Pretty sure my Sexys are making broods!

[SauceyReef]

Last night doing some late night maintenance I noticed hundreds of little shrimp floating in my small 13.5 fluval DT. I have had 5 sexy shrimp for a while so I am guessing it is the first larval stage of one of their clutches. After looking at some photos online it seems to be the case.

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/288110-my-sexy-shrimp-breeding-adventure/ <-- as you can see here the shrimp in my tank looked near exact to the ones in this forum.


Any advice or posts here on how to possibly raise them to little adolescence sexy shrimp?

 

[SlugSnorter]

sorry to say, but the filters will likey tear them to shreds. if you have a fuge, maybe a few could get in there and grow up if your really lucky.

 

[SauceyReef]

sorry to say, but the filters will likey tear them to shreds. if you have a fuge, maybe a few could get in there and grow up if your really lucky.

Well good news. I actually run no mechanical filtration in my tank at all. I just turned the back chambers into a refugium with a couple kinds of macro algae. I checked this morning and literally can not find a single little shrimp, which is crazy seeing thousands in my tank just about 6-8 hours ago last night.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Well good news. I actually run no mechanical filtration in my tank at all. I just turned the back chambers into a refugium with a couple kinds of macro algae. I checked this morning and literally can not find a single little shrimp, which is crazy seeing thousands in my tank just about 6-8 hours ago last night.

the return pump is also a death trap for them, maybe a few could have made it though!

 

[danieyella]

I hope some made it to safety!

 

[SauceyReef]

Just found this thread which is going to help a lot if I decide to attempt to grow them:

successfully raised sexy shrimp fry, pic included

over the past year and a half I have tried to raise my sexy shrimps fry a handful of times failing each time. however with this last batch I changed up a few things and now have many babies that are now around 3 months and 2weeks old. thought id share a pic. thinking about making a breeding...

www.reef2reef.com

From reading this thread I doubt any will survive past a few days. The success from this OP seems to be from feeding them freshly hatched brine shrimp eggs, as they feed on the yolks (super interesting). I think they have 0 food source in my tank if they do somehow survive the flow.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I hope some made it to safety!

if it happens again (check for eggs on the abdomen of your sexies) you can use an aquarium bucket with water from your tank and an air powered sponge filter with something like phytofeast to feed them to make a makeshift shrimp larvae tank

Sidenote: (this is a very makeshift option and im not sure how well it will work, but in any case youll be providing valuable information to other reefers in similar situations)

 

[SlugSnorter]

Just found this thread which is going to help a lot if I decide to attempt to grow them:

successfully raised sexy shrimp fry, pic included

over the past year and a half I have tried to raise my sexy shrimps fry a handful of times failing each time. however with this last batch I changed up a few things and now have many babies that are now around 3 months and 2weeks old. thought id share a pic. thinking about making a breeding...

www.reef2reef.com

From reading this thread I doubt any will survive past a few days. The success from this OP seems to be from feeding them freshly hatched brine shrimp eggs, as they feed on the yolks (super interesting). I think they have 0 food source in my tank if they do somehow survive the flow.

i hear they can eat some plankton, but im not sure

 

[SauceyReef]

i hear they can eat some plankton, but im not sure

If they start continuously breeding I guess I will start to catch some in small isolation jars and attempt to see if I can grow any! I would try a few different items with phytoplankton to feed them including what the other OP used as he had success raising them.

 

[SlugSnorter]

If they start continuously breeding I guess I will start to catch some in small isolation jars and attempt to see if I can grow any! I would try a few different items with phytoplankton to feed them including what the other OP used as he had success raising them.

if it happens again (check for eggs on the abdomen of your sexies) you can use an aquarium bucket with water from your tank and an air powered sponge filter with something like phytofeast to feed them to make a makeshift shrimp larvae tank

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

IMO the thought that return pumps will be a small creature blender isn't totally true. If the organism is big enough sure, but tiny copepods and other goodies are small enough that they get blasted along with the water instead of being chopped up by the impeller. People keep refugiums to keep a happy pod population and provide a natural food source with the pods sucked into the display by the return pump. If this turned pods into bits I think we'd have a different approach to a fuge.

