Curious to know how my blue jelly shrimp have produced a clear orange offspring? Any help would be awesome
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blacksails,
in Neocaridina davidi
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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: [email protected] "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: [email protected] "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
-
By zeragee
Hey Guys, I'm hoping someone will be able to help me out. I am a first-time shrimp owner. Four days ago I came home to find that one of my poor ghost shrimp ladies has this weird blue/white moldy looking coloration on her head, primarily on her rostum. She is otherwise still moving around, eating normally, and not hiding. I've done some internet sleuthing (I was leaning towards possible vorticella or bacterial infection), but haven't yet found anything that fits the description and was hoping someone may have run into this before.
Link to pictures
Tank:
- 5 gallon, long. Fully cycled, 2.5 months old
- Houses 4 ghost shrimp (all female), 1 betta, and approx 9 baby shrimp in a breeding net.
- Filter (sponge) + Heater.
Shrimp have been in the tank with no problem for about a month
Water Params (as of November 8, 2020)
- PH 8.2
- Amm: 0-0.25
- NI: 0
- NA: 5 ppm
- Temp: 78
Treatment so far:
Day 1: 50% WC, and dosed 6ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide (with filter removed).
Day 2: Did the same hydrogen treatment, with no change in the shrimp.
Day 3: Removed all of the plants from tank and dosed 4.5tbsp aquarium salt, with plans to do a PWC later in the week to slowly phase out the salt.
Day 4: 60 second salt dip (ratio of 1tbsp/cup) for all my shrimp and the above hydrogen peroxide treatment. I fear that whatever the white-ness is has spread to at least one other shrimp due to a noticeable color change in her legs and pleopods
Anyone have any idea what this is? I'm not sure if I should quarantine the sick shrimp or just treat the whole tank at this point, as I'm not sure if it's contagious.
Thank you in advance!
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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 Taste
Curious how much i should let them age if its even a concern before i sell some of my babies.
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Must Read SKF Articles
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Posts
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By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
You may end up losing this batch entirely but then you can start completely fresh and get the aquarium set up right for the next batch of shrimp! If you do any large water changes then try and add the new water slowly, either dripper or some other way. You should get yourself a TDS meter (as JayC above), they are cheap and readily available. You should always use a GH tester kit as well with shrimps, if you do the 50% water change that should halve the GH so you should get a reading after that, or if you can get a local fish store to test it for you that will give you an idea of the GH. If your water supply is as hard as it appears it may be you will need to mull over how (or even IF) you want to keep shrimps as that may mean using RO or distilled/bottled water and buying a proper shrimp specific remineraliser? That will be quite expensive but you won't then have to mess about adding crushed coral/eggshells etc, but only you can decide whether you want to do/spend that much etc? If you live somewhere that gets a lot of rain, then you can use rain water? Also, as JayC states, you need to know what you are using/adding to the water and aquarium, ie fertilizers, rocks. Unless you have very exotic plants you shouldn't need any fertilizers. Just as a note, we have come across quite a few experienced fish keeprs that have this sort of start off issues with shrimp. Shrimp are more difficult than fish, and the aquarium and water etc need to be ready and within the required parameters before getting the shrimps. Usually people jump in, get the shrimps before everything is ready/sorted. Hopefully though you will keep at it, or if this lot die you will have another go and we can help you get it sorted? -
By jayc · Posted
These are all classic symptoms of shrimp moulting problems. Again, another high GH symptom. High GH not only causes harder carapace (shell), but it also makes eggs harder. When the egg is harder the male finds it more difficult to fertilise the eggs. That's a worry if you can't get a good GH reading because that is going to be most likely issue right now for you. Because snails don't moult. If you dont already have a TDS meter, I suggest getting one asap. It's another test to narrow down your water parameters, and not have to trust one test by it's own - in this case the GH test kit. I would wager your water parameter is too high in dissolved minerals - likely from the tap water source, fertiliser dosing and/or any rocks/crushed corals you might have in the tank. To remedy this, you need to start doing water changes with RO, distilled or rain water immediately. I would do a 50% water change with RO water asap. Then look for sources that increase GH in the tank and eliminate it - fertilisers, rocks, crush corals, shells. It's difficult to save a shrimp who's carapace is already too hard, but hopefully any younger shrimps will benefit from the water change and the reduced GH. Good luck and keep us updated. -
By professionalshrimphugger · Posted
United States. I have tested my tap water; it yields the same results. GH: ??, KH: 3, pH: 7.8. I cannot say for sure if my GH test is faulty or not, the expiration is until 2023. It's more of a twitching, then stasis. I have one shrimp that's having a hard time balancing itself, but it's swimmerets and mouth keep moving in attempt in getting back up. I allowed it to stick to my sponge filter. The tank is cycled. I used established media. Readings would not show 0 otherwise. I do use EI Dosing, half dosage recommended for a 20 gallon. It has been said on other forums that it does not affect shrimp, but I stopped dosing to isolate variables a week ago. No CO2, that's too costly for me, hah. I drip acclimated the shrimp for 2 hours, 1 drop per second. I tested for copper in my tank, nothing. Funnily enough, my mystery snails in my community tank don't seem too affected by it. -
By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
Sorry to hear you are having a problem! Where are you based in the world? Can you test your tapwater GH/KH/PH? Best to know what the source water is, dechlorinated (if required) before you have ADDED anything. Are you sure the GH test is working and not old, or already activated/contaminated somehow? The other parameters seem ok! If the GH is as ridiculousy high as you say then I expect the shrimps would have problems molting (they may be twitching to get out of the old shell), though generally twitchy behaviour is usually down to some sort of toxic poisoning or the aquarium not being properly cycled? Are you using any plant fertiser or CO2? Did you drip acclimate the shrimp over many hours before adding them to the aquarium? They are much more sensitive than fish to changes in water parameters etc. You could end up killing more of them by moving them so I would hold off from that at the moment! -
By professionalshrimphugger · Posted
Hello all, I am new to the forum, although experienced at fishkeeping, I am relatively new to shrimpkeeping. Let's start with my issue. I had started a colony of 18 juvenile cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) in a 20 gallon long as of last month. I solely use tap water and change 5% per week. They are the only inhabitants alongside a single juvenile Malaysian trumpet snail. Today the numbers have been reduced to 9. The deaths did not start until the shrimp turned into adults, where they have struggled, twitching as if provoked, becoming lethargic, and eventually flipping over to their side and dying. Only the ones on the verge of death exhibit this behavior, whereas the rest simply graze on as usual. I measured my parameters today - my tank has been established for two months as of now and is densely planted. They have never bred despite being of adult size and having visible saddles. Never an issue with molting. Ammonia: 0 ppm, Nitrite: 0 ppm, Nitrate: 0-5 ppm || pH: 7.8, GH: ??, KH: 3 I cannot get a single good read off API's liquid GH test. I have dropped beyond 30+ and gave up as I knew the numbers were already extreme. The thing is, I need a temporary, inexpensive solution to keep my shrimp safe. I believe by the time I order supplies, the colony would already give. I was planning on moving the colony to a 5.5g, barren with my floating plants and mosses, using just distilled water, Seachem Equilibrium (only GH additive I own) and crushed eggshells (potential source of KH). Possibly crushed coral to substitute for the lack of any real mineral additive. I did not believe that high GH would possibly become a problem, and I am fortunate that the strugglers are still alive. If anyone has a solution to this problem, or approve of my plan of action, please let me know. TIA
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