Skunk Cleaner Shrimp And Long Spine Urchin!!!!!!!!!

92GallonReefer · Aug 20, 2008

So I just got home from painting my new place and just found a few surprises!!!!
First off a baby urchin! the body of it is close to the size of a m&m with spins about an inch long. Just got some new live rock so it may have come with it or does anyone know how urchins reproduce?
But what really excited me was the belly full of eggs my cleaner shrimp was holding! Just added second shrimp like 2 weeks ago and now may have little ones on the way! Does anyone have experience with the shrimp babies and how do i go about raising them?

92GallonReefer · Aug 20, 2008

Sorry Rev if this is in the wrong place but it was kinda hard to decide where to stick it! Thanks, Thomas

kurbs · Aug 20, 2008

The shrimp will produce eggs few weeks if kept fed and healthy.

Unfortunately they become fish and coral food. Once they "hatch" they get swept away in the water column.

the only way you could keep them would be to house the shrimp in a separate tank.

I'd assume the process is similar to that of clowns.

IMO

oceanparadise1 · Aug 20, 2008

i would get rid of teh urchin they will knock over frags and eat good algea as well

92GallonReefer · Aug 20, 2008

yea i was going to get rid of my large one but now i am getting rid of my small one as well when i move. I dont like the broken spins laying around the tank

oceanparadise1 · Aug 20, 2008

yea plus they will destroy any coraline u have in a matter of days lol

seafansar · Aug 20, 2008

My skunk cleaner shrimp hold eggs all the time. I did some research and they are one of the harder species to raise. Even the experts at MOFIB have trouble raising them, unfortunately. Look up how long they take to release the eggs. I stayed up one night to watch them, and the babies are cute minute versions of the parents.

oceanparadise1 · Aug 20, 2008

sara have u had any luck raising them? if so maybe u can share so 92 can raise them and sell them to all of us cheap :)

seafansar · Aug 20, 2008

Haha...no. I had some last 24 hours, but that's it (I wasn't really trying though). Even the experts have a hard time with them.

FateX8 · Oct 14, 2008

the problem with this species is getting them to settlement which takes a LONG time
the larvae go through stages and only look similar to the parents post settlement
theyre very fragile too

AlexStinson · Oct 14, 2008

Yeah I was reading about cultivating some peppermint shrimp (which are in the same family) and they are equally hard to reproduce. To get the shrimp to adulthood takes a large investment of time and equipment, and will likely end in failure. Like was previously said the trick is getting them to settle out of the water column, this has to be done in a seperate tank and can take 6 weeks if I remember correctly.

talon4x4 · Oct 14, 2008

Keep the urchin, they are great!! I have a tuxedo and a brown spine urchin. The tuxedo is out all day cleaning things up and the other only comes out at night. They definitely keep the coraline under control, much better than me having to scrape it all the time.