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Breeding Amano Shimp "The Trial"

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#1 ·
Anyone here ever attempt breeding Amano shrimp? I have a berried Female and for the sake of curiosity I am going to give it a try/

The equipment:

1 gal Tupperware container
20 gal tank for zeo's bare bottom
Small air pump and airstone
R/O water
Premixed saltwater (Not sure what brand as I'm picking it up today)
Refractometer
heater? possibly
No filter
30" 20W florescent tube aquarium light that came with my main tank
Aquarium salt
Spirlina Flake

The Plan:

1. I will set up the 20 gal half full of pre mixed saltwater and adjust to 34ppt salinity using R/O water to reduce salinity or aquarium salt to increase salinity. The put the light against the side of the tank and leave it on 24/7 to promote algae growth for the zeo's to feed off.

2. Once I can see tiny eyes in the eggs of the buried female I will move her to the 1 gal container and fill with aquarium water from the tank she came. I will add an air stone with very low flow and feed 1 spirlina flake daily until she releases the zeo's. If water changes become necessary I will remove 25% and add more tank water.

3. Once she releases the zeo's I will then remove the female and put her back into my main tank.

4. I will then fill another 1gal tupperware container with saltwater from the 20gal tank that has been aging and growing algae. Using an air stone to prevent sucking up the zeo's I will siphon 1/2 of the water out of the container with the zeo's and start a dip of saltwater to top it off. I will be trying a drip ever 5 sec or so.

5. Once the acclimation to partial saltwater is done I will float the one gal container for about 2 hrs in the 20 gal to ensure a slow temp acclimation. I will be trying a temp of about 70F for the zeo's.

6. From here on out I will be monitoring the water for clarity and feeding as necessary as well as testing the parameters daily. I chose a 20 gal for this purpose as I do not plan on water changes but will do if needed.

7. Once I see forward swimming shrimp (zeo's that have morphed) I will wait 2 days and then start the acclimation back to freshwater over a 1 day period.

8. My goal is to have 40+ Amano's make it to maturity and work on improving yields in the future.

Any idea's, concerns or experience you can share are more than welcome as this is the first shrimp I have kept and the first attempt at breeding Amano's for me.
 
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#3 ·
1. I will set up the 20 gal half full of pre mixed saltwater and adjust to 34ppt salinity using R/O water to reduce salinity or aquarium salt to increase salinity. The put the light against the side of the tank and leave it on 24/7 to promote algae growth for the zeo's to feed off.

Aquarium salt and Marine or Reef salt are not the same things... if the salinity is too low, you need Marine or Reef salt to up the salinity.

You may want to look into some phytoplankton or other small foods to feed the zoes, too....



2. Once I can see tiny eyes in the eggs of the buried female I will move her to the 1 gal container and fill with aquarium water from the tank she came. I will add an air stone with very low flow and feed 1 spirlina flake daily until she releases the zeo's. If water changes become necessary I will remove 25% and add more tank water.

Moving a berried amano into another container may cause her to drop her eggs... it can take anywhere from 15-50 days for the eggs to hatch.



3. Once she releases the zeo's I will then remove the female and put her back into my main tank.

Amano eggs can hatch over a period of days, if not weeks... be sure to have a flashlight on hand to use on the side of the aquarium to check for babies when it's completely dark!



4. I will then fill another 1gal tupperware container with saltwater from the 20gal tank that has been aging and growing algae. Using an air stone to prevent sucking up the zeo's I will siphon 1/2 of the water out of the container with the zeo's and start a dip of saltwater to top it off. I will be trying a drip ever 5 sec or so.

You could honestly just dump the zoes straight into saltwater, or even brackish, within a week's time of hatching and they'd still be okay...

The zoes are *normally* born in freshwater streams or rivers which lead out to the ocean. They tend to unceremoniously get "dumped" into saltier conditions...



5. Once the acclimation to partial saltwater is done I will float the one gal container for about 2 hrs in the 20 gal to ensure a slow temp acclimation. I will be trying a temp of about 70F for the zeo's.

Sounds good.



6. From here on out I will be monitoring the water for clarity and feeding as necessary as well as testing the parameters daily. I chose a 20 gal for this purpose as I do not plan on water changes but will do if needed.

Rather large tank. Good thought process!



7. Once I see forward swimming shrimp (zeo's that have morphed) I will wait 2 days and then start the acclimation back to freshwater over a 1 day period.

It can take 3-6 weeks for the zoes to morph into miniature adults... so you can't acclimate the entire tank at once to freshwater... sorry, not that simple! Also, you might kill the new shrimp doing an acclimation to freshwater that fast.

A day after you start noticing the miniature adults (aka, when the forward moving babies are no longer red), you then catch them, put them into a container and do 50% water changes with freshwater. If you want, you can take out 50% and drip freshwater back into their container. Do this for 3 days.

