optimum ghost shrimp setup?

[palmer373]

i was thinking of getting some lionfish/scorps and dont know how hard itll be to switch em to frozen so i was wondering how hard and what the optimum tank to raise and breed ghost shrimp in. dont want to have to keep buying them if i can raise them. would i jsut be able to through them in the sump and pick some out to feed the fish or what?

any ideas?

 

[latte hiatus]

You won't be able to breed ghost shrimp in your sump, since the various species that get lumped into the common "ghost shrimp" are freshwater shrimp. I am not certain about the optimal conditions for breeding ghost shrimp, but I did have a few ghost shrimp that were breeding, quite accidentally.

You should have a mature freshwater tank, preferably planted with real plants, and no fish or inverts other than the ghost shrimp you are breeding. Most fish will eat the ghost shrimp larvae, and other shrimp may be opportunistic predators. Cover any filter intakes with nylon stockings to prevent shrimp larvae to get sucked in. A heater may not be necessary if ambient temperature does not drop below say, 65 degrees, but I am not certain of this - I kept my setup at around 74 degrees.

Female ghost shrimp will naturally become pregnant in the presence of males, and the green/yellow eggs will hatch into larvae in about 3-4 weeks. Larvae take about a week to develop into juveniles, and while in the free-floating larvae stage, they will eat mostly infusoria (hence the need for a mature tank). I also fed some fish food intended for very small fry, but I don't recall the larvae feeding on those.

Overall it should be relatively simple to breed ghost shrimp, you may even be successful without a fully mature planted tank.

 

[mack_emmons]

Breeding Ghost shrimp is possible. But can be somewhat difficult to achieve on a level that would be sufficient to feed your lionfish.

On that note, look around locally or on the web for a shrimp species known as cherry shrimp. They are a neocardinia species. They don't get quite as large as ghost shrimp. The reason i suggest this is that they do not go through a larval stage and are rather simple to propagate in large numbers.

A ten gallon tank, with a bunch of java moss in it. Filter by a sponge or undergravel filter. Lighting can be low, but inducing algae growth is not a bad thing. Throw in say 10-15 shrimp and allow sufficient time to adjust and for a colony to develope (1-1.5 months) before harvesting.

Unless you have several setups. Aquaculturing your own shrimp on a level that will provide all the food your lion needs will be a nearly impossible task. A shrimp setup like this is supplemental at best.

 

[palmer373]

ok thanks for the info!