MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
Ok this will be a diary of my attempt to raise young Amano shrimp from egg to adult.
It may end in total disaster, in which case this diary will be quite short. I'm hoping to get at least some of them through to adult, however I start with practically no knowledge on the subject
Background:
During the recent spell of hot weather in the UK, my 130L Tropiquarium started to suffer from the heat and some of the plants Intook a turn for the worse and I decided to remove them. Typical water temp duing this time was about 80 degs (+/- 2 degs).
Shortly after this I noticed a female Caridina japonica (Amano) shrimp carrying what looked like a fully load of eggs.
Links: I've found the following links useful during this
Salinity converter (SG to PPT)
http
/www.reefs.org/survey/salinity_conversion.html
Very useful for us 'non-salty' types when trying to relate Specific Gravity to Parts Per Thousand of salt.
Amano Shrimp:
http/mikes-machine.mine.nu/breeding_yamato.htm - Very good article
http/www.aquariumadvice.com/profiles/8_20_en.html
http/caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/
http/caridinajaponicabreeding.blogspot.com/
Bloo's thread http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=132630
This thread of Bloo's was the catalyst that encouraged me to give it a try. (Many thanks Bloo)
OK I'll start with a brain dump of everything I've done so far.
Comments/advice/suggestions are always welcome !
=============================================================
Sat 29 Jul:
Shortly after removing the plants I noticed one of the shrimp carrying a large mass of dark grey/green eggs. I've had shrimp in the tank for just over 4 months. This was the first time I've seen one of the shrimp laden with eggs.
Unclear if this was due to any or all of the following
> Female shrimp reaching maturity (I suspect this is the reason - but only a guess)
> Increase in water temp due to recent hot weather Or
> Just noticed this for the first time as there are now far less plants in the tank. Maybe it's been going on before and I'd missed it !
Sun 30 Jul:
I already know that hatching the eggs and raising the young is not
Easy and requires salt water fo the young to survive.
Over and above that, I know very little.
Time to start trawling the web for some info and posting a few questions. See the links at the top of this post.
Mon 31 Jul:
Whilst checking on the female with eggs, I noticed I now have a Second egg carrying female - this complicates things a little, but should be able to cope with both batches as they are so close together.
I now have a better idea on how to attempt to raise these shrimp. After much reading, I've decided to go for a full marine salinity (30-35ppt) rather than brackish (17ppt).
Prepared a 5Gal isolation tank with 50% tap and 50% water from main tank. This tank is my standby hospital tank and will be used only for the females to lay the eggs.
As I dont have a marine tank or any experience/equipment for measuring the salinity I contacted a LFS that keeps marine fish. They can supply me with RO mixed salt water (for a small charge). Feeding the larvae requires phytoplankton/greenwater.
For this I have decided to try Kent Plytoplex (
http/www.kentmarine.com/saltwater/ppx.html) it seems ideally suited to the job, but time will tell.
Tues 01 Aug: to Fri 04 Aug:
I had planned to move the shrimp to the isolation tank today, but it
seems the heater was defective. Down to the LFS for a new 25W heater, also picked up a small air pump. I'll leave the tank to get up to temp for 24 hours, the shrimp dont look like they are about to drop the eggs, I've read they can carry them for a number of weeks (4 - 6), but I don’t know how long they've already carried them for.
The female shrimp were moved to the isolation tank today (02 Aug).
The tank is 5Gal, has and 11W light, has no substrate and just a small artificial rock and piece of bogwood with moss attached. They seem to have settled in OK and are acting normally
No noticeable change in females. Collected saltwater from LFS (SG 1021 / 30ppt)
Kent Phytoplex arrived (ebay).
Setup larvae tank. 10Ltrs saltwater, airpump with tube clamped to control airflow.
Placed in kitchen window with natural sunglight and added some Phytoplex.
Sat 05 Aug: to Tues 8 Aug:
There has been a noticeable change in one of the females. The eggs are a much lighter colour (light brown/tan)
I have enough equipment to run at least one more (maybe another 2) saltwater larvae growing tanks. I’ll set the others up and split the larvae between them, then if one tank fails I still have a chance with the others
Overall I think I move the females over to the isolation tank a little early. They can carry eggs for a number of weeks. I should maybe have waited until the egg were a light colour.
Well I’ll get a chance to put that theory to the test. Just noticed a third female laden with eggs. She’ll remain in the main tank for now and move when the eggs change colour.
I now have 3 nano lavae tanks ready to go. 2 x 10L 1 x 8L
The eggs on one female are certainly much lighter and I can see small black dots in the middle. I’m sure this means things are getting closer. The second female's eggs also seem to be turning a lighter colour.
=============================================================
I I'll try post a couple of pics of the shrimp and the setup I'm using.
Update in a few days time ... unless anything happens !