Day 1 morph - Saltwater Tank
Day 2 morph - Saltwater container with 50% water change (if you start with 34 ppt, it will be 17ppt)
Day 3 morph - Brackish container with 50% water change (~8.5 ppt)
Day 4 morph - Salty Freshwater with 50% water change (end up being ~4 ppt)
Day 5 morph - Freshwater

Adults cannot live in full marine conditions. They can, however, live in brackish water, no more than 17 ppt. (not recommending it, though!) Although the zoes can live in full marine conditions (34 ppt), the newly morphed young cannot survive lone in marine conditions either... and transitioning them to freshwater over a period of 1 day may be too big of a change and kill them.



8. My goal is to have 40+ Amano's make it to maturity and work on improving yields in the future.

Amanos can have a minimum of 300-400 offspring, and potentially over 2,000... (may depend on age of amano) So if you can even get 1 to survive, that would be an accomplishment!




My best attempt, which was my first, the longest I had one survive was up to 2 weeks in saltwater... if your first attempt fails, you might try doing brackish. Some people have better luck in saltwater, where-as others have better luck in brackish water...


 
#8 ·
I would welcome any and all info regarding amano shrimp including those that have been successful :) I don't really have an idea of what the success rate is? I more just though most people consider it to be to much of a hassle.

Dan

Bump: To start here is a pic taken April 30th first day berried. Mossy green color as described in the research I have done that indicates she is newly berried (If that is correct) As someone who literally gets in trouble for watching my aquarium during movies with my fiancee I am certain April 30th was day 1.

Dan
 

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#10 ·
~5 weeks from berried to hatch
Do not need to be fed while in freshwater (at least the first 3-4 days?)
Transfer to saltwater within 8 days of hatching (no acclimation required)
Zoes are attracted to light
Salinity between 30 and 35 ppt (1.022 to 1.026 sg)
Air stone with reduced flow
Temperature 68° F to 84° F?
Diet (only one or two required - plankton “must have”)
  • Diatoms
  • Phytoplankton
    • Tetraselmis
    • Dunalliela Salina
    • Nannochloropsis
    • Rotifers? (zooplankton)
    • Isochrysis sp. Tahaitian?
  • Liquizell
  • Golden Pearls (5-50 Microns - larger may work)
  • Spirulina Powder (mixed with water)
  • Mosura Shrimpton
Light on for 16-24 hrs a day
Morph into adults around 3-6 weeks of age
Acclimate morphed babies (post larvae form) to fresh water within a few days over a period of 3 days, changing 50% of saltwater to fresh once a day - 4th day, move to freshwater

Side Note: Adults survive salinity up to 17-18 ppt (for hatching in brackish water) - Adults cannot survive full concentration of marine water, eggs will not hatch in saltwater

Resources;
https://gabhar.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/breeding-amano/
Amano Shrimp | Care, Diet & Breeding - AquariumInfo.org
Caridina Japonica Online
Amanogarnele Caridina japonica (multidentata) Amanos Amano Zuchtbericht (German)
ShrimpNow !!! - Breeding Amano (Yamato) Shrimp (English version of above article)
ShrimpNow !!! - Caridina Japonica breeding
Raising C. Multidentata | unspecified

Video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHDZyeVCm4c

Bump: Japanese article...
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AOwz61_2jH42iMA&cid=8130D9B85C407A2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!175&parId=8130D9B85C407A2B!174&o=OneUp


Other information that may be relevant... different shrimp with similar/same breeding habits...
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AH_rLT3OA1TIONM&cid=8130D9B85C407A2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!166&parId=root&o=OneUp

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AHl4-_8Dvxh3VbY&cid=8130D9B85C407A2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!167&parId=root&o=OneUp

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!APbnxai8O72p-2Q&cid=8130D9B85C407A2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!176&parId=8130D9B85C407A2B!174&o=OneUp

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AOKHps_mngylgts&cid=8130D9B85C407A2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!165&parId=root&o=OneUp
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
~5 weeks from berried to hatch
Do not need to be fed while in freshwater (at least the first 3-4 days?)
Transfer to saltwater within 8 days of hatching (no acclimation required)
Zoes are attracted to light
Salinity between 30 and 35 ppt (1.022 to 1.026 sg)
Air stone with reduced flow
Temperature 68° F to 84° F?
Diet (only one or two required - plankton “must have”)
  • Diatoms
  • Phytoplankton
    • Tetraselmis
    • Dunalliela Salina
    • Nannochloropsis
    • Rotifers? (zooplankton)
    • Isochrysis sp. Tahaitian?
  • Liquizell
  • Golden Pearls (5-50 Microns - larger may work)
  • Spirulina Powder (mixed with water)
  • Mosura Shrimpton
Light on for 16-24 hrs a day
Morph into adults around 3-6 weeks of age
Acclimate morphed babies (post larvae form) to fresh water within a few days over a period of 3 days, changing 50% of saltwater to fresh once a day - 4th day, move to freshwater

