I am so sad, I feel horrible. They were doing so well. There are still alot in there that are alive, but I feel like a parent who did worse than flunk at parenting. Man!! This really is horrible. There are still quite a few alive. I expect to have z5 molting for tomorrow.

Sad face, tear

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

Really cool about getting them to hatch.. my skunk cleaner shrimp have eggs under them constantly but I don't have the time to raise the babies. I'm selling them, so maybe their next owner will have the time. Too bad you lost some, don't get discouraged though, things happen. Luckly you still have some that are alive. I wish you luck

 

[hot_amigo]

OK so it was depressing to loose so many. I added more bbs today. when I stop the air now though, not very many are swimming, some are just kicking in the bottom. So I decided to catch some more. I didn't know how far along the eggs were, but I pulled out the one that I though looked like it was ready, put it in another smaller tank (not the one with the mark of death), it is 5.5 gal. (I put three of the display tank's water into it) and lights out. Guess what?? I have tons of z1's in there now!! I was so surprised. Didn't think tonight would be the night though. So now I have two batches going. Will see how this smaller tank works. I will keep everyone updated on both batches. Hadn't planned on doing more than one batch at once but....didn't want to be left with 0. Maybe I will add the new batch with the old or vice versa. We shall see. I will leave the 'mother' in for another couple of hours. I am not sure how to tell when/if all the the larvae have been let off. And put it back in the display before I go to bed.

 

[bigbearcrain]

Way to cool

 

[PARADISE1]

Very interesting read- sounds exciting. Sounds like alot of pressure being a mom to so many kids! Looking forward to the updates!

 

[Packersfan21]

updates?