Al
It may end in total disaster, in which case this diary will be quite short. I'm hoping to get at least some of them through to adult, however I start with practically no knowledge on the subject
Background:
During the recent spell of hot weather in the UK, my 130L Tropiquarium started to suffer from the heat and some of the plants Intook a turn for the worse and I decided to remove them. Typical water temp duing this time was about 80 degs (+/- 2 degs).
Shortly after this I noticed a female Caridina japonica (Amano) shrimp carrying what looked like a fully load of eggs.
Links: I've found the following links useful during this
Salinity converter (SG to PPT)
http
/www.reefs.org/survey/salinity_conversion.html Very useful for us 'non-salty' types when trying to relate Specific Gravity to Parts Per Thousand of salt.
Amano Shrimp:
http
/mikes-machine.mine.nu/breeding_yamato.htm - Very good article http
/www.aquariumadvice.com/profiles/8_20_en.html http
/caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/ http
/caridinajaponicabreeding.blogspot.com/ Bloo's thread http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=132630 This thread of Bloo's was the catalyst that encouraged me to give it a try. (Many thanks Bloo)
OK I'll start with a brain dump of everything I've done so far.
Comments/advice/suggestions are always welcome !
=============================================================
Sat 29 Jul:
Shortly after removing the plants I noticed one of the shrimp carrying a large mass of dark grey/green eggs. I've had shrimp in the tank for just over 4 months. This was the first time I've seen one of the shrimp laden with eggs.
Unclear if this was due to any or all of the following
> Female shrimp reaching maturity (I suspect this is the reason - but only a guess)
> Increase in water temp due to recent hot weather Or
> Just noticed this for the first time as there are now far less plants in the tank. Maybe it's been going on before and I'd missed it !
Sun 30 Jul:
I already know that hatching the eggs and raising the young is not
Easy and requires salt water fo the young to survive.
Over and above that, I know very little.
Time to start trawling the web for some info and posting a few questions. See the links at the top of this post.
Mon 31 Jul:
Whilst checking on the female with eggs, I noticed I now have a Second egg carrying female - this complicates things a little, but should be able to cope with both batches as they are so close together.
I now have a better idea on how to attempt to raise these shrimp. After much reading, I've decided to go for a full marine salinity (30-35ppt) rather than brackish (17ppt).
Prepared a 5Gal isolation tank with 50% tap and 50% water from main tank. This tank is my standby hospital tank and will be used only for the females to lay the eggs.
As I dont have a marine tank or any experience/equipment for measuring the salinity I contacted a LFS that keeps marine fish. They can supply me with RO mixed salt water (for a small charge). Feeding the larvae requires phytoplankton/greenwater.
For this I have decided to try Kent Plytoplex (
http
/www.kentmarine.com/saltwater/ppx.html) it seems ideally suited to the job, but time will tell.Tues 01 Aug: to Fri 04 Aug:
I had planned to move the shrimp to the isolation tank today, but it
seems the heater was defective. Down to the LFS for a new 25W heater, also picked up a small air pump. I'll leave the tank to get up to temp for 24 hours, the shrimp dont look like they are about to drop the eggs, I've read they can carry them for a number of weeks (4 - 6), but I don’t know how long they've already carried them for.
The female shrimp were moved to the isolation tank today (02 Aug).
The tank is 5Gal, has and 11W light, has no substrate and just a small artificial rock and piece of bogwood with moss attached. They seem to have settled in OK and are acting normally
No noticeable change in females. Collected saltwater from LFS (SG 1021 / 30ppt)
Kent Phytoplex arrived (ebay).
Setup larvae tank. 10Ltrs saltwater, airpump with tube clamped to control airflow.
Placed in kitchen window with natural sunglight and added some Phytoplex.
Sat 05 Aug: to Tues 8 Aug:
There has been a noticeable change in one of the females. The eggs are a much lighter colour (light brown/tan)
I have enough equipment to run at least one more (maybe another 2) saltwater larvae growing tanks. I’ll set the others up and split the larvae between them, then if one tank fails I still have a chance with the others
Overall I think I move the females over to the isolation tank a little early. They can carry eggs for a number of weeks. I should maybe have waited until the egg were a light colour.
Well I’ll get a chance to put that theory to the test. Just noticed a third female laden with eggs. She’ll remain in the main tank for now and move when the eggs change colour.
I now have 3 nano lavae tanks ready to go. 2 x 10L 1 x 8L
The eggs on one female are certainly much lighter and I can see small black dots in the middle. I’m sure this means things are getting closer. The second female's eggs also seem to be turning a lighter colour.
=============================================================
I I'll try post a couple of pics of the shrimp and the setup I'm using.
Update in a few days time ... unless anything happens !
Al
. I will be reading intently, good luck 
can just imagine Al!
