Raising amano shrimp

[Mr. Wiggles]

Hi all,

This might be a little OT, but since it relates to marine shrimp I thought I would ask it here.

A friend of mine has some amano shrimp that are carrying eggs in his planted FW tank. From my reading it seems like the baby shrimp are washed out to sea where they develop and then the juveniles migrate back to freshwater.

My question is: Has anyone on RC attempted to raise baby amano shrimp, and if so could you provide me with some details (food, lighting, time etc)?

I am seriously considering to try and raise a batch or two of these baby shrimp as a fun side project.

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

[Calappidae]

Caridina multidentata?

They are VERY difficult to breed as you said.

Here is an interesting write up of the process:

http://gabhar.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/breeding-amano/

[Mr. Wiggles]

Hey thanks for the link. I read through that already, and was hoping maybe someone has some more detailed/first-hand information to relay.

Since the FW tank isn't mine I can't say for sure, but those certainly look like the Amano shrimp he has in his tank. He recently added a couple more smaller males and his first two large females have been carrying eggs for a week and a half now.

When you mention difficult to breed are you referring to raising the zoe in saltwater or even getting the broodstock to have and release the zoe in freshwater. I feel that it is probably a longshot to raise any of these to the juvenile stage but thought it might be fun to try anyways.

I was thinking of setting up a 5-10g tank with some fresh saltwater with a small air bubbler and maybe a small clump of Chaeto algae to seed some copepods into the tank and then add some DT phyto once the zoe are released. From there I think I would add more phyto and crush pellet food and see what happens. If nothing else I could always feed some of them to my reef fish, I am sure they would go nuts for them.

[Calappidae]

The fry are very difficult to keep alive. They are usually destroyed by filteration, and in these shrimp's case.. need saltwater after they hatch if you can manage catching them all without damaging them (No nets!)

Also consituring your filteration is limited to a very dialed down bubbler.. keeping the water quality ideal for their survival is also a big issue, new born shrimp usually can't take the slightest spike in nitrates. I personally haven't had first hand experience with breeding these guys.. I've had them before (we called them japanese algea eating shrimp) but as for spawning no luck.

Also might want to be careful in an actual saltwater tank since alot of predatory hitchhikers would make a meal of the fry.

[Mr. Wiggles]

Interesting. I really appreciate your comments.

From what I had read it almost sounds like most of the people who raised the zoe didn't do much in the way of water changes (I thought this was odd personally). I think I will try to do some regular water changes to keep the nitrates down and the water quality up.

I think that you might be right that introducing some chaeto algae would be a bad idea since it could introduce some predators into the tank. If we end up having a hatch of the babies and I try to raise them I will try to post my progress and success/failures.

I am excited to give it a try and see where it takes me.

[Mr. Wiggles]

What is the general consensus on raising these sort of positively photo-active zoe?

I am considering setting up a small 5g tank with a sponge filter, or modifying a goldfish bowl to serve as a kreisel. I am not sure which method would result in the best chances for sucess.

Let me know!
Thanks.