Amano zoe growth rates

[75mav]

Hello all,
I have had some Amano shrimp for a couple years. Last October, I put an egg carrying female into a 2 1/2 gallon tank with Java moss and lots of what I believe to be hair algae. Temp is about 74 F, and I run an outside , air powered filter at a slow rate.

The zoes hatched out in a few days, and I started feeding green water and/or yeast daily. The light stays on, and the algae nearly fills the tank.
I added salt until I had about 3tbl. spoons. Also scraped a calcium pill into powder and added into the tank.

Mom is still in the tank, constantly picking through the algae. She has molted a few times and seems healthy. The other five original shrimp are all doing well, in another tank. They were purchased from a reputable hobby shop, so I am pretty confident they are correctly identified, and they do closely resemble the pictures I have found.

Problem: the zoes doubled in size to about 2mm, then stopped growing, but still seem healthy, and keep flitting around the tank. The algae almost fills the tank, and the zoes swim in and out, so I can't be positive about attrition, but I don't think I have lost many.

How long should it take these guys to change into adults? Should I be weaning them back into fresh water?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Steve Karnisky

[Mustafa]

Hey Steve,

Sounds like your salinity is too low. Get some marine salt and a hydrometer and raise the salinity to at least 17 ppt. A lot of people seem to require full marine conditions (about 30-35 ppt) for the larvae (the adults won't live at such high salinities). Perform a few searches on this forum and on google and you'll get some more details.