Total Beginner With 3 Pregnant Amanos

MirandaMarie

New Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Location
South Dakota
Hello! I'm something of a rambler so please forgive me if this is a long intro before I get to my question. I'd really appreciate any help that can be offered by more experienced aquarium enthusiasts!
Last Christmas, I got all the equipment etc to set up a 20 gallon tank (after much hinting to my family).

It was set up end of December and I did quite a bit of aquascaping with it. Lots of lava rocks (including a cave), plants, a good quality light and filter and heater, active substrate etc. I let it cycle for about 3 months and by then I was struggling with algae (balancing the light and fertilizers plus new plants proved challenging, since this is my first try at this kind of thing). My plants were doing well despite the algae, but I read up on algae eaters and ended up getting 5 tiger nerite snails. They didn't even begin to touch the algae, even with the light dialed back and stopping with the fertilizer for a while. So I researched some other algae eaters to add as well and ordered 10 amano shrimp. They arrived with 2 extras and I added them to the tank about 3 weeks ago. They're keeping up with the algae perfectly with enough left over consistently that I am not concerned about them starving. I'm also supplementing with shrimp foods and snacks, and keeping the calcium up in the tank.

About a week ago, the males started running around the tank like crazy at least once a day for several days in a row. I researched this, concerned they were unhappy, and found most people online said it was likely because the females had released a hormone to signal it was time to breed? Well, a week later, and all three females are very, very full of eggs. (I /think/ there are only three females, but with all the plants and hiding places, it's impossible to see all the shrimp at once to count LOL). There's no doubt the three of them are pregnant - I have seen them all hanging out together at the same time, all three with full bellies.

Sorry! That was a huge buildup. My question is: What do I do when they hatch? I don't plan to try to save the larvae because a) I don't have a tank to move them to, b) I'm very disabled so I'm not sure I could manage following the (tricky) steps needed in my physical condition, and c) everywhere online says it's very tricky and I am a complete beginner at this. LOL. Everywhere says "don't worry, they won't survive", but what do I do when I have anywhere from 9,000 to 15,000 dead larvae in my tank when these three females drop them? I don't have any fish to eat them (I've been taking this slow because it's mainly been me experimenting with aquascaping and trying not to rush since I am a beginner, so I wasn't planning to get fish anytime soon). I'm having nightmares images of thousands of dead larvae floating around the tank/settling on the bottom and don't know what we will do to clean them up afterwards? Vacuum them up? I have Monte Carlo as a carpet so I try not to vacuum it too much because its roots are still so little and it dislodges easily.

I'm just not sure what to do or what to expect, so any help that can be provided will be really appreciated! All tank parameters are good and all its inhabitants are very healthy so far. I'm just at a bit of a loss. Thanks in advance!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum! :hi:

I responded to a thread earlier today about this very thing, I just copied and pasted it here:


Amano shrimp are one of the hardest species of shrimp to breed in the hobby.

“As previously discussed sexing them is fairly easy; however, attempting to breed them is anything but easy. They are incredibly difficult to mate and I’ve yet to hear from anyone that has successfully hatched the larvae and raised them into adults.

This is mainly due to the brackish water problem mentioned above (more on this later).

In the wild, the male will fertilize the eggs and the female will carry them for around six weeks. During this time, the female can often be seen wafting her tail to push oxygen over the eggs; similar to the Cherry Shrimp.

At the six week mark, she will release the larvae into brackish water. As larvae, they require salt water and as they mature and grow they need fresh water.

Remember adults should not be placed in brackish water; even a small exposure to salt can kill them.

It’s at this point you should remove the adults from the breeder tanks as you increase the salinity of the water.

Due to the limited success stories of breeding them, no more information could be found on breeding Amano Shrimp; this really is only an endeavor for the most experienced fish keepers.

If you are looking to breed Shrimp we would suggest you look at either Cherry or Ghost Shrimp.

Those very few success stories that we have heard of, breed these shrimp in full strength saltwater with a salinity level of around 1.024.”

Check this out: https://www.fishkeepingworld.com/amano-shrimp/

I have no personal experience with these kind of shrimp. Good luck! :good:
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. As @PheonixKingZ stated you need brackish water for them to have young. You will not end up with dead baby shrimp on the bottom of your tank. You may not see any at all. The shrimp will clean up any mess quickly and the snails may help out. Try and relax and enjoy your tank, Good Luck :good:
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. As @PheonixKingZ stated you need brackish water for them to have young. You will not end up with dead baby shrimp on the bottom of your tank. You may not see any at all. The shrimp will clean up any mess quickly and the snails may help out. Try and relax and enjoy your tank, Good Luck :good:

Alright, thank you! So they'll just drop the eggs unhatched and clean them up themselves?
 
Alright, thank you! So they'll just drop the eggs unhatched and clean them up themselves?
Yes, the female will drop the unfertilized eggs and then the snails or shrimp will probably eat them. ;)
 
Alright, thank you! So they'll just drop the eggs unhatched and clean them up themselves?
Yup. The snails can help eat the eggs too :) just let nature take its course
 
It's basically free food for the shrimps and snails.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top