Breeding Ghost Shrimp

H

hadjici2

AC Members
Jun 24, 2005
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Hello there,

I have 5 ghost shrimp in a planted 120L aquarium. I havent seen them with any eggs yet though. Can I do something so they could have eggs?

Thanks.
 
It's slow going

The only way I've been able to determine gender (and it's not a sure way, either) is that the female ghosts will carry a bit more size over the males from the same brood. As far as adults go, the females are still a somewhat larger, but the difference is not as pronounced as when they are younger.

I breed them using a 3-gal Eclipse w/ sponge filter over the intake tube. The sponge is then wrapped in pantyhose to prevent the filter from pulling in the young ghosts after they hatch.

Once I see a female shrimp gravid with dark, olive eggs, I transfer her from my 10gal shrimp tank to the Eclipse. Once she drops the eggs, I remove her and drop finely powderized pellet food into the Eclipse on a regular basis. The free-swimming juveniles usually have about a 50%-75% survival rate using this feeding method.

Also, adding a pinch of iodized salt to the tank works wonders for these guys.

They take a long, long time to mature. Months, if I remember correctly. I haven't bred any in a while.

v/r, N-A
 
Native American said:
The only way I've been able to determine gender (and it's not a sure way, either) is that the female ghosts will carry a bit more size over the males from the same brood. As far as adults go, the females are still a somewhat larger, but the difference is not as pronounced as when they are younger.

I breed them using a 3-gal Eclipse w/ sponge filter over the intake tube. The sponge is then wrapped in pantyhose to prevent the filter from pulling in the young ghosts after they hatch.

Once I see a female shrimp gravid with dark, olive eggs, I transfer her from my 10gal shrimp tank to the Eclipse. Once she drops the eggs, I remove her and drop finely powderized pellet food into the Eclipse on a regular basis. The free-swimming juveniles usually have about a 50%-75% survival rate using this feeding method.

Also, adding a pinch of iodized salt to the tank works wonders for these guys.

They take a long, long time to mature. Months, if I remember correctly. I haven't bred any in a while.

v/r, N-A
Click to expand...

But I have waited for a year now and none of the 5 shrimp had eggs. How many times a year do they have eggs? How often I mean....I think I ll get more shrimp, do you think that it may increase the chances of breeding?
 
that is highly unlikely. when you buy them, you can look for the gravid females already. that's what i did. the young shrimp did hatch, but the parents massacred them before i could get to them. males are generally smaller than females, so when you do choose to buy a lot of them and they all seem like they are adults, choose the larger ones. walmart always has gravid females when i go.
 
It's been a while since I've had to know any names for inverterbrate anatomy so bare with me here. You should be able to tell the difference between male and female ghost shrimp by looking at the abdomen(tail). Females hold their eggs on the swimmerets, located under the abdomen. Because of this, they also have larger "plates" on the sides of their abdomen to help protect the eggs. So, just look at the abdomen. If it's a female, her abdomen will appear to be "taller" than that of a male. Good luck.
 
mtiller said:
that is highly unlikely. when you buy them, you can look for the gravid females already. that's what i did. the young shrimp did hatch, but the parents massacred them before i could get to them. males are generally smaller than females, so when you do choose to buy a lot of them and they all seem like they are adults, choose the larger ones. walmart always has gravid females when i go.
Click to expand...

If they are not gravid.....is it possible to become gravid in the aquarium and if yes under what conditions?
 
like Ghostshrimp55 stated, the plates on her abdomen should be longer where her swimmerretts are. like much longer than a males. i don't know under what conditions they breed, so i can't help you on that one.
 
I have been able to breed ghost shrimp without trying. My females always seemed to carry green eggs, without any effort on my part. A lot of good info has been given here. If you require more details, try www.petshrimp.com. There are many extremely knowledgeable folks there who specifically breed shrimp, who would be able to give you detailed pointers :)

As Ghostshrimp said, it is possible to sex shrimp even without the presence of eggs. Females have a brood pouch structure on their abdomens designed to carry eggs while males do not.

Ghost shrimp are not one of the FW species of dwarf shrimp that requrie brackish or salt water to spawn. Their life cycle is totally freshwater, lucky for you :) In terms of conditions needed to spawn ghosties, I think all you need are healthy, well-fed shrimp and clean water.
 
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