Sexy Shrimp Breeding Project

[jayelblock]

My sexy shrimp breeding project is officially underway. I had a spawn last night, and managed to capture a few. I wasn't paying attention, and the fish/coral/anemone got most of them, but I did snag 40 or so. Got my fingers crossed that they will still be alive when I get home from work today.

I'm also hoping that this storm doesn't knock out my power, b/c I don't have a generator or any backup plan.

 

[Miss.scoots]

I love sexy shrimp! i have two! i want a heard lol! how many do you have?

 

[jayelblock]

Well crud--they were all alive last night, and all dead this morning. Water quality probably, although it could have been any of a dozen other issues. Time to read what little information is available and try again next spawn.

Scoots--I have six. Four females and two males. They are really fun, and I'd love to have more. I think they're the best investment in livestock!

 

[R_Hudson]

Any type of breeding is extremely difficult and tedious. Everything has to be perfect. It may take a few tries before you start having success. Don't give up on them. You may check in the breeding and invert forums for extra research. Good luck with this wonderful project

 

[jayelblock]

Thanks Richard.
There isn't a ton of info out there, but from what I've discovered, I did the following things wrong:
1) Water temp too low
2) Light intensity too high
3) Photoperiod too long

Plenty of room for improvement. Luckily, I get a spawn about every 2 weeks, so I'll just clean my equipment, adjust my technique, and try again.

 

[R_Hudson]

Keep it up, you'll get it eventually and it sounds like your on the right track

 

[Lytehouse]

What a cool project

These are the coolest little critters

When I had a 5 gallon, several of them would host a sebae I got from Scott.

Good luck with your nest attempt.

 

[jayelblock]

I'm eagerly awaiting the next spawn. I ordered a very small variety of brine shrimp eggs, and I'm decapsulating them right now. Should have another spawn this weekend, and I'll try again.

I'm hopeful that by November, I can speak at a meeting about my successful sexy shrimp breeding system.

 

[kcooley]

look into a larvae trap too, once the lights go out and you shut the pumps off they all swim right into the trap, you will have much greater success and make it easier to transport and acclimate to the rearing tank.

 

[Miss.scoots]

How do you sex them? I got one for my 72 and didn't think I would ever see it a gain but it worked out great so I got another and now everytime I see them for sell I want to get more!

 

[jayelblock]

Sexing them is easy. Males are very skinny and have a long saddle across the hump on their backs....

this is a male:

Females are fatter and generally larger, and have a smaller saddle with a dot below it.

this is a female:

easy peasy.

 

[Miss.scoots]

I'll have to check but i think both mine are girls.

 

[jayelblock]

Scoots--they're happier living in colonies, so you should get yourself lots more. In a tank that size, a large, wiggling herd would be fantastic! Also, since they spawn so regularly, their larvae are a great source of food for corals and anemones.

 

[Miss.scoots]

I want more for sure! are the males usually darker like that one? I don't think I've seen any males for sell are they hard to come by?

 

[jayelblock]

Color can vary. You're better off just looking at the markings.
I believe both sexes are in the trade in equal abundance, so you shouldn't have an issue finding males, assuming the weather clears and vendors can get their livestock shipments in. If I had to guess, I'd say that because of the females' larger size, they probably handle the rigors of shipping better and suffer fewer unfortunate events (I've squished one by accident myself).

Speaking of male sexy shrimp, one of my males molted right in front of me yesterday. Just like a locust--he climbed up the wall of the tank and shimmied right out of his skin in broad daylight. I was quite surprised!

 

[jayelblock]

Had another larvae release this evening. Almost missed it b/c I was watching the Super Bowl. Checked on the tank just in time to find the water full of baby shrimp. I caught quite a few--75 or so--but I need to refine my technique so that they don't get bashed around so much. Between scooping, siphoning and sucking them up with a turkey baster, I'm sure I maimed quite a few. Nevertheless, this looks like a much healthier spawn than the last time. They are hopping up and down like cockroaches.

On the negative side, I read that the survival rate is about 15%, so if I am successful, I should end up with 10 settled shrimp. I guess the evolutionary strategy is to produce several hundred babies every two weeks and hope a few make it...

Wish the spawn had happened while I was off work for a week (teacher), but that's the way it goes. Updates tomorrow.

 

[Miss.scoots]

how are they doing? and i put my boy in the tank and haven't seen him since. I hope he makes it.

 

[Miss.scoots]

Where do you buy yours?

 

[jayelblock]

I'm approaching the dreaded 48 hour mark, where I typically lose most of my larvae. I believe there is a molt that happens at this time, and mine just never make it through that. There's so much that can go wrong. I do 2 water changes per day of 1/3 volume, and it has to be temperature and salinity matched to avoid shock. Contamination from equipment is always a possibility, as is simple mechanical damage from accidentally sucking them up when I siphon out the dead baby brine shrimp.

As for where I buy my shrimp--anywhere in town that has them reasonably priced. I'm not vendor-monogamous.

 

[mutateddogbone]

oddballs has some hatchery kits, even comes with the first packet of eggs if thats what you're gearin up for?