Anyone keeping and breeding Paratya sp.

[KillieOrCory]

Hi all,

I was wondering if any of you were keeping and breeding Paratya? I don't mean catching them form the creek/dam and keeping them for a short while, but keeping them and you are onto 2nd or 3rd generation.

Anybody?

[mr_c265]

I've had difficulties breeding them, however i lost all my stock on a really hot day 3 weeks after getting them. My dad has also had the same breeding issues, he never has juvies in the tank and berried shrimp he catches drop the juvies and don't appear to berry again, he has to continuously replace his stock from the river. He is a terrible fish/shrimp keeper though.

[northboy]

I would suspect like all our Natives they would be better on there own in a tank with a lot of plant

Bob

[mr_c265]

I forgot to mention, you have to replicate the water where they come from too, i think thats the main problem my Dad and I had, he used rain water and i used sydney tap water, when really we should be using water rich in organics and tannins due to the nature of the river we got them out of. Bob's right (he is the expert), they don't do well with fish and they do like plants a lot, i think they actually feed off the bacteria/mulm that gets trapped in fine leaved plants.

[Cookster]

Info for the sake of info,

Been keeping Paratya for a few weeks now, I have approximately 40 caught from a dam south of Adelaide. The obvious thought of breeding and sustaining a colony has certainly crossed my mind and although available information is limited, I have found a few facts that may help.

First of all they hold eggs for between 22 days @ 21C -28 days @ 18C, and the length of time seems to depend on the temp of the water. Warmer equals shorter gestation period.

The young go through a Planktonic larval stage which lasts for 28 - 45 days before moulting and becoming miniature shrimp. It is here that the main problem of successful breeding comes to the fore.

The larvae will invariably end up in the filter or filter media, not to mention the problem of feeding them. I have read that some people have had success just providing them a tub of water outside in a protected location with some plants for water health and the shrimps confidence of safety, leaving them to their own devices. Checked on it a few weeks later and found they had indeed bred.

This method I think will be worth a shot. ;)