Amano Shrimp Breeding

Industrial

Industrial

AC Members
Oct 29, 2009
473
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Buffalo, NY
I have an amano shrimp, and compared to ghost shrimp, I like the amanos a lot more as bottom feeders.

Only problem is it's very difficult to find stores with them here and now I regret only buying one when I saw them.

What I want to know is how to sex them and raise the fry. I would like to know how to sex them just so if I see another tank of them I could get an even number of males and females.

I remember hearing they need brackish or salt water when they are larvae and then they can be freshwater again. Does this mean I gradually make the tank go from freshwater to brackish, or do it really quickly all at once?
 
Industrial - you can get amanos from msjinkzd here on the forum. The males are much smaller than the females, when you see them together, you'll know instantly who is the male and who is the female. And while they will breed in your tank (mine are always carrying eggs), the eggs must be deposited and raised in salt water. And raising them in salt water is an extremely difficult thing to do. Most of the people that try to raise them usually wind up throwing in the towel.
 
pinkertd said:
Industrial - you can get amanos from msjinkzd here on the forum. The males are much smaller than the females, when you see them together, you'll know instantly who is the male and who is the female. And while they will breed in your tank (mine are always carrying eggs), the eggs must be deposited and raised in salt water. And raising them in salt water is an extremely difficult thing to do. Most of the people that try to raise them usually wind up throwing in the towel.
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Thanks, I might actually try to order some from her. Of course it looks like I will need to wait until spring/summer though.
 
I will be shipping again after the holidays. Here is another link: http://caridinajaponicabreeding.blogspot.com/

Most of the amanos I carry are juveniles, I buy them small so they live longer. I od have some adults (including females that berry all the time) in some of my display tanks if you are serious about trying to breed them we could work something out.
 
Kuhlifan: I hope I don't offend you by contradicting you but I really hope I can teach you something.

I've kept shrimp, crabs, crayfish, eels, bichirs, and an archerfish. Also some smaller surface feeders.

Surface feeders and fish that have the ability to jump like archer fish MUST BE KEPT IN COVERED TANKS.

Shrimp/Lobsters/Crayfish CAN be kept in a covered tank to prevent them from JUMPING out when startled but that's not usually problem with amano shrimp in particular or crayfish/lobsters.

Lobsters/Crayfish/Large shrimp can get out of a tank 1 way... climbing out with a personal motive to leave the tank/water. If your lobster/crayfish or large/heavy shrimp is leaving the water/tank, it's most likely because it's unhappy. Sometimes they don't like their own kind, sometimes they don't like a tank mate, and sometimes the water perameters are not ideal.

Small Shrimp can get out of a tank 2 ways... climbing out or launching out. When shrimp are startled or their barbels touch something harmful their natural instinct is to tail whip. This applies to lobsters and crayfish as well. The difference is they generally can't get enough thrust to launch out of the water... more importantly they're unable to swim like small shrimp can. Small shrimp often like to collect food from the surface of the water like the rest of the fish and when another fish comes up from food from below them, they tail-whip themselves out of the water. I've seen this happen several times when feeding ghost shrimp to my eels.

Amano shrimp spend most of their time on rocks and cling to objects. They rarely swim around and come near the surface. In my case I keep duck weed in the tank to discourage them from being TOO close to the surface and keep my water level down 2 inches in my shrimp bowls. (Large filtered/heated bowls mind you)

I also made the mistake of keeping many wild-caught crayfish in a 20G open-top tub. THey started to climb out 1 by 1. I had a 75G (rated) filter on the tub but later I found out that crayfish don't like being crowded together and they can sense each others presence very well. So I returned them to the wild a few days later and lost a few unfortunately in that time. Now I have 2 happy crayfish, a male and a female... They're old and haven't reproduced but they hang out in the same small clay pot together w/ no problems.

