Fire Shrimp with eggs

[Luis A M]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13327814#post13327814 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Luis A M
Baby shrimp hatch every 12-14 days.You got the larvae from the other partner.Both produce eggs,twofold benefit!

I quote that again,since it wasn´t noticed
Lysmata breeding facts in a nutshell:
Adults molt,spawn and hatch their eggs every two weeks.
Newly hatched larvae feed on bbs and molt every four days.
Addition of iodine is not required nor encouraged.
Much more info can be found in the links provided.

 

[hot_amigo]

Thank you Luis,

I noticed it. I had read some from your threads. thank you for sending me those links, they are very helpful. Just trying to figure out the things that seem simple for everyone since I am still really green at this Cleaning the tank and dripping water might sound easy but if I do it wrong then the tank will just die.

Noted. both can carry, no iodine etc... but how do i clean it can i use the bubble filter thing? how do I drip water in there? how can i tell if the molted. Will i see the shells at the bottom? I don't have a microscope. I only have the little magnifying glass that came with my culture kit from a company that I ordered nanochloropsis and suspended rot eggs. they have what I would call two waving arms, two pinchers, two black dots for eyes, and a tail that is slightly bent with a little flapper at the end of it. Sorry about all of the technical jargon Anything to keep these guys alive and growing is good information and very helpful. I appreciate your help since you have experience in this area. Thank you so much!

It sounds like this is a long haul to even keep any survivors and somebody with very little and no experience like myself will probably not be able to retain any, but I like trying to help out the community and I love learning about it. 6 months before they before meta??? That really seems like a long time. Oh yeah, mine also have small red lines that run width wise on them. one on the tail, a dot on the end of it and just a little on the head. really cute. they try to keep stable by using the two sets of flapping legs too.

 

[Luis A M]

Well,most is written in the posts.You should keep searching other related forums and links as well.I can´t be more specific here.
There are crustacean larviculture forums where these details are covered.
Lysmata shrimps have a unique sex life.They are hermaphrodites.After molt each individual is a female,it produces eggs that are fertilized by it´s partner,now a male.Later when the 2nd one molts,roles are interchanged.
Larval life is short in peppermints,a month or less.Three months in debelius,five months in amboinensis.
Larval sheds are very diffucult to see in the younger stages.But after every molt larvae,called "Zoea" change to a new stage:Zoea (Z) 1,2,etc.
You can follow these changes,up to Z4,(12 days) with your mag glass.Also described in the threads,but to save you some time,it is as follows:
Z1 sessile eyes
Z2 stalked eyes
Z3 tail fin split in uropodes and telson
Z4 large paddle legs show.

 

[hot_amigo]

Yeah they have to be in z1 then. Their eyes are still attached. and they should molt in another 2 days + -. Cool. 9 months of zoea stages seems kind of long though.

You know I have also read that some microalgea is good to have to for the first few stages. Have you ever used that? I had put a cube of mixed vegi stuff for the mother (has a drop of garlic in it) and I think they might be eating the small bits of that to from what she let fly in the tank while she was munching on it. Might have helped with the attrition rate. This morning they all looked alive to me. Course, maybe i just didn't see the dead one's with all of the gunk on the bottom.

 

[Luis A M]

¿qué hacen los peces?
¡NADA!
Jmadison,
Los peces nadan


El pez nada.
So your pun should be:Que hace el pez?Nada!
Sorry for the disgression.Yes,amigo,larvae feed on microalgae.Yet it is not clear if they help or not.They grow well with just bbs.

 

[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/

 

[mhills16]

when they get bigger are you going to sell them to us lol?

 

[jmadison]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13334334#post13334334 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Luis A M
¿qué hacen los peces?
¡NADA!
Jmadison,
Los peces nadan


El pez nada.
So your pun should be:Que hace el pez?Nada!
Sorry for the disgression.Yes,amigo,larvae feed on microalgae.Yet it is not clear if they help or not.They grow well with just bbs.

Agreed, but when translated 1 fish = fish 2 trillion fish= fish (singular) deer, moose... etc. but I'll change it to appease the peanut gallery :rollface:

 

[hot_amigo]

Morning day four. Still kicking and I haven't cleaned out the tank yet. But I think that they are either about to molt or have. I can't tell which it is. Some have the eye stalks, but the eyes are white and not black, and others don't have the stalks yet. Lots of food left in there this morning, but I think I might just go ahead and put my full dose of bbs in there again since it is a 20 long. When i fed them last night I shut off the air and put the light above them so that the bbs and the fs would all swim to the same area and be able to bump into one another. Very cool watching them grab them with the feeding Legs and wrestling them to their mouths. They all have light brown bellies now . I keep reading about hydroid problems in other threads. What should I keep an eye out for? I will take a picture of the bubble filter thing that I have. I haven't heard from anyone yeh or neh on them. Still trying to think of how I am going to clean the tank to. Cause when I turn off the bubbles some of them go the the bottom and just hang out there wiggling and flapping the tail and shooting across the bottom. Just don't want to suck them up.

