Shrimp Breeding-

[Fathomed]

So say I buy 10 Ghost Shrimps for my 10g and just throw them in there. Would they eventually breed without me having to do anything? I don't plan on having any fish in this tank except maybe a Betta.

I don't have the Betta yet so I don't think there'll be a shrimp eating problem.

 

[rkilling1]

They will breed, but it's highly unlikely to have any make to an adult. Ghost shrimp go through different stages as they grow and require micro foods when they are young.

If you want to breed shrimp, look into cherries.

 

[Purrbox]

It all depends on what shrimp you actually receive as Ghost Shrimp. There are many different varieties that are sold under that same common name. Some require brackish conditions for the young to develop while others are just fine in strictly fresh water. It's definately beneficial to have live plants, and lots of them, as they provide a place for the microfauna to grow that the young shrimp need for food.

Cherry Red Shrimp is definately the easiest shrimp to start out with if you want to breed shrimp. As long as they are healthy, they breed like rabbits.

 

[bs6749]

For ghost shrimp you will need brackish conditions for the larval stage of the shrimp. They are difficult to raise to adulthood.

Cherry shrimp, as stated, are easy to raise as are basically any members of the neocaridina genus including yellow shrimp (variation of the red cherry shrimp), snowball shrimp, and blue shrimp (variation of the snowball shrimp). Other shrimp such as tiger shrimp of the neocaridina genus are just as easy to breed as red cherry shrimp given the proper water parameters (acidic to slightly alkaline water) but gestation takes roughly 41 days compared to 3-4 weeks (generally temperature dependent) of the neocaridna genus. Some members of the caridina genus such as crystal red/black shrimp will live in water ranging from mid 6's or lower pH up to a pH of 7.8 but they won't breed unless the pH is acidic (keep mine around 6.6) and their lifespans are significantly shortened if they are kept in alkaline water.

 

[Fathomed]

Thanks, I think the cherry shrimp is a good call.

 

[Purrbox]

For ghost shrimp you will need brackish conditions for the larval stage of the shrimp. They are difficult to raise to adulthood.

This is not true of all shrimp varieties that are sold as ghost shrimp. I have personally had a variety that was able to sucessfully breed in completely FW conditions.

 

[bs6749]

The species you are thinking of (Palaemonetes ivonicus) is the "American glass shrimp/American ghost shrimp) and it is native to South American waters, namely the Amason River basin. This species is not even seen in this hobby as it's so rare. Females of this species will be easily distinguishable from common ghost shrimp since they produce a small number of eggs (1-2 dozen tops), which are large and produce highly developed offspring. These offspring don't need brackish conditions to survive, that's true, but other ghost shrimp that produce tiny larval shrimp will need brackish conditions.

 

[bs6749]

I intend to see whether ghost shrimp larva actually do need brackish conditions or not. I've looked into it some more and I see that more people are claiming that common ghost shrimp found in LFS's do not need any salt to survive. I went out today and purchased the last 24 ghost shrimp from PetSmart for $8. About half of them were berried so if I put them into a tank that is well established (my RCS tank) and I see babies within a month (takes 40 days or so for them to gestate) then I'll know for sure that they don't need salt in the water in order to grow. Not having any babies by then does not prove the contrary though and more trials will have to be done.

Does anyone know if adult ghost shrimp will kill and eat baby RCS? I thought I heard that they will so maybe I shouldn't put them into my RCS tank, rather I should set up the tank with the substrate from my RCS tank and add plants full of microorganisms into a ghost shrimp only tank. What do you all think?

After putting them in their own 10g tank I see that 8 out of my 25 shrimp were berried females at various stages of development. A couple of them look as if they may have larva in the next 2 weeks and one even looks like it may have larvae in several days. I guess I'll have to keep a close eye on them. I put a plastic plant covered in algae in the tank for them and they haven't touched it. All of my RCS would be on it by now! They did start eating the flake food immediatly however.

