Macro Shrimp

[Danimal62]

Pacalan,
Were you able to raise the larva to adulthood? If so, I would love to hear how you went about doing it!

 

[pacalan]

I don't exactly have an answer for that. I had 2 babies (actual baby shrimp, not larvae) in a breeder net in my main tank. They were doing great for about a month, but they managed to escape the net somehow. I'm hoping that they are hiding in the plants. A better scenario would be them hiding in the caves behind the vampire shrimp where there is no way that the fish would be able to get at them, but I really don't know where they went. They are very small and grow slowly (at least compared to amano), making them difficult to spot even in the breeder net. It all makes me that much more anxious to trying raising them again.

 

[Danimal62]

What method did you use to get them to that point? Did you use full strenght salt water? Do you have any pictures of these shrimp?

 

[pacalan]

I've had better luck in less than full marine salinity for larvae raising, like mid 20's ppt. In fact, my latest batch of amano is booming. I don't think that I've encountered any larval loss at all, which is starting to make me worried about having enough space in my hatching tank for them to grow. Over 200 shrimp is a lot bodies to house.

I have some pictures of the bamboo, but they aren't very good. It was near impossible to focus in on them in the breeder net, especially with the powerhead being nearby, causing the netting to constantly move around. About the only recognizable feature is their prominent backstripe. The picture of the shrimp in the freshwater acclimation is much better, but its fans weren't developed to the point of opening and being usable for filter feeding.

 

[pixl8r]

...In fact, my latest batch of amano is booming. I don't think that I've encountered any larval loss at all, which is starting to make me worried about having enough space in my hatching tank for them to grow. Over 200 shrimp is a lot bodies to house.

Start selling the juvenile shrimp on Aquabid.com. It's fantastic that you're sticking with rearing such a labor intensive species. Good luck!

 

[pacalan]

Thanks for the tip! I have made some arrangements to sell this batch to some local fish stores, so I'm not worried about having to house them indefinitely. I just need to accomodate them until they grow large enough to sell. They have only recently come out of the saltwater and are pretty small. So, there's plenty of room at the moment, but it should get interesting once they start growing. I hope that I won't have to upgrade the size of my hatching/growing tank yet again....