I've also kept my eels and bichir in my tank w/o a top for a long time before I finally ordered a top for it. After I ordered the top for it, 1 day I overfilled the tank and the water came up to the cover. So my bichir (air-breather) couldn't gulp air anymore and he forced himself through the cover and filter... The filter's lid was making the gap just a little too tight for him to squeeze through so he managed to lift the lid and jump out at the same time. I heard the lid jump and it woke me up... I got up turned on the lights and saved his life. 1 night the water level was pretty high but this time no cover... so I got up from bed cuz I remembered to cover the tank in the dark. As I slide the cover half way on I reached to the back of the tank to push the surface skimmer down so I don't crush it and I felt my bichir instead. The bichir intentionally floats under the surface of the water when he sleeps so it's easier for him to breathe without losing sleep. I accidentally touched his back with my fingers (instead of the skimmer) and he freaked out so bad he launched himself out the tank. Again I turned the lights on nad saved his sorry ***. Fortunately these 5 foot drops onto my rug didn't kill him and he's doing great.

But here's my point... If you set-up the tank right, the fish won't TRY to escape, therefore it should be OK with just a basic cover with some small openings. And if you don't, the fish might still get out or die trying.

OH also I had crabs in open top or poorly covered tanks. I've had crabs climb out of the tank then climb back in. I've had crabs open the filter cover and climb from the tank into the filter. I've had crabs climb on top of the tank then they jump back in when they see me coming.

The important thing is the crabs all know the inside of the tank is better/safer than the outside of the tank.

People simply need to make sure their fish have hiding places and aren't kept in bare-tanks. Wood, rocks, clam shells, oyster shells, small pine cones, these are all things your shrimp can use for cover if you DON'T have live plants.

My shrimp strictly live off hair algae on the day to day basis. Once in a while I'll spare them some baby brine shrimp/rotifers.

Hope this helps.

Also 1 of my eels and my brackishwater stonefish live under these big peices of wood and they have formed the substrate around them to create their own little caves. My eel has only voluntarily left her cave maybe 5-6 times in the years I've had her. My stonefish has NEVER left her cave except when I remove the cave from on top of her. When I return the cave, she can somehow tell and comes right back to it. The entire bottom of my tank is covered with wood decorations. Only a few spots are left open for plants. The rest of the plants grow on/in the wood.

http://www.youtube.com/aquaticheaven

Peace
 
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No offense. If there's one thing you'll find is that everyone has different experiences. Despite the fact that fish/inverts/whatever are itty bitty little things, they still have individual personalities and can act very differently depending on the individual and the situation. No problems there.

When I kept amanos I bought two. One disappeared after a week or two. As is the case with little guys like that, I eventually gave up looking and assumed he had died and been consumed by tankmates. It doesn't take much to gobble up a shrimp, especially with tons of snails hanging around. The other stayed on for about a year. There's a nice driftwood cave he always hid in. I bought a little flashlight to look in on him.

One day, I came into work and found the little stinker in the hallway about 20 feet from the tank on my desk. I looked around and found lots of other information and first hand accounts about people who have lost amanos to escape.

I suppose the better way to phrase it could have been to make sure your tank is covered, they can escape. Noting your experience with crabs, sometimes they just explore naturally and, if they fall out instead of in, they are just as equally screwed whether it was accidental or intentional. To my knowledge, I've never lost a ghost or cherry to escaping, but at least one if not both of my amanos died that way, so I guess you can say they are a breed more prone to that sort of hazard.

Either way, they're a bloody headache to breed.
 
Industrial said:
Does this mean I gradually make the tank go from freshwater to brackish, or do it really quickly all at once?
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I've read varying articles with people attempting a gradual rise in salinity as well as a plop and drop. All with similar successes. I'm currently working with Caridina cf. Propinqua which are similar in respect to breeding. I will also be working with Amano's and Ninja's too.

msjinkzd said:
if you are serious about trying to breed them we could work something out.
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Jinxy, not to hijack or steal anyones thunder, but drop me a line on this as well.

Thx,
 
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