M. Rosenbergii Growth

BM · Post by BM » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:36 am

Hello. I have a 5" (body only) M. Rosenbergii (got from petco when it was 1"). My questions I have him in a 10 gallon tank, would that stop or slow down his growth rate? I live in on campus so I can't have any larger tanks.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 8:05 pm

Since I have never owned a M. rosenbergii I have no idea if their growth gets stunted or not. Stunted or not, even a stunted version would be way too large for a 10 gallon and would produce so much waste that the water in a ten gallon would become instable. A fully grown M. rosenbergii would not even bee able to turn around in a ten gallon. If I were looking I'd be looking for a more appropriate new home for the shrimp one way or another.

chlorophyll · Post by **chlorophyll** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:46 am

With an average overflow filter, an individual can be housed in a 10 gallon for a long time. My professor who is an expert of M. rosenbergii biology does this.... however it clearly isn't an ideal living space. About a square meter would be much better for an individual large adult male. Growth should be slowing for yours right about now too, and from what I've seen they (male ones) sort of top off at about 6 inches in that kind of captivity... and then may grow only at a very very slow rate from there. You shouldn't have to fear it being 10 inches a year from now. They also don't feed as voraciously, or move from their chosen cozy spot as much, as they get bigger.

Big variable is how much you feed it. If you let it gorge itself twice a day, it'll grow more and foul the water faster. But it's not really necessary to feed it like that. A modest daily feeding should suffice and allow the tank to handle the rate of waste production reasonably well. It's also improtant to lay off feeding when they're about to molt because uneaten food will foul quickly.

In short, it wouldn't be a disaster to try to keep it in a 10 gallon, if that's really the best option you have. But it would probably be better off with more.

prawnman88 · Post by **prawnman88** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 6:39 pm

wow petco can they order them im lhaving a hell of a time getting just one help please help !!!!!!1

BM · Post by BM » Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:01 am

Holy crap! My prawn just molted last night, but something extraordinary happened. Until now everytime it molts, the size of its arms would grow proportional to the growth of it's body. But during this last molt, the body grew the same, but its arms grew at least 2 times its orginal length. The spines on the arms are 3mm long and developed a black tip to it and the bottom half of the pinchers (the part that pivots) is thicker than a pencil. Now it looks like one of those pictures I see of adult males. It is now 7.5"-8" body and about 20" with arms streched out. I'm going to buy a bigger tank.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:38 am

Get a 40L. That will hold a full grown male and a female or two. I watch one molt the other night. Their new shell is sort of folded up and inflates when the old shell comes off. In just a little bit if fills up and the shrimp almost doubles in size. Its legs were too soft to hold it up for a couple of hours, so I can see why they need protection.

GunmetalBlue · Post by **GunmetalBlue** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:38 am

badflash wrote:Get a 40L.

Hey Badflash, here's a link for you and anyone who needs it - a metric converter: http://convert.french-property.co.uk/

I only bring it up because 40L according to this site equals 10.56691 gal, and wasn't sure if that's what you meant

.

-GB

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:04 am

Looks like there is more than one designation. 40L is the designation for my tank and it means 40 gallon Long. It is the larges of the breeder tanks that are readily available. Thanks for the clarification. A 10 gallon tank wouldn't hold these guys for long.

I forget this is an international forum.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:35 pm

Here is one out of left field. Now that my prawns are 4"+ I put a 3" Koi in the tank with them as I had no place else to put the koi. He is a wonderfull addition to the tank! This thing is a living vacuum cleaner. Before I was sucking out all sorts of muck every week from stuff left over from the snails & shrimp, now ther is NOTHING.

I would not suggest such a tank mate for smaller shrimp, but for large prawns, this is something to try.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:21 pm

Here is one of my 4.5" Blue claws:

He was 3/8" around December 1st. 2005

Here is a baby picture taken around December 9 2005

This happened in just 3 months! That black heater in the background of the first picture is what the babies were hiding under in the 2nd picture.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:49 am

Here is "big blue" a couple of days after the molt. Check out those arms!

Caridina sp. · Post by **Caridina sp.** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:14 pm

I love these little aquatic battletanks.. Nice shots badflash share your tank and water specs please.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:45 am

The tank is just temporary. I have several 10 gallon tanks to hold them for now but will be getting some more 40 gallon breeder tanks before long. I need to clean out some junk in the basement to make room. Water specs are simple. Really hard around 200 ppm total hardness & about 180 KH. pH is 7.5. This is the same in all my hard water tanks as I'm just using town water with Amquel+ to condition it. The main tank is a 40 gallon with 8 in it. As the Blue Claws show up I pull them out and put them in a smaller tank to keep the peace. I have one rehabilitating. He got into a fight and lost one arm and all the legs on one side. Hopefully he'll molt soon and get his legs back.

raptor83 · Post by **raptor83** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:42 pm

I just wondered if anyone could please tell me if using an airstone/air pump would be essential to keep an M. rosenbergii?
Thanks in advance

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:35 pm

I can't say it is essential, but it couldn't hurt. It really depends on your setup and what sort of filtration you have. In my 40 gallon tank I have a power wheel which is very good at oxygenating. In one 10 gallon tank I use just a bubble powere dunder gravel filter. In another I use an over the side whisper filter sucking through an under gravel filter and I use a bubbler there. High oxygen levels reduce the agression of this species. When any parameter in their environment gets out of kilter, they kill the others to preserve themselves.