Side Note: Adults survive salinity up to 17-18 ppt (for hatching in brackish water) - Adults cannot survive full concentration of marine water, eggs will not hatch in saltwater

Resources;
https://gabhar.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/breeding-amano/
Amano Shrimp | Care, Diet & Breeding - AquariumInfo.org
Caridina Japonica Online
Amanogarnele Caridina japonica (multidentata) Amanos Amano Zuchtbericht (German)
ShrimpNow !!! - Breeding Amano (Yamato) Shrimp (English version of above article)
ShrimpNow !!! - Caridina Japonica breeding
Raising C. Multidentata | unspecified

Video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHDZyeVCm4c

Bump: Japanese article...
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=...407A2B!175&parId=8130D9B85C407A2B!174&o=OneUp


Other information that may be relevant... different shrimp with similar/same breeding habits...
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=...2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!166&parId=root&o=OneUp

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=...2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!167&parId=root&o=OneUp

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=...407A2B!176&parId=8130D9B85C407A2B!174&o=OneUp

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=...2B&id=8130D9B85C407A2B!165&parId=root&o=OneUp
Great info @Zoidburg I have been researching also and appears PH of the Pacific Ocean along the coast of japan is 8.1-8.15 So I will be shooting for this and water temps are actually quite high in July when most breeding activity has been recorded around 80-82F. I'm thinking of a sacrificial first attempt splitting zeo's into 3 batchs 17ppt, 34ppt, 50ppt to compare time, survival rate etc. I read a study somewhere in the million and one pages I read today that seemed to indicate a salinity of 5-15% (50ppt-150ppt) yielded best hatch rate it was a study from 1980's but I can for the life of me find it again. It seems very suspect to me but I figure if I'm going to test some variables I may as well add 1 more.

Also thinking that ammonia will be critical at that PH so I'm think of setting up and cycling both fresh and saltwater tanks in future attempts by simply putting a sponge over the air stone and adding minute amounts of nutrients until I reach 5ppm nitrates. Maybe overly thinking this and overly cautious... thoughts?

Dan
 
#13 · (Edited)
Picked up a bucket of instant ocean marine salt (not cheap $70 CAD) and some phytoplankton Will be setting the saltwater tank up tomorrow. After a million pages of reading I decided against trying different salinities and going to go with 75F and 34 PPT salinity I will be using a coarse filter sponge over the heater because I'm probably over thinking it. Also adding an air stone for water movement.

Dan
 
#15 ·
I decided to purchase a new 10g tank instead of using the 20g I had as I got it used and had no clue if meds were ever dosed in the tank. If this attempt proves successful I may purchase a 20g for zeos and use the 10g for the berried females. It would be a shame to make an attempt just to have it fail because of a variable I don't know about. Set it up 50% R/O and 50% tap water so I will have minimal phosphates and nitrates to feed the phytoplankton once I introduce them. Power head on it for 24 hrs just to help with dissolution of salt. No sponge over the heater yet and rethinking this as it may catch some zeos. Now I wait, probably 2-4 weeks until I can see eyes in the eggs and then I will move the female to a 1g container filled with my main tank water. Then then let the challenge begin!

Here is a pic of the tank.

Dan
 

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#16 ·
Day 20 she started hatching the zeo's. I don't have a pic as I just broke the camera lens on my phone while fishing a few days ago and just got back from the lake. I transferred what looked to be about 30 zeo's into the 10g saltwater tank but I cannot see a single one now. I plan to transfer each day until she is done hatching. On a side note I have another female that is berried as of May 17th so if all goes south I will have another kick at the cat soon. Somehow lost my charger for my home camera too so I will be getting something tomorrow to get some pics. My god these guys are tiny and my eyesight probably isn't helping. Also fed 4 ml of phytoplankton after moving them.

Dan
 
#23 ·
Day 3 Zoes

Grabbed a terrible pic of 3 day old Zoes.

I have noticed about 15-20 of the 50ish have grown substantially more than the rest. They are approximately 2 times larger and appear to have 2 white spots forming 1 mid body and 1 at the end of the tail. The rest still have what looks like a white head and tiny opaque tail with no white dots. The more developed zoes swim much faster when I turn the lights out and hold a light to the tank.

On a side note May 17th the other female was berried and today 3 days after hatching the zoes the female I put back in has molted and the 3 males are going nuts on her so I'm expecting to see her berried tomorrow.

