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Crabby,
in Australian Caridina spp.
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By Crabby
Hey folks!
This thread is intended as a documentation (and space to ask questions of course) of @Frosty and my venture into caridina shrimp.
We’re starting off this weekend with 15-20 mischling shrimp (tibee x CBS), and maybe in a couple months if everything is going well we can add some TTS or KK or pandas or something.
The tank is a 4ft, with inert gravel and rocks, lots of moss, Java fern (crested and regular) and assorted crypts, and a couple big pieces of driftwood.
Current parameters are the following (please advise us if you think we should fix anything):
22°, 6.8 pH (we might try ageing our water change water with peat moss, so with a couple water changes we’ll bring this down to 6.4-6.6), 3GH, 2KH, and 0 nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.
We’re thinking maybe to make it more interesting to the average onlooker, we might add a small school of chilli rasboras, but that’s hopefully going to be it for fish.
The tank is in direct sunlight, so there’s a possibility we’ll need ottos at some stage.
I’ll update later with photos and our plans. Please let me know if you’ve got any advice!
Cheers!
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By Rare Aqua
The in depth guide to keeping as well as breeding Amarinus lacustris by Hervey Doerr-Rolley
Overview
The aim of this article is to educate and warn people of the mistakes I made and how I was successful with breeding and keeping this species. I published an article about this species several years ago so thought it was time for an updated guide for anyone wanting to keep and breed this species. All my knowledge about this species has been developed over the 4 years I've kept this species as well as the many scientific articles I've studied, I first kept this species when I was 15 and now 19, my colony is still going strongly. Currently studying a bachelor of Marine science. Firstly I'd like to point out this species does not have a larval cycle, it is a far too common misconception people have. I believe this thought is derived from their much larger cousin the Amarinus laevis and the Thai micro crab, Limnopilos naiyanetri. Amarinus lacustris have fully formed offspring, meaning their offspring are essentially miniature adults once hatched from their egg. Some points of interest about this species, there are 8 instars before their pubertal moult. Females up to two moults before their pubertal moult can copulate and store spermatozoon, once she reaches the pubertal moult she can then impregnate herself without the need of copulation. The stored spermatozoon can then be used up to 15 separate brood cycles (15 clutches of eggs). Adult females can carry up to *35 eggs (anecdotal) and take around 25-30 days at 15 degrees Celsius to hatch as fully formed offspring.
Water chemistry
A. lacustris have a strong preference for hard water, I keep and breed mine in;
pH: 8-8.2
Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrate:0ppm
Nitrite:0ppm
KH:125ppm
*25% water changes are done weekly*
Breeding and Husbandry
Key points for their care;
Gravel substrate - fine pea gravel is best.
Air pump sponge filters are essential as this provides cleaner water as well as a feeding ground for the offspring as well as adults.
Mulm and moss are essential.
A good rule of thumb from my experience is 500ml of aquarium space per baby-sub adult, and then 1L per adult crab, this allows for less aggression from male to male behavior. It is up to you but the less stocking density the better due to the aggression of breeding from males, keep in mind this aggression is only towards other males however females that are being copulated with may sustain serious injuries if too many males are kept together. The best ratios are two males to 8 females. When a female sheds she releases hormones into the water column just like shrimp, if any of you are familiar with breeding shrimp you can note this by the erratic and fast speeds the males zoom around the aquarium searching for the female, this is the same case with A. lacustris except the swimming, rather they crawl quickly around the aquarium in search for the female to copulate with. Once the male finds the female he will grasp the female tightly underside to underside in a 'hug' embrace, he will then fertilize the female. This embrace can last minutes or hours depending on the male. Eggs will soon become visible and as described above hatch within 25-30 days*. This species is a cold water crustacean so you must remember that, breeding will cease if the temperature goes above 22 Celsius. Keep them in a mature mulm filled aquarium with leaf litter (I use oak leaves) with plenty of hiding spots and moss, a 8pH and 15 Celsius and before you know it you will have berried females.
