Shrimp babies???

[ReefGimp]

So tonight about 3 hours after the lights go out I look in my 5 1/2 gallon with a flashlight and what do I see.....a virtual snowstorm. First I thought my calcium had precipitated, since I have been raising it toward the 500 ppm level over the past few days...then I noticed my cleaner shrimp running all over the tank catching the "snow"....after looking a little closer I realized what it was...babies...

Now, I just added an emerald crab today, but I figure these are shrimp fry...I ran and got my camera and snapped off a few shots.....I think I remember reading that mortality is pretty much zero, am I right? If nothing else I guess I may have a nice future supply of zooplankton...

Another question came to me then, in a 5 1/2 gallon, will I have a problem with nutrient load from all the babies??

 

[danmhippo]

I think these are mysid shrimp instead of cleaner shrimp fry. Cleaner shrimp fry does not resemble cleaner shrimp at that size. I will not worry about nutrient level at this point...........water change is fairly simple in a tank that size anyway.

 

[liquid]

Nope, those are definitely not mysid shrimp. Here's a picture of a mysid:

and here's a picture of the above larvae compared to peppermint shrimp larvae. Peppermint shrimp lavae and cleaner shrimp larvae are very similar to one another so my vote is that it's cleaner shrimp larvae. Larval pics from Peppermint Shrimp by April Kirkendoll.

Shane

 

[tazdevil]

FWIR, if you have any fish present, these will be a natural food source for them. I wouldn't worry about an increased bioload, if your actually able to get them to adult size, I'm sure and LFS would love to take some off your hands (or many of us as well).

 

[danmhippo]

Shane, thanks for the clarification. Learned something today.....

How many days has it been since you last noticed the shrimps has eggs. If you still recalls, you can count if your shrimp larvae has passed the critical periods.

 

[dizzy]

Shane,

If the peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp larvae are similar, is there much difference in rearing them? I know ORA and other places rear the peppermints, but I not seen cultured scarlet cleaners on price lists. I think I saw in Sea Scope that some place in England had raised the cleaners or maybe it was the blood reds. Are rotifers a suitable first food for shrimp larvae?

 

[liquid]

Probably your best bet would be to get April Kirkendoll's How To Raise and Train Your Peppermint Shrimp: A Hobbyist's Guide To raising saltwater Aquarium Shrimp From Egg to Adult. It was reviewed in AAOLM back in January by Doug Robbins:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... review.htm

The cost of the book is $12 so it's not much of a strain on the pocketbook.

FWIW, they're not the easiest things to rear but it can be done. Typically peppermints have a 5-8 week larval stage before they finally settle. During the larval stage there's a lot of mortality. Cleaners and blood shrimp are even more complex to rear, again due to their long larval stage, mortality, and food needs. It can be done, but there's a lot of work involved and really isn't for the faint-of-heart. From what I remember, you need to be culturing phyto as well as brine shrimp from freshly hatched bbs to full adult brine shrimp.

hth

Shane

 

[reefland]

First decent pics I've seen a hobbyist take of cleaner shrimp babies. Very cool.

 

[ReefGimp]

Thanks for all the info everyone! Actually what is funny is I never noticed any eggs on my cleaners, and as they eat pretty much from my hand I would have thought I would have seen something. I just need to keep on the lookout. If this is indeed a spawning pair now, would this be an isolated even, or could I expect it again in the near future. If that is the case, I may be able to be a little better prepared next time.

Thanks for the compliment on the pictures...lucky shot. When I realized what was going on, I put a flashlight against the tank and turned off my powerheads, most of the babies went right for the light and I tried to snap off as many pictures as I could....I'm still learning my new camera so maybe next time I can get a better shot.

Thanks again for everyones help!!!

 

[danmhippo]

Cleaners spawns very often (in the matter of a couple of weeks I believe). So be on the look out for more.