Breeding Atyopsis moluccensis

[miketoe]

I have been buying a lot of Atyopsis moluccensis from PetSmart because they rule and I was hoping I could get some of them to breed. I thought that to do so would be quite easy, because I had encountered the following info on "LiveAquaria.com":

The "Singapore Flower Shrimp" [this is LiveAquaria.com's name for Atyopsis moluccensis] is considered a "Higher Order Decapod" when describing their reproduction method. The eggs are carried by the mother for approximately 28 days. When the eggs hatch, the young are almost fully developed and look like a miniature form of their parents. The fry do not require different foods than the parents, just smaller in size.

This, however, completely contradicts the info that I just discovered here on Petshrimp.com (which is under "Asian Filter Shrimp"):

. . . larvae go through several planktonic stages before metamorphosing into post-larvae (miniature shrimp) and assuming a benthic lifestyle. For this process they need brackish water to full strength saltwater. . . . It is somewhat diffcult to breed this shrimp as its larvae need saltwater to mature into post-larvae. Getting them to produce eggs does not seem to be a problem when given the right conditions, however rearing the larvae requires quite a bit of effort. At the time of this writing there are no reports of successful breeding of this shrimp.

Which of the above is correct, does anyone know??? Thank you.

[YuccaPatrol]

This website here is correct. Mustafa makes a great effort to ensure that his informaton is correct and current. Some other sites simply want to sell you something and don't even know what they are selling!

Live Aquaria also has their Red Cherry shrimp labeled with an incorrect species name (Caridina serrata) and they call them "Cherry Fire Shrimp" and have incorrect breeding information on them, stating that they cannot be bred in freshwater.

[miketoe]

I wrote to LiveAquaria.com asking them to confirm/prove that Atyopsis moluccensis is a higher order decapod and therefore is easy to breed, etc., as they had stated. I recieved the following response the next day:

Thank you for your email. We have forwarded your e-mail to our Aquatic Specialists for further review and appreciate the information you have sent to us. We will e-mail any information we are able to provide regarding this specimen to you.

Then, I never heard another word. I had a feeling that what they would do is never directly acknowledge me---their (sort of) loyal customer!---and my concern with the care info that they publish, but would just correct the info online without saying a word, as if to suggest that it had always been correct. I checked just now, and sure enough it now says:

They are extremely difficult to breed going through many planktonic stages before reaching miniature adult stage and need brackish to full strength saltwater.

the wording of which seems to have been taken directly from this website!

[TKD]

Take a look at their cherry page and see how many mistakes you can find.

TKD

[Shrimp&Snails]

Take a look at their cherry page and see how many mistakes you can find.

TKD

LOL i'm not sure if my favourite is...

"It should be housed with small peaceful fish or koi that will not pose a threat of eating these shrimp."

...or.....

"The Cherry Fire Shrimp is very difficult to breed, and very few have been able to raise the larvae to maturity."