Just got my first sexy shrimp

[Tennyson]

like the title says, I just bought my first two sexy shrimp but I have a few questions. How big do these get? What food will they eat? I've tried flake, and o.n food, but they don't have any interest in it. Could they be adjusting still? I think thats the answer, but I just want to make sure. And how often will a pregnant sexy shrimp have her babies? I bought a pregnant one and plan to raise its babies.

All replies are apreciated and thanks in advance!

 

[Tayler]

they get about an inch and a half.i doubt they will eat flake try feeding them some frozen food like mysis. the babys will be extremely hard to raise if you plan on breeding shrimp you might want to try an easier shrimp to rear like pepermint shrimp but all are very difficult. here are some links on breeding shrimp

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/feature.htm

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=846955&highlight=Lysmata

good luck

 

[Tennyson]

Sexy Shrimp shouldn't be a problem I've heard. I have alot of experience with raising peppermints, I was able to raise them to 2 1/2 months until I got tired of taking care of them becuase cleaning the tank was such an irritating and long task, so I fed them to my fish. I will try frozen food.

Thanks for the links

 

[Tennyson]

I tried spot feeding mysid and blowing it around them, but they just wiggled their butts and ignored it. I then tried small pieces of silverside, they still showed no interest but when I blew it at them, the pregnant one caught It and ate it. So they will eat it, its just that they aren't interested at all, they seem extremely lazy, and food needs to be blown at them.without them being scared off. I'm guessing this isnt normal, or is it?

Is this typical behavior for them to not be interested in food? Could they still be adjusting after they have been in the tank for a whole day? Could there be other foods I could try?

I was thinking maybe I could make a little platform to place food onto that I could place next to them so they could eat it, would this work?

 

[bwest]

I had one in a frag tank for a while, and would feed it occasionally with Spectrum A sinking pellets. Once they hit the bottom, it went after one.

 

[Tennyson]

Now I'm having success in feeding them, though I notice that they don't go after the food immediatley if its placed near them. They wait, then slowly go towards it, I think this is because my tank has a bunch of actively swimming fish and shrimp, so they are scared of getting eaten I suppose. But atleast they are alert and eating now.

They don't eat flake, only small pieces of silversides and mysid, probably pellet. I am in the process of making a little feeder for them, I can put food in, than the can grab it and eat it from the feeder, hope it turns out good since they don't seem to be searching for food, and any food thats spot fed just blows away since they are in a coral in high flow.

Anyone know how often a pregnant one will have her babies? I have noticed that my pregnant one's white spots are a tint of pink instead of white, and this is the color they are during the night, so I'm guessing that this is sort of a sign that its getting near the te it will give birth, or its just because its pregnant and its stressed. Am I right? Are there any signs I can look for to tell if tonight will be the night it will have babies like with peppermints (ex:they don't eat the day they are going to give birth)

Thanks!