 

[princessp714]

I do know that the ghost shrimp are pretty aggressive, I kept mine with snails and the female shrimp would eat my pond snails and recently ate a spixi baby (that made me mad) but I have had them for a while and don't have many places to put them, besides spixi's atleast give me babies!!

 

[bs6749]

What temperature was the tank at when the ghost shrimp attacked the snails? I'm just curious because I read from several sources that ghost shrimp become more aggressive at higher temps (76+) and are more docile in low 60's or less. I stayed on the safe side and put them in a tank of their own. No sense in ruining a couple hundred dollar colony of RCS for a <$10 experiment.

 

[gzeiger]

There are wild ghost shrimp here in the south (Charleston area). I find them in drainage ditches and blackwater swamps which test around 4 GH with no connection to any larger body of water. They must breed there, so the young of this species must not require brackish water. It is ridiculously dirty water though, visibly brown even in small quantities.

I've been keeping some, but no eggs yet. I haven't had any problems with aggression, despite being kept with some small, inactive and nocturnal fish, notably some flatfish <1 inch.

Unfortunately I have no idea how to tell if your shrimp are the same species as mine or if they are the picky ones.

 

[princessp714]

bs6479- tank was between 74-76 degrees before that they were in with my other fish in an 84 degree tank, the shrimp were for feeding puffers but the puffers are so calm and timid that they became friends they were $.66 and i am keeping shrimp as a hobby and for fun not for resale in any way, I know it's hard to believe but just like my beautiful spixi snails I would like to breed to see little babies just for the cute factor. this is not for $$ this is for the love of aquatics!

 

[bs6749]

The more difficult ones to raise are from South America in the Amazon River Basin and aren't the ones that are common to drainage ditches in the southern part of the U.S. I think what I have and what you have are the same species as I believe the ones I have are the "American ghost shrimp". Please post some pictures if you get a chance. There are supposedly several color variations of this shrimp. I may be interested in getting some from you if you are able to do so.

 

[bs6749]

bs6479- tank was between 74-76 degrees before that they were in with my other fish in an 84 degree tank, the shrimp were for feeding puffers but the puffers are so calm and timid that they became friends they were $.66 and i am keeping shrimp as a hobby and for fun not for resale in any way, I know it's hard to believe but just like my beautiful spixi snails I would like to breed to see little babies just for the cute factor. this is not for $$ this is for the love of aquatics!

I get your point but $ definitely comes in handy when your love for aquatics encourages you to go out and spend $150 on a single discus, or $800 for a pair or maybe you want a 500 gallon tank in your basement! Sure helps to pay for some of the bills when you have TONS of tanks with tons of little mouths to feed. Plus, making available to other people the things that you love is nice too.

 

[princessp714]

I def. understand that factor, but I wouldn't want to deal with people that get dead shrimp due to shipping, it's all a bother for me, it's great that you can make that much $$ off of it. I can't get my cherries to breed for whatever reason! so great for you! good luck with your sales, I might be by to grab some shrimp, I won some yellow shrimp but lost the blue ones, so I might just load up on cherries and be content with that mixture.

 

[Purrbox]

I won some yellow shrimp but lost the blue ones, so I might just load up on cherries and be content with that mixture.

Just make sure not to put these in the same aquarium as they will interbreed and create an ugly brown shrimp.

 

[bs6749]

I def. understand that factor, but I wouldn't want to deal with people that get dead shrimp due to shipping, it's all a bother for me, it's great that you can make that much $$ off of it. I can't get my cherries to breed for whatever reason! so great for you! good luck with your sales, I might be by to grab some shrimp, I won some yellow shrimp but lost the blue ones, so I might just load up on cherries and be content with that mixture.

Let me know your water params and maybe I can help with you with the breeding. I can guarantee you that mine would breed for you if you have similar params to what I have (ph:7.8-8.0, temp 76, GH 250+ ppm, KH 250+ ppm). I have cherries, yellows, snowballs all breeding, and my crystal reds and crystal blacks are starting to breed for me now as well. I'm working on the ghost shrimp thing but after that's done I'll probably get some tiger shrimp or blue tigers.

