Amano shrimps - breeding?

[Keebs]

Hi all, new boy here.

I have a query regarding Amano shrimps.

I started out with 5 in a 50L tank along with a small community of fish, mostly tetras in June 2018.

I moved house in April 2019 and so did the fish - I upgraded to a much larger (150L) tank in the new house.
During the move one shrimp died.
In fact I lost it completely as I was transferring them and found it by the front door 2 days later, it had jumped out of the smaller tank while I was moving them across and gone for a walk!
Definitely a dead shrimp and not a moulted shell.

So far as I knew I had 4 shrimps left, up until sometime last summer when during one of their “nutty half-hours” where they fly around the tank like maniacs, I counted 5 again!

This tank also has a male Bolivian Ram, a bristlenose Pleco, and about 30 Neon/Cardinal/Ember Tetras.
The tank also has all natural plants, driftwood and rocks.

I’m reading that the life span of an Amano is 2-3 years and that they are difficult to breed, so my question is, how unusual is it for them to breed in a community tank and not just to breed but to maintain the original stock level without me seeing any sign of breeding or baby shrimps?

I 100% currently have 5 Amano shrimps in my tank, 4 years and 8 months after stocking them!

 

[connorlindeman28 28]

I’m reading that the life span of an Amano is 2-3 years and that they are difficult to breed, so my question is, how unusual is it for them to breed in a community tank and not just to breed but to maintain the original stock level without me seeing any sign of breeding or baby shrimps?

Pretty sure its impossible to breed in a home aquarium. They require salt water to hatch I think.

 

[Essjay30 145]

And microscopic algae to feed on. Think green water.

Amanos hatch to a larval stage, unlike many shrimps which hatch to miniature adults. It's this larval stage which needs salt water.

 

[Keebs]

Thanks for the replies.

That matches everything I could find online as well.

It's very weird but true as described.
I've not added any plants or anything else that one could have travelled in on and even if one did, seriously what are the chances?!
And are the other 4 now over 4 1/2 years old?

Doesn't make sense

The only thought I had was is there another shrimp similar looking to the Amano that they could be instead?

 

[Keebs]

First one is a screen grab from a video in June 2018.
Second one is a phone pic just taken tonight.

 

[WhistlingBadger27 9]

I know the web sites say 2-3 years for a lifespan, but I have commonly had them live five years or more in a mature tank with plenty of algae and biofilm. No idea where your extra came from, but I'm not surprised by that either. They have a way of disappearing for several months, or even for years, then reappearing right about the time you give up on them. They don't breed in fresh water, though. I've had them develop eggs, but they never amount to anything. If somebody ever figures out a cost-effective way to breed them at home, that person could probably make several bucks.

 

[Keebs]

Just updating as I saw all 5 again last night.

That's over 5 1/2 years now.

How long can they actually live for I wonder.

 

[sharkweek1781]

Even if the shrimps were able breed in fresh water, every fish in the tank would be hunting down the babies.

 

[TwoTankAmin25]

Two years? BS. I got into amanos some time back. At one point I had almost 100. I still have them in multiple tanks and have not bred them for sure. They would berry all the time but that was it. I had a friend who was working on breeding them some time back, She would come here and borrow a bunch of my berried females.

She would come back and trade me back some fo the females for other berried. But she also brought me a few baby shrimp. I still have a number of amanos and have not bought any in many years, A lot more that 4. As my groups shrunk some I tried to buy more. They were badly packed along with other fish and the temp. in the box was 58F when it arrived. Almost Everything in it died except for the 6 redline barbs and a few of the barbs. The amanos were about 1/2 dead in the bags and the rest died soon after. I got refunds for the dead stuff.

Maybe these shrimp only live a short time in the wild, but in tanks they appear to last a whole lot longer. I am sure PETA would find this reprehensible that we hobbyists are extending the natural lived spans of creatures well beyond what they experience in the wild. How dare we interfere with nature? Please Eat This Animal.