[Bettacrazy]

I think my ghost shrimp is berried because it's whole belly is full of little tan-yellow eggs. what should I do with them? use them for live food? I wan't to keep a few because they clean up my tank

 

[mordalphus]

If there's any fish in the tank, the babies will be a quick and easy meal before they transform into shrimp.

 

[Bettacrazy]

could I just keep them in a fish net that is to fine for the fish to get to? how big are they usually? I have never had shrimp breed in my aquariums before even if it is just ghost shrimp. and does it look like I described when a female is berried? belly full of tan yellow little eggs that look like microscopic pebbles?

 

[mordalphus]

Those microscopic pebbles are about the size of the free-floating larvae they hatch into.

You might be able to keep them in a breeder net, but it may be hard. If you can get them past the first week, they'll be shrimp and be mildly capable of avoiding being eaten.

 

[A.M. Aquatics]

Yep seems like its berried. Keeping them in a fish net won't be very successful IMO, and you would have to keep the adult in there before the eggs hatch. The zoea also require very fine food like powdered spirulina. If you really want to be successful I would recommend a small, controlled tank with a sponge filter for rearing the zoea.

 

[Bettacrazy]

I can't do that right now, what if I bought a small plastic container and kept it in the tank except just so there is like some type of net over the top so fish can't get in and it is very close to the waterline? as for food, all I have right now are frozen brine shrimp, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, micro pellets, cichlid pellets, freeze dried bloodworms, and various flakes. I could get something else if petsmart would have it.

 

[Bettacrazy]

I netted the shrimp and put some hornwart in with her along with an algae wafer, how long does it usually take before it gives birth? it has been like this for about 3 days.

 

[jasonpatterson]

It takes about 3 weeks from the time that the shrimp is berried until the eggs hatch. The larvae then take another week or so to develop into shrimplets.

They're probably not going to live in the breeding container unless you provide some source of food, or at least give them something to chew on, like an established plant covered in biofilm and algae. Without fish the larvae will develop on their own in an established tank, grazing on whatever they come across. You could try fry food for fish, or perhaps pulverizing and soaking a food pellet or some live food to make a finely grained paste.

 

[HiepSTA]

i once had a berried ghost shrimp in a fluval chi with cherry shrimp, about 90% of the larvae got sucked into the filter (i watched them get sucked up 3 or 4 at a time)

but 3 or 4 managed to survive and grow into adults

 

[diwu13]

There is also a lot of different shrimp sold under the name ghost shrimp. Some of which cannot even breed without care as they give birth to larval forms of shrimp, not the miniature versions. This is usually the case if you got ghost shrimp from walmart or petco

 

[Bettacrazy]

I take that back, it escaped the net somehow. I am going to be setting up another small five gallon soon where if she hasn't given birth yet I can put them. If she does oh well. maybe one or two will survive.