Feeding
Surprisingly my A. lacustris do not eat commercial foods, I feed mine cultured white worms which are perfect as they grow to a max size of 3cm and survive underwater for several days. I also add snails to my aquarium as the crabs feed on their feces. Funnily enough baby crabs will eat the white worms too once they are 2 instars old, so it is not uncommon to see a 2mm baby crab hanging on to a 2cm long white worm! I feed my crabs every 3 days and small amounts of the worms to reduce water quality issues.
Common questions I am asked
As I was the first person in Australia and the world to raise fully tank raised F2 offspring i have come across many commonly asked questions. "can I get these crabs in country x?" so far you can legally only get these crabs in their native geographical regions, however once these crabs are even more commonly bred their popularity over the Thai micro crab will be clearly abundant simply due to their ease of breeding which you know, therefore I wouldn't be surprised if these hit the international market once they're being large scale bred. "Do you have any for sale?" when I have crabs for sale I have a waiting list, If you want to ask questions or be on the waiting list email me: zebradanio88@hotmail.com. "can these go with fish x?" if the fish is 4cm or less they are fine generally, my opinion is keep the species only or with shrimp which leads to the next question "are the shrimp safe" and yes they are, however they are naturally scavengers so if you have dead or sick shrimp they will eat them, if your shrimp are healthy they will not predate on them. "how long do they live for?" they live for around 2-3 years+. "why are all my crabs dying" this question is addressed below;
Major issue that needs to be addressed
Since my first sales of A. lacustris I suddenly saw a spike of ads for them in Australia, unfortunately I could tell the individuals for sale were all wild caught and at best had only lived in an aquarium for a couple weeks of their life. This then would result in people encouraging the decimation and local extinction of the species in our waterways due to peoples greed of wanting to make a quick buck off this amazing native species. The crabs that I breed and sell are all aquarium raised individuals ONLY, I have put time, money and effort into the crabs I breed to ensure I do not impact the wild populations and offer aquarium suited specimens for people wanting to keep them. I have had a plethora of emails from people asking me why crabs they had sourced outside of my individuals had suddenly died off, this is simply due to the fact these crabs have not been aquarium raised and selectively bred for years like mine have. I find it horrendous that people think it is okay to collect many wild individuals to then sell knowing full well they will die within around a 3 month period just for their sake to make some 'fast' money. So please before you buy from a seller of these crabs ask as many questions as you can to find out how many generations old your crabs are and how long they've been bred for etc. If they cannot supply a high amount of detail or simply quote my articles about them do not buy from that seller. Do not support poachers for your aquarium! This applies with all species, worldwide.
Thank you for reading my article,
again if you have any questions feel free to email me as I'm always happy to help out ethical keepers and potential breeders of this species.
Author and credits: Hervey Doerr-Rolley
View full article
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By Rare Aqua
The in depth guide to keeping as well as breeding Amarinus lacustris by Hervey Doerr-Rolley
Overview
The aim of this article is to educate and warn people of the mistakes I made and how I was successful with breeding and keeping this species. I published an article about this species several years ago so thought it was time for an updated guide for anyone wanting to keep and breed this species. All my knowledge about this species has been developed over the 4 years I've kept this species as well as the many scientific articles I've studied, I first kept this species when I was 15 and now 19, my colony is still going strongly. Currently studying a bachelor of Marine science. Firstly I'd like to point out this species does not have a larval cycle, it is a far too common misconception people have. I believe this thought is derived from their much larger cousin the Amarinus laevis and the Thai micro crab, Limnopilos naiyanetri. Amarinus lacustris have fully formed offspring, meaning their offspring are essentially miniature adults once hatched from their egg. Some points of interest about this species, there are 8 instars before their pubertal moult. Females up to two moults before their pubertal moult can copulate and store spermatozoon, once she reaches the pubertal moult she can then impregnate herself without the need of copulation. The stored spermatozoon can then be used up to 15 separate brood cycles (15 clutches of eggs). Adult females can carry up to *35 eggs (anecdotal) and take around 25-30 days at 15 degrees Celsius to hatch as fully formed offspring.
Water chemistry
A. lacustris have a strong preference for hard water, I keep and breed mine in;
pH: 8-8.2
Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrate:0ppm
Nitrite:0ppm
KH:125ppm
*25% water changes are done weekly*
Breeding and Husbandry
Key points for their care;
Gravel substrate - fine pea gravel is best.
