True Peppermint Shrimp Pregnant.

[cdemeritt]

Day 42: Got a new photo for tonight as well as a short video clip. Sorry the quality isn't the best, but that's what happens with a homemade microscope. I'll try to dial it in a little more tomorrow. It is a cheap piece of junk, but it will have to do until I can afford the better one I want. The lens is I think a 5X - 10X not sure. I will add some sort of scale as well.



http://www.metrocast.net/~cdemerit/shrimp2.wmv

said that typically he had juvenile shrimp by the end of the 5th week. Is this how you would describe yours?

No, I would discribe them to still be stage three larvae, as discribed in the book, "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium V.3". They will become Juveniles after the "metamophoses" stage molts that might have already started.

I bring up this question because I am wondering what kind of major change they are expected to make.

Not really sure what to expect, but yeah I don't think it to be as dramatic as a caterpiller to butterfly. The biggest change is, I believe, the drop out of the water colume and become benthic. The physical changes, I expect, are that the proportions become more correct, and they drop the "scoops" I don't really know yet.

[cdemeritt]

Day 44: Tweaked the microscope some, got a few better pictures. Still need work, but getting better.



In a few of the picture you can see the central hub of a CD below, just to give some sence of scale.

[cdemeritt]

Day 44 continued: The photos in the previous post are of Tiny, Now I have some photos of Onearm. Note that Onearm has started to regenerate the missing arm.

[ChilisREasy]

AMAZING !! i think its going through the metamorphosis now...starting to look more like a shrimp.

[Fly Guy]

Very cool cdmerrit. I just read this entire thread for the first time.

Keep it up and good luck

[zero186]

i am now want to try breeding these shrimp lol

[cdemeritt]

Day 45: It amazes me that even with thier increasing size and color that these shrimp can still be so difficult to locate in a 10G tank with only a heater and foam filter. I can spend 20 minutes or more trying to find and confirm all three shrimp. you wouldn't think at this point it would be so difficult, but it is. Well, with that said, I don't know, but I think I might have lost Jumbo. I did confirm that he was there this AM, but couldn't locate him this evening. I haven't completely given up yet, as I also didn't find a body, which due to the size I should have found something, so maybe he is just hiding. Tiny and Onearm are doing fine however. I have another video clip of one arm I took yesterday, but I need to get it out of the computer it is in, and into this one, so I can edit it. But I will post it ASAP.
Chris

[cdemeritt]

i am now want to try breeding these shrimp

Go for it. The breeding part isn't too much work, simply put two shrimp together.... It's the raising the children that takes the work.. Lol. The more people that can do it, the better, If we can make it as common place to raise PS as it is to raise clowns, It'll take one more speice off the Wild Caught only list.

[zero186]

well its one of my goals to breed shrimp/fish and maybe one day it could be a common thing so people will leave the wild alone

i am also interested in breeding clowns but so far my pair the male just dances like crazy all the time and the female has gotten not as mean about it which she used to bite his fins but not anymore so i hope this is a good sign but i will see. but mean time i need to go get some peppermint shrimp and also do they change sex so i all need is 2 or should i go for a couple just to be safe and make sure there is a female or will 2 go at it.

[ChilisREasy]

im also very interested in breeding/raising Shrimp & Fish, i want to breed peppermints & neon goby's, but im too concetrated on my Dendronepthya study, maybe next year.lol.


it would be nice to see captive raised insted of ocean caught, plus, you never know, they could go extinct next month, in case nobodys noticed, we've lost 176 species of frogs in the past 18 years,thats REALLY fast for such an adaptable animal,this could happen to the ocean creatures as well.

[cdemeritt]

Day 46: Well, Some good news, and some sad news. Jumbo was found and is doing very well. However, OneArm was lost today, and I don't mean MIA, he didn't make it. It looks like it was a molt gone bad. Still When you look back and in the last 30 days I've only lost 2 of the young, and this is the first loss in 20 days.

some peppermint shrimp and also do they change sex

Well the interesting thing is that they are hermaphrodites possessing both organs at the same time. The only time the female parts are exposed is right after a molt. I had both my shrimp carrying viable eggs at one point only three days apart, meaning both played the male role within days of becoming pregnant themselves. so two well fed shrimp will produce eggs.

t would be nice to see captive raised insted of ocean caught, plus, you never know, they could go extinct next month

True, very true. and the sad part is, that the people against humans having pets will use it to push for bans on SW wild caught animals even if the extinction has nothing to do with the aquarium trade (I.E. Global Warming)

[oltemative]

Originally Posted by cdemeritt

Day 46:

True, very true. and the sad part is, that the people against humans having pets will use it to push for bans on SW wild caught animals even if the extinction has nothing to do with the aquarium trade (I.E. Global Warming)

While I can see this, I think that the same arguements zoos use to justify their existance could be used by saltwater keepers. Not the least of which is conservation through captivity. Imagine you were able to captive breed a shrimp species that went extinct due to global warming. Or several species of mushrooms were saved do to their human controlled aquarium environments. I doubt the big aquariums have the resources that we do collectively.

Anyway, back to the shrimp. Sorry for your loss! I can't tell if your shrimp are big enough yet, but my adult PS had a huge growth spurt when I started feeding them whole adult mysis. Maybe yours could handle a small piece? They also seemed to molt more often after I started dosing Iodine for my xenia. I'm not suggesting setting up a drip for the grow out, but have you added any to the grow out tank?



You think you know nothing?!?

[ChilisREasy]

sorry about the loss of onearm.
its been 2 months now (or almost) hasent it ? they should have been full grown shrimps by now.takes a long time i guess, lol.

[ChilisREasy]

just went back on this thread..1/23/07 was when she had eggs..been 2 months this week. & ive followed every day since the beginning.lol

[zero186]

well thats great to know that i only need 2 and do you have a tank just for these shrimp besides the breeding tank or they just in your main and does it matter