Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Great photos and I like your technique for isolating the females to improve breeding success.

I know I talked about it in the other thread, but I made a mistake when isolating mine. I did well to isolate them in floating guppy breeder tanks to prevent egg loss due to harrassment, but I didn't provide enough shelter for them to feel safe enough to hold onto their eggs long enough for them all to develop completely. So they still lost too many eggs due to the stress of floating in a transparent plastic box with no shelter to hide in.

In the future, I will either isolate them in full size tanks or add a very thin layer of substrate to the guppy breeder and include something to hide under such as a leaf or small piece of pipe.

Would a net breeder be more suitable than the plastic box type? It's a simple matter to cut 2 pieces of styrofoam to convert a net breeder from hanging to floating. There would be more water circulation, and more floorspace for cover. A few small pieces of plastic plants, mixed with some leaf litter seems like a good cover arrangement, and the tiny crayfish would have at least some food available constantly between regular feedings.

I spotted the smallest female carrying eggs again, this time they look fertile. I left her in the 30, but placed a diveder in the tank to isolate her from the other crayfish while she carries/hatches the eggs. There is a double sponge filter, plenty of cover, several java ferns, and 2 shrimp in her section of the tank. The gravel is quite loaded with debris, as I found when I stirred it up to situate the divider. Would it be better to leave the tank undisturbed as much as possible, or to siphon the gravel immediately? There is another double sponge filter on the other end of the tank, so circulation of the water isn't a problem. I'm mainly wondering about the debris, mostly poop from the snails, shrimp, and crayfish. Is it a beneficial source of micro-critters for the new crayfish when they hatch, or just a source of water pollution between partial changes?

I keep apple snails (loads of them) with my cajuns along with a load of hornwort in my 30 gallon breader. The bottom is pea gravel giving hatchlings loads of hiding places. I think it is beneficial looking at the survival rate I'm getting. Keep up with the water changes though.

Last night I isolated the berried female, this morning I found an orange male on her side of the divider. The bugger must have found a small gap somewhere; so much for plan "A".

The instinct to mate will always make them find a plan B Please let us know when the eggs hatch.