GIANT Amano Shrimp!!!:22_yikes:

[pixl8r]

I've handled many a shrimp over the years. As long as you're careful, the exoskeleton of the shrimp is very resilient. A ruler outside the tank is OK, but the camera needs to be perpendicular to the tank glass, and is highly susceptible to reflections and flash. I used to do it that way, but now I find it much quicker.

Another option is to take a small plastic dish, with a flat bottom, and put the shrimp in it with enough tank water to barely cover the shrimp. A friend of mine in Germany does this (with a custom made box made of Plexiglas with a ruler and glued it to the bottom of the dish). Then places his camera on a tripod directly above the dish.

 

[pinkertd]

I just caught the amanos I had kept in my 75G and put them in with the amanos in the discus tank (I really want to see if my RCS population does better without the amanos!). Anyway, It's been so long since I got those amanos I had forgotten what terrific jumpers and net walkers they are. And they are quick. I had more than one on the floor that I had to recapture! And they live long too....probably cause they have food stocked away somewhere! LOL! Rach my amanos are the original ones I got from you a few years back! They just keep going and the females are always berried.

 

[msjinkzd]

They make me think of ninja grasshoppers!! They are so difficult to bag up from a dip and pour and can walk so easily out of water. Freaky things
Glad to hear yours are still doing well! That has been awhile!

 

[TheFishBoss97]

I have another question about shrimp, I can always see my Amano Shrimp Molting, and their old skeleton left behind, but I never have seen my RCS molt, or their left behind skeletons even though I have baby RCS, and they are growing. Is this normal?

 

[pixl8r]

I have another question about shrimp, I can always see my Amano Shrimp Molting, and their old skeleton left behind, but I never have seen my RCS molt, or their left behind skeletons even though I have baby RCS, and they are growing. Is this normal?

The molting process is easy to miss, particularly when there are many hiding places, for the shrimp to use. Shrimp, or any invert that molts, feels the most vulnerable, just after molting. There are indicators when a female is ready to molt. With most dwarf species of shrimp, the female will be pursued by one or more adult males. So you'll see two or three adult males swimming after one female, hoping to catch her just after she molts. With macro shrimp, the alpha male will hold is claws wide and herd the female away from any other adult males. FYI, growing shrimp will molt more often than a full grown shrimp. The frequency of molting varies between species, diet, and water temperature. The warmer the water, the more often they molt (their entire metabolism is accelerated with the warmer temps).

You know that your RCS's are molting because they're having young. The only time that a female shrimp can mate is immediately after she molts.

They make me think of ninja grasshoppers!! They are so difficult to bag up from a dip and pour and can walk so easily out of water. Freaky things
Glad to hear yours are still doing well! That has been awhile!

I've scaled back my breeding programs, now down to four Macro species in 12 tanks. I do have one tank with a few dwarf species, ghost shrimp, and triops.
To avoid jumping/climbing I use a large net (compared to the size of the shrimp) and fold it over the shrimp, like it's wrapped in a blanket, then use a ruler to measure. I really only check growth rates when I'm documenting a new species, to my tanks. Then I'm checking to see what environmental changes affect the species in question.

 

[jawasnack]

This was the best I could do tonight, the largest of the three amanos I have didn't want to be photographed tonight, but I would say he's only 0.25" bigger than this one, so still just under 2" total.

I may catch and bag it, then lay the bag on top of the ruler. maybe...

 

[pixl8r]

This was the best I could do tonight, the largest of the three amanos I have didn't want to be photographed tonight, but I would say he's only 0.25" bigger than this one, so still just under 2" total.

Yeah, I was always frustrated by the inaccuracies of measureing that way.

I may catch and bag it, then lay the bag on top of the ruler. maybe...

Here's how I do it. I catch the shrimp in the net, flip the shrimp so the net is wrapped around one side of the net handle. I then wedge the end of the net just under the lip of the hood (where the light is), with the handle cantilevered out away from the tank. Next I slide the ruler under the shrimp, but over the rectangle of the net. This provides a contrasting background, if you want to photograph it. It helps that the ruler I use is white. I then release the shrimp. The whole process takes less than a minute.

This isn't something that is fun or exciting. I doubt that most who read this will care about the accuracy. But I found it very helpful while I was trying to figure out how to check growth rates when breed shrimp, with little documented online. I also tried weighing, but found difficulty getting accurate measurements, without overly complicated methods. It involved a digital scale and a dish. If anyone really wants to know, PM me and I'll bore you to death.

 

[pinkertd]

Looks like it may be a female. The females are huge compared to the males. I would guess the males are around 1" full grown and the females easily 2" or a bit bigger. If you've got some males and females, you'll eventually see the females full of dark greenish eggs. Here's an older picture of a male and female amano and you can see the albino cories in the background for some size comparison.