Skunk Cleaner shrimp holding eggs

fish.freak · 11-04-2005, 03:56 PM

Ok, I got this shrimp a month or so ago, and it has molted twice recently. Is it posible that the eggs are fertilized allready? Or are they not going to do anything with out a male.
Is there any way to sex a male shrimp to add inorder to for the eggs to become fertile?
How often is their reproductive cycle?

Geoff · 11-04-2005, 04:28 PM

most crustaceans will lay eggs right after a molt. i do not know if cleaners are able to store sperm or not, i think most do. it is really difficult raise them. not impossible but close. i believe they have a semi planktonic stage for several days before becomeing mobile. during this stage they are generally skimmed out of the tank. everynow and then one will get through and you could end up with another shrimp. this is very uncommon though.

take this as a great sign for your tank.

G~

fish.freak · 11-04-2005, 05:33 PM

Geoff, thanks for the all the responces today, I should just send them directly to you. lol. Should I catch the mother and put her into one of those breeder nets till she lays the eggs, in order to increase the likelyhood the eggs/larve aren't filered out?

fish.freak · 11-04-2005, 06:56 PM

just did a google on cleaner shrimp breeding, and it turns out they are hermaphroditic.
Also like you said, they are tough to raise, but since sw breeding is a personal goal of mine I am going to give it a try. I might need a 5-10 gal tank with just an air stone for them to grow up.
I am going to keep reading, but any tips or links would be great, thanks.