More Baby Shrimpies

[kenny]

A couple days ago my Red Cherry Shrimp hatched several eggs, maybe 20.

Here are a couple pics I just took of mama.
She's about one inch long.
This is a completely different breed of shrimp than the ghost shrimp I raise a year or two ago.





She gave birth in the net nursery that is kept in the upper left corner of my 30-gallon tank.



The net lets water in and out so the babies are in warm, clean and healthy water, but stay safe from all the big hungry fish.
I replaced 2 of the net's side walls with glass so I can see in.
It is full of java moss which the shrimplets love to hide in.

Notice in at the bottom of the little tank near the middle, some snail laid eggs on the glass in two places.
The snail eggs look like several tiny white dots in clear jelly.
I wonder if the shrimpies will eat them before they hatch.



Next I'll try to get pics of the 3 day old shrimplets.
It will be very difficult.

 

[Enerchi]

Impressive fish tank, Kenny!! and what a proud "papa" you are of your shrimplets!! Congrats!

 

[minousbijoux]

So cool! Did you get yourself a "push present"?

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

Yay more shrimp babies! I loved the last thread about them and will be watching this one closely. Great pics Kenny and good luck little babies

 

[VRBeauty]

So cool! Did you get yourself a "push present"?

LOL! But I think that would go to the mama - a teeny tiny eternity ring, maybe?

 

[missy]

ooh, they are cute kenny! And that is a nice fish tank.

 

[lovebug1031]

where are the shrimp eggs!!!? this is too cool

 

[Tuckins1]

Yay another shrimp thread! I love the pics, keep them coming!

 

[chrono]

So incredibly cool! I'd love to see the little ones and even the egg pictures if you have any.

 

[kenny]

So cool! Did you get yourself a "push present"?

Yes, Tubiflex worms.
Well not for me ... for mama.


Not my pic.

 

[kenny]

where are the shrimp eggs!!!? this is too cool

The shrimp eggs have already hatched.
The tiny babies are living in that little blue 'tank' nursery thingie at the top left of the aquarium.
The babies are hiding and foraging in that green Java Moss so it is nearly impossible to find one, let alone photograph it.

What I can do is terrorize them shaking them out of the moss and removing it and storing it in a bowl of water.
I can already hear the tiny baby shrimpies scream, "AAHHHH! as they jump to the bottom.
Then I'll wait patiently till one happens to walk near the glass, since water blurs pic ... more water=more blur.
I'll have to have something in the pic for scale, like a dime which means more time waiting for the shimpie to happen to walk near it.

Sorry I didn't get a pic of her eggs, but next time I will and I'll add the pic to this thread.
The eggs look like a bunch of green grapes, each with two tiny black dots, the babyies' eyes.
There are a few other Red Cherry Shrimp in the tank so there a chance one will get preggers soon, that is if she doesn't swim to the Pharmacy for some Shrimpie Plan B.

 

[lovebug1031]

How cool! please don't terrorize them just to get a pic! But I do look forward to pics you can get (if you can) while they grow!

 

[iLander]

So what is this, a scampi farm? Or what?

 

[Dancing Fire]

So what is this, a scampi farm? Or what?

We know what kenny is having for dinner tonight..

 

[kenny]

So what is this, a scampi farm? Or what?

We know what kenny is having for dinner tonight..

I think you'd need a thousand of them to make one bite.
I finally got some pics of a four day old baby Red Cherry Shrimp on a dime for scale.
A US dime is about 18 mm, so a baby is around 2mm long.

They were born colorless.
Now four days old they are acquiring their orangy-red color.
Perhaps 9 of them lined up head to tail could fit on a dime.
An adult is about two dimes long.








One of the other species of shrimp I have in the tank is ghost shrimp and they go through a larval stage.
Below is a pic I took about a month ago on the day they were born/hatched.
None of them survived.
Larve are much more delicate and difficult to feed than shrimp that are born walking.
They float heads-down and helpless in the water and hope many particles of food floats by.

BTW the white specs in the pic below are infusoria, like paramecium, that I bread in a glass of aquarium water with blended lettuce.
Around day 5 the ghost shrimplets molt and can walk.
The Red Cherry shrimp, in the first three pics above, are born walking and since they are able to forage for food they are one of the easiest shrimp for a novice like me to breed.
That's nice since they cost around 15 times what ghost shrimp cost.

 

[iLander]

The whole thing is just awesome, Kenny.

I think the little shrimpies are adorable!

I also LOVE neon tetras! They are easily my favorite fish.

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

Kenny how are the babies going? Your new picture made me think of them.

 

[kenny]

Kenny how are the babies going? Your new picture made me think of them.

Thanks for asking.
My new avatar is one of the babies.

Well that nursery net tank thingie was a mistake.
Live and learn.

Only one baby survived in it but I discovered another mama hatched eggs in the main tank were all those hungry fish are.
Today around 9 babies hatched in the big tank have evaded becoming snacks.

Even though they were born about the same time the 9 hatched in the big tank are about 3 times the size of the nursrey-rasied one ... even though they didn't get the extra fancy baby food that daddy so painstakingly researched and prepared.
Clearly they are able to evade hungry fish and get better nutrition by foraging in a mature balanced tank with all its biodiversity going on.
I think all the live plants helped by offering shelter and food since algae grows on them.

