True Peppermint Shrimp Pregnant.

[ChilisREasy]

Originally Posted by zero186

well it seems i talked to fast i came home today to find my shrimp with eggs well lets hope i can get my 5g up and running before i have hatch

Wow ! Congrats !, now we have 2 people confirmed breeding/raising peppermint shrimps, in this thread alone !

any one else on TRT ??

[cdemeritt]

Day 53: All seems to be going well with Jumbo. Had a minor disastor over the weekend, Had bought 4 new peppermints to establish a brood stock, but something happened, the water I think was contaminated some how, or it just got too cold, and all 4 shrimp died. Even the Bristle worms all died as well, The only survivor, the 5th shrimp, the father to Jumbo.

now we have 2 people confirmed breeding/raising peppermint shrimps

I think I've seen some others as well. I'm happy to see this, it is a good sign.

Judging by the size relative to the cyclops is it around .5 inches from tail to head (not including antennae)?

I would say that is about correct.

Does your book that lists the stages of development mention when this changes?

The book seems to skip that information, it goes from Stage 3 larvea to 2 month old juvenials. I've been looking for more information about the early stages of life. I guess I'll have to actually break down and buy "How to train your Peppermint shrimp" one of these days soon.

How many indivdual cyclops will he eat at a sitting? Is it possible to observe? Also concerning feeding, you said that day 22 was the first confirmed brine shrimp dinner... was the flow calm enough that the PS could attack the BS or did the BS just bump into the PS's arms and the PS just latched on? (Strange question I know.)

Cyclopezee, He, (they) would grab onto 2 or 3 cyclopeeze at a time most of the time, sometimes they would only grab one. Now how many they actually ate before letting go, That I do not know.

Ok, BS. I have a bottle of decapsulated Brine shrimp eggs, and I added some directly to the water from time to time. on day 22, the that were in the tank at that time, hatched out, and at the time I looked in on them, a sunbeam was hitting the corner of the tank. All the BSL were gattered there, amongst the crowd of BSL were my (then three) peppermint larvea, chowing down. Somtimes they hunt them, sometimes it is just random contact, and some say they will attach BSL at a much earlier age, but this was the first I saw.

Now for the other News:
Phase 2 of my peppermint shrimp breeding program is currently on indefinate hold.
I have for years been considering a move from my home in cold New Hampshire to warm Arizona. I spent some time a few years ago visiting AZ, and have thought about moving there for some time.
I just found out about a Job opening in AZ within my company, and have put in for a transfer. I've made the decision that if I get the job, that most of my "Stuff" isn't worth the hassle or expence of moving 3000 miles, so it will in the long run be easier and cheaper to sell everything here, and buy new there. This includes my tanks. While I have several corals that I love, and have had for years, The stress of a major move such as this could be just too much, and 4 days in buckets on the road just too much to deal with, and I have nothing super rare or difficult to find. So my plan is to sell back my livestockto the LFS, and repurchase when I am ready, probably months down the road.
So as of this moment I will not be spending any more money than is absolutely nessesary until I know one way or another.

[oltemative]

Sorry to hear about your 4 new shrimp. I would keep an eye on that "father" shrimp because he is a potential "mother" (as you well know). I read an article that mentioned that they have a "sperm sack"(?) that will store sperm from previous rendevous for fertilization of future egg batches. I believe they said one meeting of the two shrimp can fertilize up to 4 batches of eggs. Seems pretty long to keep sperm alive, but what do I know? I don't even know how long MY sperm stay alive in me!!

Anyway... As for the move, congratulations are in store if you get it I suppose, but as for selling to the LFS, try a fire sale for local buyers on TRT! I just bought some LR from someone on my local club's board here. He got the same value in cash that the store would have given to him in store credit and I got a bunch of rock and some corals for a great deal. We're both happy and I got to learn some things from another more experienced reefer while I was at his place picking the stuff up (I guess you'd be the teacher in this case). And if something doesn't sell, the LFS will take the rest.

Good luck!

[zero186]

sry to hear bout those 4 but hey its always nice to get to a nice sunny state lol

[Twitterbait]

Bummer to hear.

I will say that the standard scientific method of being able to show that it is truely possible and not just a fluke is for someone else to mirror your method and come out with similar or better results. I think it would be great if you could duplicate your results with a different breeding pair. this time though I would recommend keeping very close track of the water parms at least twice per day for temp, ph, and SG. and at least once to twice a week for the rest of the standard stats. More detail will be good. if you can do it again i would be interested in attempting to mirror your method and seeing if i can come to the same result. if you can do that then you may even be able to be published.

[ChilisREasy]

also keep track of iodine, & other trace elements. for they are very important for the shedding process, i agree with twitter, it will have to be duplicated before this REALLY can become common practice,


& if your going to sell or get rid of everything, i would try to find someone who is good at keeping reef's, that seems the best thing to do. good luck on the move.

[zero186]

jw but how long does the female keep the eggs before they hatch i would like to know b.c i have a female with them and not a tank ready yet for the breeding

[cdemeritt]

how long does the female keep the eggs before they hatch i would like to know

I'm not 100% sure, but it is somewhere between 7-10 days.

