anyone raise cleaner shrimp?????

[emmanuel]

One of my egg bearing cleaner shrimp was placed in a 12 gallon eclipse modified with remora skimmer .
Has anyone successfully raised cleaner shrimp and if so what type of food did you use for the babies ?
I have frozen rotifiers but was told on another thread they wont work , would the babies eat cyclopeze or DT's phyto ?

 

[IconicAquariums]

The larval stage is very very long from what I remember - 60-90 days before they settle out. I know Atlantis Marine World was doing some, but they could've been Stenopus sp. as opposed to Lysmata sp. It's definitely not easy.

 

[Killerdrgn]

I don't think it may be a good idea to have a skimmer on that setup as when the shrimp releases the eggs it may get sucked up by the skimmer.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Did it upto couple 3, 4 weeks. Will continue to try in the future when time allows to build more suitable equipment.

 

[bigbris1]

Yeah, you may want to use one of those simple bubble filters they give away with 10 gallon leader tanks & be prepared to do a lot of water changes.

An exerpt from this article:

Cleaner shrimps are hermaphroditic by nature, that is they possess
both male and female sex organs (Achterkamp, 1986a). As in most
shrimps, the larger, older specimen is usually the female but if the
female dies the male will increase in size and become a female. Other
reports have indicated that a pair can switch sex at any time (see
Wilkens, (1980) in Achterkamp, 1986a). Mating occurs immediately
after the female molts. The male mounts the female and deposits his
sperm into the sperm receptacle of the female. The female can store
the sperm for several months during which time she can use it to
fertilize her eggs (Barnes 1974). The eggs of Lysmata are bright
green in color and are carried below the abdomen, between the
swimmerettes (Achterkamp 1986a; Debelius 1984). The eggs hatch at
night and the larvae become part of the plankton. After a series of
molts the larvae settle to the bottom. The problem with raising the
larvae is their extremely small size. In most cases the larvae are
too small to use rotifers as a first food. Perhaps the use of vitamin
fortified unicellular algae such as Chlorella will be the answer.
In any event, breeding these shrimp is not a problem, it is the
raising of the larvae which is the road block at the moment.
Certainly, the person who is the first to successfully raise the
larvae will have a ready market for them! A few members of our club
have already had Lysmata breed in their tanks but only one has even
thought of attempting to raise them.

 

[Deanos]

Did it upto couple 3, 4 weeks. Will continue to try in the future when time allows to build more suitable equipment.

Did what? Raise lysmata amboinensis larvae?

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Did what? Raise lysmata amboinensis larvae?

Well I am not so good at the species name but all I know is they are the larvae from my regular skunk cleaner shrimps.

 

[Deanos]

I recall your thread on breeding Peppermint shrimp which is infinitely easier than Skunk Cleaners. Can you post details and/or photos of the Skunk Cleaner breeding project?

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I recall your thread on breeding Peppermint shrimp which is infinitely easier than Skunk Cleaners. Can you post details and/or photos of the Skunk Cleaner breeding project?

I think I posted one pic long time ago when they were transferring the eggs from one to the other and releasing them but I could be wrong.

I did not know it is such a sort after project or I would have taken a lot of pics like most of my other projects. Anyway, my pic taking skill is terrible. Even if I have taken pics of them the color change and shape change will not show in my stupid pics. After more than 2 years, I am still fighting how to take a pic that truly represents the real thing in our tank.

The only thing I think I am different from most other who tried is that I made a DIY air driven vacuum to catch them in the later hatchings. Earlies ones, I just take out everybody else including the parents.

 

[Deanos]

How long did it take for the larvae to molt into something that looked like shrimp? Reports say over 2 months. What did you feed the larvae during that time?

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

The early ones are accidents and they were just left in my algae tank and of course all gone by next day.

Then I start to catch them and try to feed them with a combo of green water and emulsion I made from my family's traditional fish food formula(soy is a major ingredient) and then rotifers which also grow from the same green water or emulsion. But I think they did not eat rotifers.

They change shapes more than once! Initially, it looks as if they cannot move at all. I thought I killed them with my trap but then don't know how long, they start to "squirt/jump" in one direction when they change shape the first time.

The longest I have kept them is still not completely like a shrimp that can swim freely. Never get to the point to see them as viable individual(they look handicapped in motion and the shape) so I cannot tell how long or how many times they change in shape before that resemble real shrimps.

 

[emmanuel]

so I take guess frozen rotifiers are out
will dt's phytoplankton or oyster eggs work?

 

[bigbris1]

Yet isn't it amazing how they make it in the vast ocean?

Fascinating!

 

[Killerdrgn]

Yet isn't it amazing how they make it in the vast ocean?

Fascinating!

It's the safety in numbers/ survival of the strongest thing. Shrimps probably lay billions of eggs and only millions survive and then even fewer ever make it to breeding.

 

[emmanuel]

the eggs hached this morning I gave them the frozen rotifiers and phytofeast it looks like some ate because the stomach has green color on some but tonight I dont see as many babies they are getting stuck to the eclipse filter intake even though I placed a media bag over it the suction is too strong

 

[Deanos]

Where are the photos?

 

[bigbris1]

Take that filter out of there or shut it down! The one you lose might be the one that would have made it.