Air pump sponge filters are essential as this provides cleaner water as well as a feeding ground for the offspring as well as adults.
Mulm and moss are essential.
A good rule of thumb from my experience is 500ml of aquarium space per baby-sub adult, and then 1L per adult crab, this allows for less aggression from male to male behavior. It is up to you but the less stocking density the better due to the aggression of breeding from males, keep in mind this aggression is only towards other males however females that are being copulated with may sustain serious injuries if too many males are kept together. The best ratios are two males to 8 females. When a female sheds she releases hormones into the water column just like shrimp, if any of you are familiar with breeding shrimp you can note this by the erratic and fast speeds the males zoom around the aquarium searching for the female, this is the same case with A. lacustris except the swimming, rather they crawl quickly around the aquarium in search for the female to copulate with. Once the male finds the female he will grasp the female tightly underside to underside in a 'hug' embrace, he will then fertilize the female. This embrace can last minutes or hours depending on the male. Eggs will soon become visible and as described above hatch within 25-30 days*. This species is a cold water crustacean so you must remember that, breeding will cease if the temperature goes above 22 Celsius. Keep them in a mature mulm filled aquarium with leaf litter (I use oak leaves) with plenty of hiding spots and moss, a 8pH and 15 Celsius and before you know it you will have berried females.
Feeding
Surprisingly my A. lacustris do not eat commercial foods, I feed mine cultured white worms which are perfect as they grow to a max size of 3cm and survive underwater for several days. I also add snails to my aquarium as the crabs feed on their feces. Funnily enough baby crabs will eat the white worms too once they are 2 instars old, so it is not uncommon to see a 2mm baby crab hanging on to a 2cm long white worm! I feed my crabs every 3 days and small amounts of the worms to reduce water quality issues.
Common questions I am asked
As I was the first person in Australia and the world to raise fully tank raised F2 offspring i have come across many commonly asked questions. "can I get these crabs in country x?" so far you can legally only get these crabs in their native geographical regions, however once these crabs are even more commonly bred their popularity over the Thai micro crab will be clearly abundant simply due to their ease of breeding which you know, therefore I wouldn't be surprised if these hit the international market once they're being large scale bred. "Do you have any for sale?" when I have crabs for sale I have a waiting list, If you want to ask questions or be on the waiting list email me: zebradanio88@hotmail.com. "can these go with fish x?" if the fish is 4cm or less they are fine generally, my opinion is keep the species only or with shrimp which leads to the next question "are the shrimp safe" and yes they are, however they are naturally scavengers so if you have dead or sick shrimp they will eat them, if your shrimp are healthy they will not predate on them. "how long do they live for?" they live for around 2-3 years+. "why are all my crabs dying" this question is addressed below;
Major issue that needs to be addressed
Since my first sales of A. lacustris I suddenly saw a spike of ads for them in Australia, unfortunately I could tell the individuals for sale were all wild caught and at best had only lived in an aquarium for a couple weeks of their life. This then would result in people encouraging the decimation and local extinction of the species in our waterways due to peoples greed of wanting to make a quick buck off this amazing native species. The crabs that I breed and sell are all aquarium raised individuals ONLY, I have put time, money and effort into the crabs I breed to ensure I do not impact the wild populations and offer aquarium suited specimens for people wanting to keep them. I have had a plethora of emails from people asking me why crabs they had sourced outside of my individuals had suddenly died off, this is simply due to the fact these crabs have not been aquarium raised and selectively bred for years like mine have. I find it horrendous that people think it is okay to collect many wild individuals to then sell knowing full well they will die within around a 3 month period just for their sake to make some 'fast' money. So please before you buy from a seller of these crabs ask as many questions as you can to find out how many generations old your crabs are and how long they've been bred for etc. If they cannot supply a high amount of detail or simply quote my articles about them do not buy from that seller. Do not support poachers for your aquarium! This applies with all species, worldwide.
Thank you for reading my article,
again if you have any questions feel free to email me as I'm always happy to help out ethical keepers and potential breeders of this species.
