Accidental breeding

[emilygupps]

I bought two ghost shrimp from the LFS one had some mysterious balls in (on) her. I asked and the person who helped me said "just poop" fast forward a couple weeks: I've got some upside down swimming tiny little shrimp in my community tank (3 long fin spotted danios, two male guppies, two ghost shrimp, and 3 nerite snails) I'm sure most have already been eaten.

If I let then stay in the community tank I have lots of live and fake plants and some structures to hide in, is there anything special I should be adding to the tank for food? I drop bottom feeder tabs twice a week and feed mostly flake food. Can they grow if they have to hide? I've seen a guppy eat one yesterday and today I've seen two hiding in my live fern.

Any chance they can survive to adulthood with out my intervention?

 

[Fresh2o]

Not sure. The fish you have are pretty good hunters and the early stages of ghost shrimp life are planktonic. Also, being free swimming they get their food from the open water and not from the sinking food. In layer stages they Some might survive but I'd say the chances are slim. I have danios that would breed frequently but also did a good job of hunting eggs and fry. I had to intervene to save those.

 

[emilygupps]

I think I would do more harm than good if I tried to net them. I suppose all of my fish could fit in my five gal hospital tank, except it's not cycled yet and it would be a very tight fit.

I suppose it will be an experiment.

How did you get your danios to breed? I'm pretty sure I have one fat bossy female and two sleek pushover males.

 

[Fresh2o]

I think I would do more harm than good if I tried to net them. I suppose all of my fish could fit in my five gal hospital tank, except it's not cycled yet and it would be a very tight fit.

I suppose it will be an experiment.

How did you get your danios to breed? I'm pretty sure I have one fat bossy female and two sleek pushover males.

You could try siphoning out the ghost shrimp larvae and raise them in a separate container or a breeder box in the tank (covering the slots to prevent escapees).
I had moss in the tank and nature ran its course. I no longer have moss and the stopped breeding. Coincidence? Not sure. Moss is not a requirement for breeding danios. If you are really interested in breeding danios, please contact AA member Andy Sager. He knows his stuff.

 

[emilygupps]

I'm trying to practice safe sex I like the idea of breeding fish but I'm not set up to keep all of the fry. If I would have known the fat one is female I would have gotten three makes, and the same with the shrimp. I wouldn't have taken a pregnant female, but since we had some fry I'll keep what survives.

I wanted to get a third any way. I'll wait a few months and see what happens. Is there a market for danio fry?

 

[Fresh2o]

The adults are good hunters and will most likely devour all eggs and fry before the can develop.
Yes, I too have a large dominant female (longfin blue) that is pretty territorial and acts as she owns the tank.

 

[emilygupps]

You'll never believe this! I just found two danio fry! Little black tails with two eye balls! I'll post a pic tomorrow I already turned the tank off for the night.

I thought the danios were poop, but I guess not! I guess I'll contact that guy and find out how to keep my new babies alive.

Do all these fry mean that my tank is healthy?

 

[Fresh2o]

Congrats! I would collect them and separate them from the parents. I was able to catch ONE fry and I placed it into a floating plastic breeder box. The slots were to wide so I cut up a filter cartridge to cover the slots and used wooden shish kabob skewers to keep them in place. The dry ate crushed fish flakes and later some freeze dried foods. At about 2-3 months I released it into the main tank. It was about 0.5" at the time. By 6 months of age I could hardly tell it apart from the adults.
Yes, I raised ONE fry. I guess if I were vigilant I could have captured and raised more of them but it really did not plan on that.
Sounds like your tank is doing fine. Best of luck with this.

 

[emilygupps]

They look stuck to the glass. Sooo excited maybe I will try a breeder box. Think if I can catch a shrimp I can put them together? The shrimp look bigger than the fish. I really wanted an other danio but the boyfriend said "no they're too big" and he wanted room for neons. He also said no more new fish until we see if any of the fry make it. So fun. And maybe I'll get my wish. So glad I don't have any bottom feeding fish. All the fry stay pretty low to the ground and the six fish play tag at the top of the tank.

And my other female shrimp is carrying eggs I think they're both female. I wonder how she got knocked up. I've had them like three weeks.

 

[Fresh2o]

View attachment 237537I wonder how she got knocked up. I've had them like three weeks.

Uh oh, I think its time for "the talk"
Fertilization of the eggs may have occurred prior to you obtaining these shrimp. I have red cherry shrimp and provide centralized feeding (single algae wafer or similar as opposed to food that gets dispersed throughout the tank). It lets me take quick inventory of whose in the tank and it promotes breeding rates. Obviously food is not the only thing on the male shrimp agenda.
I think the fry and shrimplets can be housed together in the breeder box.