Hello, first post

[krazy]

Hi and happy weekend every one,

I wanted to say that I found this site a few weeks ago and liked it very much. Great information on different species. Now, I'll try to keep my story short:

About 6 months ago I bought some shrimp online advertised as 'Ghost/Glass shrimp farm raised in the USA'. I thought some ghost shrimp would help clean up a small soil tank that I was raising tetras in. But these were unlike any ghost shrimp I've ever seen before. I believe they are a Macrobrachium of some sort, possibly Lanchesteri. (insert picture here if I can)

Daddy


Mommy



But they did a heck of a job cleaning up the tank and didn't bother the juvenille tetras. I've also had them in with full grow angels and they did just fine. They don't hide all day in a community tank. They're out playing around. And the longer I have them, the more I like them. They breed like crazy so I decided to let them breed them in the tank after I removed the tetras. But only 3 made it to juvenille state.

Stortly there after, I was walking by the pet store when the cutest little 7 gallon tank followed me home. I thought that would make a great nursery tank for baby shrimp. And I set it up with everything a larval shrimp could want. (At least I hope I did)

It's now a one month old soil tank with a sponge filter and low lighting. the bottom is covered in grasses. With hornwort floating on the top. Driftwood covered in java and Xmas mosses mid tank. Some dwarf crypt and roundifolia for height and coverage. Then I 'seeded' it with plankton. There's daphnia, rotifers and copepods. And whether I like it or not there's MTS, Mr. Limpid and his microworm friends.

Also for food I have frozen brine shrimp (I will thaw and use the liquid) Powdered flake and phytoplankton liquified. And will start an infusion of shrimp and boiled egg yolk. And I have some artemia food. I hope that will be a good start.

The water specs are:
Temp 72 degrees (the parent tank is 79)
Ph 78
GH 75
Alkalinity 120ppm
Calcium 80 ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates trace
Phosphates trace
TDS 150 (out of the tap is 100)

For water changes, I will swap out 70% of the water in the 7 gallon with water out of the parent tank before I move the first mom in. I will use the parent tank as a prefilter because my well water has a lot of minerals. So I'll do a 20% water change on the adult tank and use some that water to do a 15% water change on the baby tank 3 times a week. (if that makes any sense)

So the next batch is due in about a week. Is there anything I missed? Its a 3 hour drive to the fish store which doesn't really stock much. And about a week to get anything online. So I better act quickly.

Much thanks
Krazy [/img]

[Mustafa]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Yes, those are Macrobrachium lanchesteri, sold as ghost/glass shrimp outside the US (in the US Palaemontes sp. are called ghost/glass shrimp). I doubt, however, that these shrimp are being bred anywhere in the US. They are very common all over south and southeast asia and are shipped all over the world as "glass/ghost shrimp" from there. That's probably how your seller got the shrimp.

As you have already found out, breeding them is similar to breeding Palaemonetes paludosus, except that M. lanchesteri produce a lot more eggs and their larvae need longer to reach the postlarval stage (i.e. become miniature shrimp).

It seems like you're doing everything right as far as I can tell. You might want to raise the temperature to close to 80 degrees to accelerate larval development.

I am not sure if using soil in your tank is a good idea, though. The soil will release a lot of dissolved organics into the water, which shrimp are sensitive to (and larvae even more sensitive). Well, to really find out you'll have to try I guess. If you put your female in your tank keep her under close observation. If she starts acting unusually, just sits around and/or becomes milky and does not eat, take her out immeiately. If she is fine and releases the larvae, but none of the larvae survive, then you might want to consider taking the soil out of the tank.

Also, some of your test values don't seem to make sense. TDS/conductivity includes alkalinity and gh (and many other ions on top of those) as it measures all conductive ions in the water. If TDS is 150 ppm then Alkalinity + GH cannot possibly be more than the TDS value. But in your case it is: 120 + 75 = 195 ppm. I did not count calcium as it is already included in gh. So, something is wrong with your measurements as TDS is usually higher than alkalinity + gh. Right or wrong, you don't really have to change anything with your water, but I thought I'd let you know that there is a measurement problem.

