I think my shrimp had babies!!??

[kbaker721]

I bought two camel shrimp about three weeks ago. Last night I was looking in the tank with a flashilght after the lights went out adn saw dozens of little "shrimp" swimming/floating around the tank. They were very tiny, looked whiteish and had little legs and anteneas. DO you think my two shrimp had babies, is it possible, and will it happen again?? I don't know if any will survive but they are cool and if it happens again I want to try to do something about it (if possible).

[quantim0]

were they free swimming or running around on the rocks? if they were on the rocks, they were amphipods or another type of small crustacean. shrimp larvae have relatively complex life cycles part of which is a planktonic stage. it's would be very difficult to get the juvinile shrimp to develop in captivity. but what you have in terms of pods is a good thing.

[kbaker721]

I didn't really see any on the rocks, just swimming/blowing around like crazy in the water - there were dozens of them.....

[FISH WHISPERER]

Congrats, you've got "bugs!" :D :D

Good to have amphipods and copepods in your tank. Some are microscopic and others, as you've seen are clearly visible with the naked eye. You can even make out the features, as you've seen. For a real treat, shine your red light in there with total blackout in the room and you'll see how big their eyes are! ;) Cheers!

[Fishiebusiness]

The shrimp that swim around the rocks and the tank endlessly are most likely mysis shrimp.

[Saltyone]

Hey how do i get those in my tank. Do they just grow form no where

[Dale W.]

I would say that those are baby shrimp. Did you notice any eggs under one of the shrimp when you bought them?

Usually the shrimp will hatch at night and you may have dozens of babies which will be free floating in the water column. If you have fish in the tank, the baby shrimp wont last long as they stay in this free floating stage for a bit. Its a bummer really but who knows, maybe one or two will survive. I have successfully bred a few shrimp species in the past including the Sri Lanka fire shrimp and getting the babies to survive is a chore.

[kbaker721]

I didn't notice any, although the body of one was a little darker than the other. I haven't noticed any since that night, and figured the fish got them- but like you said hopefully a couple made it.