 

[hot_amigo]

I could sell them, should any survive. Or trade. But getting them to survive from what I hear, is the first task. Sounds pretty hard. Not only that, I think it is going to be another 6-9 months before I get them to that point from what Luis has said.

 

[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!!

 

[Luis A M]

Hi,
Larval tank maintenance is surely a PITA.This,Tetra foam filters,etc are briefly discussed in the aforementioned crustacean larviculture thread.No easy way.I try to delay siphoning as much as possible so the larvae get bigger.But when I have to do it,I use an airline and siphon into a clear gallon jar.Then I check the jar with a lateral beam of a flashlight.And pipette them back.
You obviously have an extra sharp eyesight,beside the mag glass!.Still you should ask for a cheap dissecting scope for your birthday!
Follow the stages of L.amboinensis which are almost identical to those of L.debelius.
One last advice,if things don´t work out,don´t be too hard on you;they are VERY difficult to rear.

 

[Luis A M]

Oh, and the hydroids.They look like a brownish fluff carpeting all available surfaces and consuming all the bbs in short time.
Good news is that after some research I concluded that the myth of them coming in the bbs eggs,was that,a myth.
So if you don´t bring them home with live rock,corals and such,you can save yourself of this nightmare!

 

[hot_amigo]

Thanks Luis,

I hope this doesn't mean that you are leaving the thread though Yeah I had to be extra careful trying to look for those little buggers before dumping the waste water. That was a very difficult task. One that I think might become even more difficult once they settle. Also I read completely through the threads that you had posted - actually I skipped some of the arguing , but I don't remember reading anything about a filter. Did I miss it? I might try putting in the one filter, just afraid that they might start getting caught on it or possibly even getting sucked against it. I don't know how strong it can get with just the bubbles. Thanks for the encouragement though. tomorrow we are expecting the next molting for z4. I am really excited!! There are still so many alive in there so I am really proud about how far I have gotten as it is. I wouldn't have made it this far w/o your help, along with the other advice I have gotten. Thank you. Unfortunately it will be mi hijo's b'day and not my own Maybe I will have to get myself a gift to what is a Dissecting glass?

- Shawn

 

[Luis A M]

I am not quitting but you have to find your data.Links at the beginning,explore them thoroughly,and take detours and follow links of links,etc.I can not say more.
I think you have a wet thumb with them and you should explore/create different setups,as nothing has proved perfect so far.
The push strength of a foam filter is very gentle and can be curbed if necessary with an air valve.
There are two kinds of microscopes;compound (common) and dissecting.You need the last.

 

[hot_amigo]

Gracias Luis,

You know both German and Spanish? Pretty Impressive! I have went through your links that you passed to me. I will continue to scour through all of them very thoroughly. I have been checking out some of the other sites. Very interesting. I will have to learn how to search specifically what I am looking for though. I will attempt some things and post them as soon as I do and let everyone know the results. Thanks for all of your advice. The babies hit z4 today as expected. I checked this morn. and just a few seemed to have made it to that stage. I still have quite a few in there. I would say several hundred. I haven't noticed any significant losses. I think they are at different stages, but the ones who have hit z4 have the paddles and they also have the forked antennae beginning with some white tips on them. I haven't been putting any bbs in there as it seems to last for a few days. I started an new batch today so that the bbs that I put in a few days ago would be replenished. From what I understand the most nutritious ones are the newly hatched ones since they still have the yolks, which are lost after several days. I am trying to keep the integrity of the water quality. So I will put them in as soon as they hatch. ussually I do it after 48 hours. I am afraid to put the filter in, sometimes they get caught under or between things in the tank and just die. I will have to think about the filter some more.

 

[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

 

[Cyn_D]

This thread has been great on helping me getting started on breeding peppermint shrimp!
Buena suerte!

Gracias por tu ayuda Luis

 

[hot_amigo]

New hatch

New hatch

No hay de que! Si muchas gracias Luis por tu ayuda

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.

Ciao