I will say that the standard scientific method of being able to show that it is truely possible and not just a fluke is for someone else to mirror your method and come out with similar or better results. I think it would be great if you could duplicate your results with a different breeding pair.

I agree 100%. We've had stories of people finding baby bangaii in their overflows or sumps, does this mean it is a good method of raising bangaii? probably not. Are my results a fluke? could be. Do they need to be repeated, most definately. My next attempt will have a few changes to it, but yes, essentially the same.

its always nice to get to a nice sunny state

Well, I'm not packing my bags just yet, just because I put in for a transfer doesn't mean I'm going to get it. It could take a month just to find out if I get it.
As far as the breakdown of the tank, well, that is all going to depend on timing. If I have pleanty of time, then I'll try to sell it to other reefers, but if I get the transfer and have 1 week to make the move, well, There is a LFS that I got most of the corals from and I know they will be well cared for (of couse I know I'll get less than 50% value if I get cash) but I'm not going to worry until I get to that point.

[zero186]

lol yea lets not jump the gun just yet on moving lol. do you know any fast setups i could use until my 5.5g gets done cycling b. c i would like to try my hand at these guys and is there a way to know if the eggs are fertilized at all or when next week rolls around keep an eye on the tank for any little shrimp swimming around lol

[cdemeritt]

Day 57: Still going well.

As far as phase 2: The first step will be to properly Identify and understand the "peppermint complex". Until recently, there were 4 species of shrimp commonly known as "peppermints". One most of us know even more often as "Camel", but I have seen camel shrimp sold as "peppermint" due to color variation. The other three species are of the Lysmata family. They are L. Wurdermanni, L.Rathbunae, and L.Califonica. L.Califonica being the most Distinctive of the three, and I don't know much about them, but have not seen them in any LFS. However, Sciencetists being sciencetists, having studied the L. Wurdermanni and L.Rathbunae Sp., now split the 2 species into 6 seperate species. Lysmata ankeri , Lysmata boggessi , Lysmata pederseni, Lysmata bahia have now been added to the complex. I'm still looking for as much information about this as I can, But I get the impression this is a fairly recent event, and not a lot of sources have properly updated their information. The paper discribing this can be found here: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/conten...00001/art00009

But I haven't read it yet, as they want $20.00 to read it. If anyone knows where I copy of this can be found for less, please let me know. After looking up some pictures I now believe that the father shrimp (and most likely the mother) of Jumbo are L. boggessi. How this affects things? I do not yet know. I'm trying to collect photos and as good discriptions as I can of each SP. to help make sure we can properly ID our shrimp.

[cdemeritt]

is there a way to know if the eggs are fertilized

I read thet the eggs will become translucent about 2 days before hatching. I was able to obseve tiny little eyespots a day or so before hatching. That was when I was sure the were fertilized.

[cdemeritt]

These four species do not hybridize and have clear color, morphological and genetic differences. Field collections also indicate some overlap in species ranges with three species occupying the same habitat and location at the same time. This presentation describes the four novel species and re-describes L. wurdemanni with new types deposited.

Mis-identification of these species makes it difficult to compare published reports of rearing methods, behavior, and observational data from hobbyists and decide on the best-fit species for the aquarium trade.

[zero186]

anyway to make a place for these guys for a week until their tank is ready and what do i need for this tank, as of now i have a rio 50 power head with a couple layers of filter media in the bottom and a heater and a filter any thing else. also about 3 pounds of rock in a 5.5

[cdemeritt]

Sorry for the lack of a update or replys lately, I have been busy with many things, work sent me out of town for some training as well. Things are well.

Day 64: for anyone not doing the math, that is 9 plus weeks. Jumbo is still doing well, not much new to report, other than I'm now questioning weither metamorphosis realy has occured, as he looks almost identical to the photos I took of him 3 weeks ago. Since I know he isn't L.wurdemanni, but believe that he is L.boggessi, and may have the extended larval stages like L.amboinensis and L.debelius that have a larval stages that can last 10 weeks or so.

anyway to make a place for these guys for a week until their tank is ready and what do i need for this tank, as of now i have a rio 50 power head with a couple layers of filter media in the bottom and a heater and a filter any thing else. also about 3 pounds of rock in a 5.5

I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner with this, I hope things are going well. A rio 50 might be a bit too much current, but is it working for you? As far as LR, I wouldn't use any. The first several weeks the (for me still, at 9 weeks) the larva are free floating, and need no substrate, and subtrate and rocks can actually kill the babies, as they can get caught in nooks and crannies, as well as get tangled in any HA that might grow. I remove the babies to a holding cup to clean and change water, a rock would make that much more difficult.If you can create a sump that prevents the babies from getting sucked in, then the rock in the sump for filtration wouldn'r be a bad thing.

[zero186]

ty for the info i am still thinking of breeding setups, i am not only breeding peppermints but now i have a breeding clown pair. so i am planing on a 10g split into 2 5g or maybe 3 parts not sure yet. i had this idea but i think it will be to hard to clean and care for, or at least thats what i was told

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=98924

also i have a split 2.5 so keep them in for the first couple days to keep them in small contianers to keep them close to their food. i am going to order rotitfers here soon but what do i feed them plankton?