 

[SauceyReef]

IMO the thought that return pumps will be a small creature blender isn't totally true. If the organism is big enough sure, but tiny copepods and other goodies are small enough that they get blasted along with the water instead of being chopped up by the impeller. People keep refugiums to keep a happy pod population and provide a natural food source with the pods sucked into the display by the return pump. If this turned pods into bits I think we'd have a different approach to a fuge.

You make a really good point but I think during part of the shrimp larval cycle they become free floaters thus are more easily disrupted by heavy flow.

 

[SlugSnorter]

IMO the thought that return pumps will be a small creature blender isn't totally true. If the organism is big enough sure, but tiny copepods and other goodies are small enough that they get blasted along with the water instead of being chopped up by the impeller. People keep refugiums to keep a happy pod population and provide a natural food source with the pods sucked into the display by the return pump. If this turned pods into bits I think we'd have a different approach to a fuge.

They are small and delicate, heavy flow can tear them by itself especially if its going multiple directions

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

They are small and delicate, heavy flow can tear them by itself especially if its going multiple directions

Small, yes. Delicate? Not necessarily. These creatures occur naturally in the ocean which has much stronger water currents than we could keep in our aquariums and have survived for thousands of years there. Is it possible that some of them don't make it? Sure, but that's what nature do

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

(that last sentence should be read as if "zefrank" said it lol)

 

[SlugSnorter]

Small, yes. Delicate? Not necessarily. These creatures occur naturally in the ocean which has much stronger water currents than we could keep in our aquariums and have survived for thousands of years there. Is it possible that some of them don't make it? Sure, but that's what nature do

when dealing with sexy larvae in an aquarium its better to have them in an area with food for them and a filter that doesn't risk killing them.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

when dealing with sexy larvae in an aquarium its better to have them in an area with food for them and a filter that doesn't risk killing them.

Yep, and living in a bubble will keep you from ever getting sick. Doesn't mean it's practical or necessary. What the heck are you going to do with hundreds of sexy shrimps? Although, a 125 with only rock flower anemones and a swarm of sexies would be a pretty cool sight to see

 

[SauceyReef]

Yep, and living in a bubble will keep you from ever getting sick. Doesn't mean it's practical or necessary. What the heck are you going to do with hundreds of sexy shrimps? Although, a 125 with only rock flower anemones and a swarm of sexies would be a pretty cool sight to see

I already basically have that haha. I have 5 sexys and 4 other shrimp in the Evo. Seeing how Sexy's work I think the tank could easily handle 10-20 more (not that I would ever want or do that). But LiveFreeAndReef I do not think you are giving the micro climates in the reefs/ocean enough credit. Most of our tanks simulate a mixed reef area that would keep LPS, SPS, while many of the breeding grounds are in macro algae beds / soft coral areas with very little flow. I think this is why you rarely ever hear of shrimp larvae making it to adulthood in a tank, even with a refugium.

If you click the link I shared above, the OP who successfully raised a batch went over flow a lot. Apparently the larva need constantly swirling water, but not to rough or it will kill them. To imagine the perfect little micro climate these little shrimp use in the wild is pretty interesting thought. I appreciate both of you chiming in

 

[SlugSnorter]

Yep, and living in a bubble will keep you from ever getting sick. Doesn't mean it's practical or necessary. What the heck are you going to do with hundreds of sexy shrimps? Although, a 125 with only rock flower anemones and a swarm of sexies would be a pretty cool sight to see

trade them into lfs or sell them yourself

 

[SlugSnorter]

I already basically have that haha. I have 5 sexys and 4 other shrimp in the Evo. Seeing how Sexy's work I think the tank could easily handle 10-20 more (not that I would ever want or do that). But LiveFreeAndReef I do not think you are giving the micro climates in the reefs/ocean enough credit. Most of our tanks simulate a mixed reef area that would keep LPS, SPS, while many of the breeding grounds are in macro algae beds / soft coral areas with very little flow. I think this is why you rarely ever hear of shrimp larvae making it to adulthood in a tank, even with a refugium.

If you click the link I shared above, the OP who successfully raised a batch went over flow a lot. Apparently the larva need constantly swirling water, but not to rough or it will kill them. To imagine the perfect little micro climate these little shrimp use in the wild is pretty interesting thought. I appreciate both of you chiming in

its always good to have these discussions, the more people who know that it can be hard, but is possible to captive raise inverts, the better chances in the future for captive inverts to become more common, helping make the hobby more sustainable and giving us potential for cool color morphs too.