You don't have to worry about dead shrimp in the bags. I've sent close to 500 of them now and haven't had a single dead shrimp yet! Most of the ones I've sent were juvies but my adults ship well too.

 

[princessp714]

Just make sure not to put these in the same aquarium as they will interbreed and create an ugly brown shrimp.

Thanks..I learned my lesson before purchasing anything to read up first, they will be getting the empty 20 that my puffers were in, it has the filter still running with the heater awaiting their arrival!

Let me know your water params and maybe I can help with you with the breeding. I can guarantee you that mine would breed for you if you have similar params to what I have (ph:7.8-8.0, temp 76, GH 250+ ppm, KH 250+ ppm). I have cherries, yellows, snowballs all breeding, and my crystal reds and crystal blacks are starting to breed for me now as well. I'm working on the ghost shrimp thing but after that's done I'll probably get some tiger shrimp or blue tigers.

You don't have to worry about dead shrimp in the bags. I've sent close to 500 of them now and haven't had a single dead shrimp yet! Most of the ones I've sent were juvies but my adults ship well too.

my PH is 7.6-7.8 temp is around 76-78 (sorry not familar with GH & KH)
oh and I wasn't worried about your sending of the live fish/shrimp, i was worried about my sending them..lol.. no experience and don't want the hassle.

 

[bs6749]

GH is the measure of calcium and magnesium ions in the water and KH is the measure of buffering capacity of the water, namely bicarbonate and carbonate ions. The more buffering capacity you have (higher KH value) the more resistant to change the pH will be (helpful in avoiding large pH swings which can damage fins on fish/stress fish/even kill fish.)

Shipping shrimp is extremely easy. You put them in a Kordon Breather Bag with about 1.5-2 cups of water and then you tie the bag so that there is no air in the bag. The bag itself acts as a gas exchange membrane. Supposedly fish can live over a week in these bags and I'd wager that shrimp could go much longer, at least 10 days, maybe 2 weeks or more. But that shouldn't be a problem because they can easily reach their destination via USPS Priority Mail in a timely manner (2-3days).

 

[JohnPaul]

Regarding the breeding of ghost shrimp, I shamelessly stole things from the "Shrimp Varieties" listings at Petshrimp.com, which is probably the most authoritative source of info online (at least in English) that I am aware of. This is a snippet of the info regarding the breeding of the American Freshwater Glass Shrimp, which if you look at the pictures, is by far the most common shrimp I've seen sold in pet stores as "ghost shrimps"--that includes pet stores in New England (RI/MA), northern Illinois (Chicago area), and now the Baltimore-Washington metro area. The line in bold is bold-ed by me for emphasis.

American Freshwater Glass Shrimp (also called American Freshwater Ghost Shrimp / Grass Shrimp)
Palaemonetes paludosus

This shrimp is not as easy to propagate in the aquarium as most smaller algae eating shrimp of the Caridina or Neocaridina genus, since the Freshwater Glass Shrimp produces free floating larvae that need to be fed micro-food items before they molt into post-larva and assume a benthic (= on the ground) lifestyle. In most aquaria the larvae will not find enough food to develop into their next stage and will starve to death. However, in some old, established tanks with a lot of detritus and decomposing plant leaves on the ground the larvae might survive since there will be microorganisms in the water column. This shrimp does not require brackish water for larvae development as some of their cousins that hail from brackish water and marine habitats (such as Palaemonetes pugio and Palaemonetes vulgaris).

The reason 99% of people who have berried ghost shrimp fail to breed them appears to be not the lack of brackish water, but the lack of a sufficient concentration of micro-foods in the water column for the free-floating larvae to feed upon. On one of the shrimp forums I regularly read someone is planning to work to actively breed ghost shrimp using a commercial 5 micron (?) food when the young are in the larval stage. I'll be curious to see whether that is effective--I suspect not but who knows.[/quote]