Also the phytoplankton I cultured is no good as I used 2 mil of miracle grow in a 500ml bottle. It grew like mad but today I was testing the water and my ammonia was 1.6. How these guys even are living is beyond me. They must be extremely resilient at this stage. I did a 50% WC and going to continue 50% a day until I get it back down to 0. water changes take about 2 hrs as I'm draining with and airline hose attached to an airstone and the filling the same way. Thank goodness I still have half the original phytoplankton left and I will add 2 ml of it tomorrow to 500 ml of D/O water and test ammonia before adding to the tank. I think I will try 1 drop of miracle grow in a 2 liter in the future and test before use when culturing phytoplankton.

Added: I also ordered 50-100 micron golden pearls today and will introduce it at about 10 days and see if the zoes go after it at that point

Dan
 

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#25 · (Edited)
Day 7 Zoes Update

So my ammonia is reading 0.1 now after 2 water changes which leads me to believe the phytoplankton have consumed the rest. As you can see from the photo my tank has now turned green with phytoplankton which concerns me over oxygen levels so I have upped the aeration to be quite vigorous 2 days ago and seems to have not had an effect on the survival rate. The one bonus side is I have stopped feeding for the last 3 days as the phytoplankton are now readily reproducing in the tank there is no need to add more . I can see some growth in almost all of the zoes so that's is a promising sign. Here is a pic of the now green tank and a link to a short vid of zoes chasing my light. I can only do a 9 sec vid because i'm still using my fiancée's phone and anything larger I cannot email to myself.

Video:

Dan
 

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#29 ·
14 Day Update

On day 8 with the water being so green with phytoplankton it was very difficult to see the zoes at all and part of the point to this is observing behavior and growth, so I decided to make some changes. I took a 3.3L Tupperware container and syphoned out enough of the green water to fill the container. I then took a light and attracted the zoes to one corner and also syphoned them out into the 3.3 litre container. I'm pretty sure I missed some (or for some reason had some deaths) as in the new container I can only see about 15ish. With the new container I also scraped off a small amount of the algae from the bottom of the 10g and put it in the 3.3L.

Part of my thinking on this was I will be able to separate batches of zoes and my previous thought of no water changes has gone out the window as surface scum from feeding golden pearls is a reality. I did notice zoes getting trapped in some of the air bubbles although within 1-2 sec the bubbles broke and the zoe would swim away unharmed if I let the problem get worse I would be certain it could cause mortalities. So it will be less water to change and easier to observe but that came with a trade off... Evaporation! the salinity change is now rapid and I need to top off daily in order to maintain it. I am going to try a drilling 2 holes in the lid that fits it so I can run the air line through 1 and the other will act as a pressure relief. I'm hoping this cuts back on the evaporation because I'm leaving Monday to go fishing again for a few days.

On day 10 I started feeding golden pearls 50-100 micron. I am feeding in the tiniest quantities as to reduce polluting the water as much as possible, I touch the back of a 2ml teaspoon to the food so a bit sticks to it and then hold over the tank and tap the spoon so the food (near dust size) falls off. I could visibly see the zoes going after it, they are much quicker now and have no problems swimming against the flow of water. I have also observed them to be what looks like picking at the bottom and walls for food. I know that might sound odd but I could swear these guys can forage. I have read about this behavior observed by some others as well. I have also noticed what looks like flicking thier tails that propels them extremely fast for a very short distance (like less than and inch). Also I am starting to notice a few of them are taking on more of a curved like "C" shape at times (not all the time) just found this odd.

On a side note I have ordered a new camera lens and housing for my phone that should be here around Monday so I will be fixing when I get back from fishing and be able to do longer video's.

No pics in this post but I will steal the Boss's phone when she gets home and post some then.

Added: I forgot to mention the 3.3L containers fit inside the 10g so I keep the 10g half full of water with and air stone for movement and heater to keep temps in the 3.3L at a stable 75F

Dan
 
#30 ·
Fast update my other female Amano that was berried on May 17th has started to hatch zoes. I can see about 25 at first glance and she still has tons of eggs so it looks promising. It look like I will have some photo's later that will show the size difference between the newly hatched and the 14 day zoes. It should provide a decent idea of growth and I would say at 14 days close to 2-3x the size if I had to guess.

On another note the female that hatched the first batch is still not berried again. Although I did see her molt and the males trying to get all over her still nothing. I guess she was not in the mood but I am checking her daily and have not seen the males pester her since shortly after her molt.

Dan
 
#32 ·
OK I have some pics all taken same zoom and distance. I syphoned 3 of the 14 day old out into a coffee cup so its easier to see and did the same with about 1/3 of the newly hatched today zoes all in the name of viewing pleasure (inspired by @KarenSoCal lol). I also took pics of the cups next to a 500ml bottle to put a little better proportion on scale and the new setup of the 10gal.

I think I was a little off in my guess of 2-3x the size

Here they are but I don't know how to put things in order so its all random:

Dan
 

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