Author and credits: Hervey Doerr-Rolley
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By blacksails
Hey guys new to the wonderful world of shrimp keeping, my tank has been cycled for about 3 months now and start of December I got my first shrimpey's! I choose blue jelly's as they are beautiful 🙂 a month in and I have about 3 sets of babys swimming around!! They are all super clear right now getting slightly more blue each day, but there's an odd guy in the bunch..one of the biggest infact is completely see through orange in colour!! No clear no blue but orange..he's got such character and is often doing zoomies around my tank 🙂 but yeh couldn't seem to find any info out there so thought I could consult the community thank you for any opinions on this lovely little oddity
Struggling to get pic uploaded because of size issues will try update with pics tomorrow
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By abbytherookiehuman
hey everyone so i know this is a shrimp forum but im betting that most of the people on here have fish too
im a school student and ive decided to design a new breeder box that beats the flaws of other existing products for my major work
i was hoping you guys could just reply with what method or model of breeder box you use to save your fry, what kind of fish you use it with and any pros and cons of these methods
thanks in advance for any replies.
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By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
There isn't much to report on this at the moment, I am 50/50 as to whether this is going to work or not long term. I have seen 2 dead shrimp since adding the new ones and counted about half of the new shrimp bought, that I saw yesterday! This is going to be a long term experiment I guess, the best I hope will happen at this point is that the remaining shrimp survive and reproduce and that new borns born in the tank should be more suited to the environment/water etc. There is an element of the acclimating didn't go as well/to plan as it should with my knowledge/experience, but I did the best I could, so that is what it is! Simon -
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By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
Summary from the old thread; I managed to destroy my wonderful Taiwan bee tank with a faulty heater that cooked them. I then set up the tank afresh May 2019 using shrimpking substrate, new plants and wood etc. The tank looked very drab from the start and several batches of new taiwan bee were added and died out instantly. Covid came along so I decided I would give up with the taiwan bee shrimp and get some fish instead about a year later (1 kilie and 12 mosquito rasbora). September 2020 I tried another batch of tawian bee but they fared no better and the tank was still very drab looking (and still is to this very day). I very much doubt it is the substrate but won't be using that again but have aquired a large bag of the old type of substrate I used before, but I really don't know what caused the problem, maybe there was some sort of bacterial infection or I accidently poisoned the shrimp, or there was something on the new plants/wood??? The parameters were always perfect and I have to just accept I will never know? At some later date I dumped some wild type red cherry culls into the tank as food for the killie but he didn't seem to eat them (they were clear/brown so maybe he didn't see them) and they seemed to settle into the tank and bred! Fast forward to a month ago and I decided that now the postal service is better than it had been early in the pandemic, I should maybe try some more taiwan bee as the cherry shrimp had been in there for a year or so and doing well, so I assume whatever the problem was had gone, although the tank is still not as healthy looking as the other tanks using the other substrate! I ordered 15 black shrimps 2 weeks ago and put those in the tank and they seemed to be surviving so earlier this week I order 20 red/blue shrimp and put those in the ttank yesterday. This morning I counted 18 shrimps (about half) so it looks as though it maybe going to work now, the tank is so densely planted that I would never expect to see ALL the live shrimp anyway! The killie fish died a few days ago so he isn't a threat anymore and I doubt the rasboras are either. I am now in the process of fishing out the wild type cherry shrimp as/when I see them! Here is the link to the full thread about the above but I decided to start a fresh thread from here on, https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/14523-here-we-go-again/ I will keep this thread updated and get some photos at some stage, though the new shrimp are a bit small at the moment. Simon -
By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
I think I should start a new thread on this now as this is getting a bit long and it seems to be working now, and to keep it tidier and easy to find/follow! I will attach a link below once done! Simon https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/15621-here-we-go-again-again/ -
By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
Hopefully it will settle quite quickly now and it was just everything sorting itself out, and at least you caught it before it caused problems with the fish and shrimps. As you also say, it will take a bit of time for the neneficial bacteria to spread in the new sunstrate as well! The packaging of the substrate should tell you if there is any routine you should carry out when first using it because of mineral build-up or ammonia, so if the packaging didn't say anything I think it is safe to assume it was not the substrate (Fluval stratum is volcanic soil), and other people may have just assumed it was the substrate without considering anything else if they had a similar episode to yours? Simon
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