Here is a pic with a baby in front of two adults.



Heres the full pic of my avatar.
The shrimpie is foraging on a live plant that is the shape of a ball. So cool, live plants are.

 

[lovebug1031]

keep these updates coming kenny! this is awesome!!!!

EDIT - how are those snail eggs doing?!

 

[kenny]

keep these updates coming kenny! this is awesome!!!!

EDIT - how are those snail eggs doing?!

Snail eggs hatched and I'll get some pics.
The big yellow snail in the pic above was not raised by me.
I bought it.
Actually I got it because these kinds of snails somehow encourage the growth on microscope thingies that baby shrimp eat.

 

[LibbyLA]

Kenny,

Love the aquarium photos, and your new shrimpie avatar is fabulous. You mentioned the cost of your aquarium as being $200-300 per year. I think that's a pretty darned inexpensive hobby in the grand scheme of things, especially since it's something that gives you pleasure every day.

Am looking forward to seeing more photos of whatever you share.

liz

 

[lovebug1031]

Kenny,

Love the aquarium photos, and your new shrimpie avatar is fabulous. You mentioned the cost of your aquarium as being $200-300 per year. I think that's a pretty darned inexpensive hobby in the grand scheme of things, especially since it's something that gives you pleasure every day.

Am looking forward to seeing more photos of whatever you share.

liz

haha it's a bargain in comparison to his FCD hobby!

 

[kenny]

You mentioned the cost of your aquarium as being $200-300 per year. I think that's a pretty darned inexpensive hobby in the grand scheme of things, especially since it's something that gives you pleasure every day.

If someone is considering getting an aquarium also consider the initial cost, which is around $300 for a nice 30-gallon set up.

I'd recommend a good external canister filter like a Fluval, around $100.
A Jaeger heater, around $40.
If you want live plants you'll need good lighting which cost me about $110.
You can find cheaper stuff, but IMO it will cost you more in the long run and give inferior results.
You can certainly spend MUCH more especially if you geek out on exotic plants and fish.

To save money I recommend buying (and sanitizing with bleach) a used tank at a garage sale or Craigslist.
You should probably throw away anything it comes with since it's probably low-quality.
MANY people buy aquariums and lose interest or don't want the hassle of maintaining it.
BTW, the more you learn the less maintenance is required.

The choice of fish and other critters is key.
I prefer cheap, hardy, calm, slow moving, peaceful, small colorful fish in schools, and shrimp which are not fussy about water PH KH etc.
Many fish are aggressive, delicate, sensitive to water qualities, unsocial, expensive, which is fine if you want that and are willing to learn how to meet their needs.
Unfortunately a lot of people just walk into a fish store and impulse buy, with disastrous results.

 

[LibbyLA]

kenny,

Years ago, I had a couple of small salt water tanks with live rocks and octopuses. Someone got a good deal on my equipment when I decided I didn't want to deal with it any longer.

Even with the setup costs, your aquarium hobby is still quite a reasonably-priced hobby.

liz

 

[kenny]

My ex had a fantastic large coral reef tank.
I think he spend $5,000 on it. ... and countless hours maintaining it every week end.

I'd sit in front of it for hours like it was a TV set.
Lucky me; all the pleasure with none of the work or expense.

I'd love to have a reef tank, but to me it's not worth the $$$, time or work.
I am satisfied with my simple and modest little fresh-water world.

ETA: Correction to a post above of 28 May 2013 11:04:
The 9 babies that I found which were hatched in the large tank were hatched about the same time as that lone survivor in the nursery. (not today)
This was almost 5 weeks ago.
They grow really fast.

 

[arkieb1]

The shrimps are cool!!! I recently had a similar experience with baby platies, one fish gave birth and I panicked thinking oh no holy bleep they are going to end up lunch or dinner for the larger fish for sure, went out and bought one of those special baby fish net things that keep them in one area and all the stuff the experts at the fish shop told me to get. We put them all in there except one little sucker who was too fast to catch.

All the babies in the confined area died, all except the fast sucker, who obviously didn't need to be in there, because he could outrun anything and grew to be a healthy size and didn't become fish dinner for the other fish. Obviously we should let nature take its course sometimes and leave them alone. But when you have a tank (we have a very simple set up) you have to learn these things by trial and error.....

 

[Enerchi]

That's great news about the 2 shrimp "litters" (??what are they called??) and so glad that so many have survived!! You are a good shrimp daddy, obviously!!

(but I miss your synchro swimming avatar!! she was PERFECT!!)

 

[distracts]

The shrimp are kinda cute. I would like an aquarium with fishes but I'm too lazy to take care of things that I can't cuddle... for now I'll just be happy with the fishtank screensaver.

 

[Niel]

i briefly dated a man with a saltwater flishtank. He worked at a somewhat exotic pet shot, nothing crazy, but they had access to really cool fish. I cant remember any of the really cool types, but he did have some black clownfish,( I named them Ari and Oozy )

anyways, im babbling but i remember thinking, these are SOOOOO cool, but i could never care for a fishtank, its so much cleaning and work. I love all your pictures they are very cool, and im very impressed with your tank care-taking abilities!

 

[tyty333]

Cute little critters! Cant say I know anyone else that breeds shrimp!