Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Since last Saturday, I have roughly about 50 to 60 amano zoes in saltwater. About 4 days prior (when the female dropped the first of the larvae) I started the saltwater (double strength) with phytoplex and fertilizer. When I filled up the fresh water tank with 1/2 of this saltwater the water turned a slight green. I have been adding a few drops of phytoplex from the bottle every day since Saturday and also a couple of drops of spiritulina flakes soaked in saltwater and pressed through a cloth. I would like to know if anyone can tell me, if I need to feed them every day or if the "green" water will be enough to keep them going, or how can I tell if I have to feed them more. Can too much phytoplex foul the water? Or could the spiritulina flakes? It is impossible to count the zoes but it appears that they are still as numerous as last Saturday so I believe they get enough, but I am afraid I might feed too much. Any help will be appreciated. This is my first attempt.

Just use green water. As long as you have particles in the water and a good green color, don't add more. The less you do the better. Flake will foul the water. The algae will actually clean the water.

Good luck & keep us posted!

Have you raised some before? If so, how many times did you do water changes? And how large? I have a gallon of saltwater with phytoplex on the back porch in direct sunlight so I figured the night before a water change I bring the milk jug in and get it to room temps but I am not sure how much and how often I should change the water. I have done it on the second day but I believe every 2 days is too often. When I changed the water I put a filter bag over the vaccum, so the shrimp were safe but it did not remove small particles on the bottom of the tank either. It just stirred them up and then they settled again.
I raised brine shrimp to adulthood before. They were supposed to be food for my fish but then I got attached to the little guys and just let them live out their short life. Never done that since. They never reproduced either, but this gave me a bit of experience but not enough for the amanos. Thanks for your help.

Most of my losses followed water changes. I would vacuum the bottom to remove water, then drip feed it in to replace. There is another member that just posted that they have succeeded. Perhaps they can describe what they did.

badflash wrote:Most of my losses followed water changes.

Why do you think that happened? Was it a result of changes in water chemistry?

I'm wondering because I want to try my hand at raising larval shrimp (zoe).

I was not using aged aquarium water, and I think that was the problem. I did not have another salt water tank running to get water from. Even in R/O water there is stuff the zoes can't deal with.

I think the best way is to have a grow light on the hood and let the green water grow in the tank. Feed nutrients to the tank to keep the green going and do no water changes.

Hopefully our new member wll update us.

ahh, I see. I'm kind of a compulsive water changer so I'm going to have to re-train myself

Yes, hopefully I will get tips from the other thread.