ghost shrimp breeding

[I like Triggers]

i have a 15 gallon minireef im going to break down today. i also keep aggressive fish in another tank, and wanted to know if it is possible to breed and raise ghost shrimp, and if so, how much effort. i would like to breed them in the 15 for food for my triggers. thanks!

 

[Fishfreak218]

ya, its possible.. here is a link which has SOME info about what to do:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1468

i would rather just buy them but w/e floats your boat

 

[Absint Reefer]

I think it would be cheeper just to buy them then raise them

 

[zemuron114]

i raised some saltwater grass shrimp over the summer. IT was rather easy.... I put the pregnant ones into a 5 gallon tank with a bubbler, and then when they released the fry, i took the big ones out. I found that the little ones actually ate flake food if i crumbled it up, because they are scavengers... It can be done

 

[TeakieBarber]

Here is a link which discusses a couple of hobbyist success stories, and how they did it.
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/shrimp2.htm#ghost

I have 2 10g tanks setup with about 10-15 Ghost Shrimp in each. I have found that by adding a heater (78Ã"šÃ‚°), that I have almost no die off, even in my 10g 'holding feeder tank'. I buy 100 at a time and put them in the 'holding tank'. I've been at this project about 4 weeks; I've lost 3 shrimp since adding the heaters (which I fed to my Trigger). I was losing at least 5-6+ per day, prior.

The only light the breeding tanks receive, is from a sliding glass door, that is on the shady side of our home. I covered 3 sides of the holding tank with foil and have a 25w light that I run a few hours a day. The rest is ambient light in my office.

I feed the tanks BBS, every other day and finely crushed tropical flakes, small pieces of leftover Frozen Brine, Mysis and Formula 1.

We have a spring fed, 1 acre pond; I collected white sand and grass from the bottom to plant the tank.

I will post results when/if I see some. I'm coming up on the 27 day mark, so I will be watching the breeding tanks closely.

This is not only another 'see if I can' project, but if successful, I will feed my Pinktail Trigger, Flame Hawkfish, Fuzzy Dwarf and Black Cardinal...etc.

Teakie

 

[sunfishh]

Nice tip zemuron114. I may try this next summer

 

[zemuron114]

you can't have any suck up filters or high flow. Just a bubbler and clean water and your good to go. It takes a while for them to grow fast in aquariums.. you have to feed them alot, which makes the water bad, and that is difficult to change.
But i also catch them by the thousands whenever i want, so raising them was just for fun

 

[TeakieBarber]

zemuron

zemuron

I thought you were talking freshwater shrimp. S/W would be much simpler. I could use my used W/C water for W/C's to the shrimp tanks. I'm going to have to keep that in mind. I don't live far from Amelia Island; where/what type of place do you go to catch them? My nearest LFS, is about the same distance as the Island. FloridaPets.com has S/W ghost shrimp now, if I can't find easy access to them.

Thanks for the idea(s).
Teakie

 

[vthondaboi]

Any info on saltwater shrimp?

 

[TeakieBarber]

vthondaboi

vthondaboi

Have you read through the thread?

If you're talking S/W Ghost Shrimp, there are some links posted within this thread. I would imagine that keeping S/W & F/W is not going to be much different, except for the substrate.

You can feed them both BBS and finely crushed flakes. I've read, with enough live grasses, that you don't have to separate the fry. I bought a plastic mat of thick, fake grass that floats on the top of my 10g tanks, along with some grass I collected from one of our ponds. It looks a lot like Chaeto, which I think would be excellent for the S/W fry.

I've got a spare, 15g clear plastic (long) tub; I think I'm going to set it up similar to my Brine Shrimp Tub, with the exception of adding some sand and Chaeto. Though, I'd like to find a place to get 1000's free, like zemuron114 does :spin2:.

Teakie

 

[vthondaboi]

Well all my LFS have F/W ghost shrimp and I've asked some and they said S/W ones don't exist so was wondering about another type that I could raise and keep in my S/W tank.

 

[zemuron114]

i catch grass shrimp(or thats what they are called in Mass.) they only get to about an inch in length and breed like CRAZY in the summer. I can catch 400+ with one scoop in a tidepool. My fish love them. i may have a pic somewhere... i forget the scientific name for them though.. lol

 

[TeakieBarber]

S/W Ghost Shrimp

S/W Ghost Shrimp

Click on Shrimp; then scroll down until you find them:
http://www.floridapets.com/

If you live in the SE, you get discounted shipping!

They're a great company and stand behind what they sell. I've been doing business with then for a couple of years now, and I highly recommend them :thumbsup:.

Teakie