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Aquaculture peppermint shrimp larva round two! (1 Viewer)

Chad Vossen

Chad Vossen

Vossen kinda rhymes with awesome
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round one can be seen here: http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6697

this time, i moved 100% of the larva into the new tank with out any losses. i used 5G water from the parent tank and am now dripping new water into the larva tank. i had a small number of brine shrimp ready, when i get home at noon there should be a ton more brine shrimp ready to be fed. its clear as night and day how much stronger this batch is, because, man these guys can swim fast! doesn't take them long to make their way from one end of the tank to the other.

well, here are some pictures of the larva still in the larva catcher. ill have more pictures up later today.

shrimplarva.png

this second picture you can see clearly what they look like, at least some of them. most of them are in that blob of a dog pile.
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How is it that they find their way up that little hole in your catched... just seems like an odd design so what am I missing?
It'd actually be nice having one of those so i can collect fishfood at night!
 
Turf said:
How is it that they find their way up that little hole in your catched... just seems like an odd design so what am I missing?
It'd actually be nice having one of those so i can collect fishfood at night!
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the newborn shrimp are HIGHLY attracted to light (just like clownfish larva). i have a LED light right outside the tank next to the opening, and the air lift creates a flow that sucks the larva into the collection area. the flow is strong enough that they cant escape from the trap.

here are two more pictures, hopefully you'll get a better idea how i have it set up.
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the LED flashlight i got from radioshack, i broke the plastic dome off of it, and put masking tape over the light so it isnt so bright. the shrimp larva go straight towards this light the moment they are born.

this whole setup will work for clownfish too. i just cant wait till my pair start spawning.
 
all the shrimp have had stocked eyes now for two or three days. im watching closely every day to see any more changes. i think the next molt will give them another pair of legs, but im not 100% sure yet. i tried taking pictures, unbelievable how difficult the task is without my old camera... my parents camera doesn't do the job at all. i will keep at the picture taking in hopes of getting one with details.
 
very cool. I'm uber stoked about your stock! It's amazing how hard it is compared to fresh stuff that breeds without so much as your permission...
 
i would have to estimate about 75% of them have survived since the hatch. the first night most of the "weaklings" died off, but i havnt noticed any die offs since. i can expect another die off when they grow their "spear legs", as this seems to be the most difficult molting. after they have their spear legs, all i need to do is keep them fed, and just wait it out.

i think i could estimate at least 50 larva in my tank. no way im going to bother counting them all, not until they are larger.

twice a day i add newly hatched brine shrimp. once the brine shrimp molt into their next stage, they are useless because they are to big to be eaten. after my peppermint shrimp are 2 weeks old, they can handle the 2-3 day old brine shrimp. unfortunately my phytoplankton crashed and i currently have no food to gut load my brine shrimp with, so if anyone thats growing phyto can help me out, send me a PM! ill pay shipping!
 
wes said:
very cool. I'm uber stoked about your stock! It's amazing how hard it is compared to fresh stuff that breeds without so much as your permission...
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well, my shrimp sure don't wait for permission before breeding, all of my saltwater shrimp (and some freshwater shrimp) have a tail full of eggs. its the raising of the larva that is uber hard compared to freshwater. i knew what you meant, but i thought i'd pick on ya.


tag said:
you want some shrimp recipes?:cool:
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Y'know, i would love some recipes. though i dont want to hijack my own thread, so please start up a new thread in the off topic area, or send me a pm! thank you. :beerchug:
 
yes, yes, shrimp are on the easier side, but still, you provided a good home for them. in freshwater livebearers really only need a puddle that's not entirely full of bleach.
 
If you are very careful in your observations you'll notice that they should molt every 2 days for the first 10 days or so.

Their most difficult molt is the one that brings them into metamorphosis. I have had success with only one individual. I had about 10 that were all at the same stage and only one specimen made it to meta.

It is AMAZING to see the size/shape change that happens during meta. The last stage before meta they still look little like the adults, then POOF!! They look like small 3/4"(body) adults.

Good luck.

BTW, the careful observation/turkeybaster/flashlight method of collection is also quite effective and inexpensive. :gay1:
 
oltemative said:
If you are very careful in your observations you'll notice that they should molt every 2 days for the first 10 days or so.

Their most difficult molt is the one that brings them into metamorphosis. I have had success with only one individual. I had about 10 that were all at the same stage and only one specimen made it to meta.

It is AMAZING to see the size/shape change that happens during meta. The last stage before meta they still look little like the adults, then POOF!! They look like small 3/4"(body) adults.

Good luck.

BTW, the careful observation/turkeybaster/flashlight method of collection is also quite effective and inexpensive. :gay1:
Click to expand...

would you believe i have not been able to find a turkey baster that would work for my application anywhere? though i admit i havnt looked very hard, i have not seen any. also, my shrimp light to release their babies on nights that i have to work the next morning, so i cant stay up late checking the tank.

what foods did you use throughout the growth of your shrimp?

i have noticed that they do look "different" but i cant figure out what has changed about them. they just simply look bigger today.

i guess the final molt would be very difficult, all my sources for info have stated this to be a big issue. i will be happy just to make it that far though.
 
wes said:
yes, yes, shrimp are on the easier side, but still, you provided a good home for them. in freshwater livebearers really only need a puddle that's not entirely full of bleach.
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haha, your very right about that. livebearers are always willing to mate.
in my planted tank, all my adult tetras will spawn in the mornings or after water changes.
 
A mix... sometimes I VERY painstakingly fed thawed frozen cyclops. I tried to keep a good population of baby brine shrimp(bbs), but it was difficult and they tend to foul the tank easily. Toward the end, I was using a freeze-dried plankton because it was cheap and I didn't have time to play with them for an hour per night to feed them.

It took MUCH longer than the 25-35 days that Kirkendoll, DIBS, MOFIB all suggest. More like 90+ days. I think the problem was a low temp. I have since raised my rearing tank to 86F, but I have had much lower survival rates. But again, due to time constraints, I have not been able to concentrate on feeding them.

Also, I did not use a Kresel. If you make one, I hear you will have much better success.
 
armagedon48 said:
would you believe i have not been able to find a turkey baster that would work for my application anywhere? though i admit i havnt looked very hard, i have not seen any.
Click to expand...

I got mine from Wal-mart.
 
oltemative said:
I think I got mine at Cub.
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hypertech said:
I got mine from Wal-mart.
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thank you, i havnt been to either for 2 years or more though, hehe. cash wise or target are where i go. as an alternative, i have been using pipettes for as long as i have had my reef, but the opening is to small for the baby peppermint shrimps. for the larva, i will need to purchase a turkey baster. yet another piece of equipment to add to the clutter :), thanks guys :biggthumpup:
 
Well, If your collector is working, no need for the baster. Right?

Stage two for the shrimp should be noticeable in the tail. The z1 is how they hatch, z2 has the stalk eyes and 3 white-ish spots on the tail, z3 has 5 less prominent spots on the tail. z4 is noticeably bigger and the antennae develop, and if they are lucky, very small spear legs will appear. the next several stages they develop longer spear legs and more (and more developed) antennae.
 
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