Palaemonid shrimp like M. lanchesteri, Palaemonetes paludosus and others have very interesting personalities. They are very interesting shrimp indeed and highly underrated and underappreciated due to ther usually low price (as many of them are sold as feeder shrimp unfortunately).

Please keep us updated on your progress with breeding these shrimp.

[Kenshin]

Beautiful shrimp...way to go!

[krazy]

Mustafa,

Thanks for the id. and the welcome. I based my choices primarily on information gathered on your site. I for one really appreciate the time and effort you have gone to in providing a knowledge base for the hobby. And will use it in the future if I decide to expand my shrimp line up.

I will get the temp up on the tank and keep an eye on the females. I understand you hesitation about soil tanks. But the adults have been living in a 4 year old soil tank for the last 6 months. And I had regular ghost shrimp for 2 years before that. So I'm not worried about the adults, the larval babies on the other hand...time will tell.

And thanks Kenshin,
Krazy

[Mustafa]

So I'm not worried about the adults, the larval babies on the other hand...time will tell.

Please keep us updated on your progress. Good luck!

[fishgeek]

fabulous photography , what camera do you use?

andrew

[krazy]

Thanks Andrew, That's a Pentax DSLR. I went that way because I had a some really good Pentax 35mm lens that I didn't want to give up. Despite all the glass I have, I've never owned a macro lens. So that's with an old 50mm lens and a 2x close up filter. The female is in a scratched up acrylic tank that's why it has kind of a gaussian appearance. Got to work with what you have.

I'd like to get a new digital macro lens but first I've have to keep these fish tanks from following me home. Glass is breaking me one way or the other.

[krazy]

Little update:

My first mommy is due tonight. But due to techincal difficulties I didn't get her moved. I've had heater problems and had to play musical heaters to find one that worked in that little tank. My next two females are due on June 2nd and 3rd. If the temperature holds I'll move them in a couple of days.

I'll keep you posted
Krazy

[Neonshrimp]

Did they all deliver on time? Any complications? Please update, I am eger to find out.

Thanks.

[krazy]

We have floaters!

May 31
Moved two pregnant females into the 7 gallon tank. Temperature stable at 80 degrees. They didn't mind moving. They loved being in a tank filled with live food and quickly decimated my plankton population. And refused to eat anything else.

June 2
Both females look like they're giving up some larva tonight though I can't see any floaters. Did a 1 gallon water change since there's uneaten food in the tank. And left a low watt light burn all night.

June 3
In the morning I was examining the remaining plankton population with a maginfing glass. And oh, there goes a floater! And another and another. Looks like maybe a dozen bobbing around. The moms are still heavy with eggs.

Fed some liquified flake and plankton. A few drops several times a day.

Late in the evening, I watched one of the mom's start shooting out babies. Then the other one started. Soon the water was covered in floaters. Left the light on all night.

June 4th
The moms were scarfing on the babies when I got up this morning. Still dozens left. The moms were still holding 15-20 eggs but they're eating more than that so I pulled them out. And added more plankton.

Some of the babies are actively 'hunting' and eating food at the top and bottom of the tank. Others just hang there. So far, the liquified flake, a crumb of boiled egg yolk, the dust out of a can of floating pellets and just stirring up the food at the bottom of the tank are working best.

Did a 1 gallon water change. Pulled the tired moss and hornwort out and replaced it with fresh.

It's raining babies

[Neonshrimp]

It looks great, hope you have fun! Great pics by the way.

Thanks!

[Starringme]

I like the title! Raining babies!

Cheers! And welcome to the fourm!

[Earthgoddess]

Very nice images congratulations Thanks for sharing

[krazy]

June 6th

I did a head count today. Looks like everybody still there for the most part. I can easily count over 100. Then I noticed that some of them look different. They're no longer little floaters just hanging around. Now they look more like a backwards Z with a hook at the bottom. And as I was watching them, they were zipping around catching moinas. And yes, it looks like my small plankton population is diminishing. I didn't expect them to grow up so fast.


See the cute one in the middle? That's what they used to look like. Now look at the evil looking one on the right. The monsters they're becoming



June 4th



June 6th



Sorry, never got any good baby pictures!

[badflash]

What are they eating?