Preggo Cleaner shrimp....

[Tmoriarty]

Alright so about 10 days ago I added another cleaner shrimp.... larger in size then my other cleaner. From what I have been told they are Hermaphraditic (excuse spelling) Anyways the larger one is definately knocked up. Obviously they will spawn and quickly get polished off by my fishies which is ok.

My question is will any of them have a chance to survive? The other question is about how long do they take to hatch once the shrimp is carrying them on her underside?

One of the reasons I got two cleaners was to provide a natural food source to my fish, So how often do these shrimp breed?

 

[Virtuoso]

Hey! I am in the same situation. Just recently got a smaller cleaner shrimp and now my old one is pregnant. I was really surprised to see that. From what I remember reading they are hard to raise.

 

[snorvich]

Mine do it all the time. None have ever survived that I know of.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Like Steve, mine have never survived, but did manage to get some good pictures.

Early on eggs,

About to hatch eggs,

Released,

 

[fdonophan]

OMG! Such awesome pics!!!

 

[evo@32psi]

Sick Pictures!!!!! Im going to have to add another Cleaner and see if i can get lucky.

 

[Tmoriarty]

From what I have heard they breed when they molt, So for my shrimp about twice a month to once every 3 or so weeks. Like I said new shrimp has only been in there about 10 days and is already preggo. They dont have to survive, they just need to hatch to be free live fish food for the fishies .

 

[Putty]

Awesome pics!!! My Trigger would have a field day on release day!

 

[Toddrtrex]

Thanks guys. The pictures were just luck. I had had my camera upstairs (( had been taking pictures of the other tank )) and just happened to look over at that one.

 

[sucker_fish]

I only had 1 cleaner for a while in my tank also, then added another and a couple weeks later noticed eggs on them, they have been doing this now on a regular basis for the past 6 months but unfortunately none of the little shrimps have ever survived, but thats ok cause they help keep my fish fat and happy.

 

[jk1138]

My shrimp do this monthly, I just see it a free, fresh and very nutritious food.

 

[hupababy83]

How do you tell if the shrimp are male/female?

Sent from my HTC Liberty using Tapatalk

 

[SushiGirl]

Skunk cleaners aren't male or female, they're both.

When I had 2, one or the other would be carrying eggs every month. They transfer sperm back and forth when the freshly molted one's still soft. Never saw them release in this tank, but I'm not up all night like I was with my previous tank. Back then they'd always release in the middle of the night sometime.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Lol this means that I don't need to get the 6 cleaner shrimp I thought I needed to get the fish buffet! I kept reading that you could breed them if you get a group... they never said 2. Now I can save some money!

 

[vorm]

Those are some awesome pictures!
I added a 2nd cleaner to my tank a couple of months ago, but have never seen either of them with eggs.
Has anyone ever been able to successfully raise the offspring?

 

[jok3rqnk]

I will get one....... And add a sencond one after 6mon month too send what happens....... Lets hope I get lucky.

 

[Bluemon]

my sexy shrimp do this monthly too. they are no hemaphrodites, and i have 3 females and 1 male. i had two females pregnant last week, got about 100 fries. i separated them into a plastic cup and have been doing daily WC and feeding phytoplankton. i tried this many times, they all die at the end.

 

[Putawaywet]

Those are some awesome pictures!
I added a 2nd cleaner to my tank a couple of months ago, but have never seen either of them with eggs.
Has anyone ever been able to successfully raise the offspring?

Yes, it has been done by a few highly dedicated aquarists who had the specific intent to breed this type of Lysamata shrimp in advance. It takes a huge amount of time and effort with just a bit of luck thrown in.

 

[NirvanaFan]

my sexy shrimp do this monthly too. they are no hemaphrodites, and i have 3 females and 1 male. i had two females pregnant last week, got about 100 fries. i separated them into a plastic cup and have been doing daily WC and feeding phytoplankton. i tried this many times, they all die at the end.

They need larger food than phytoplankton. Try newly hatched brine shrimp.

 

[jeff@zina.com]

Has anyone ever been able to successfully raise the offspring?

Got to MOFIB and look them up, they're actually rather easy to do, as far as shrimp go.

Jeff