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

[92GallonReefer]

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]

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

 

[kurbs]

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]

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

 

[92GallonReefer]

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]

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

 

[seafansar]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[addocdreefer]

here is a really good article i read. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/feature.htm
hope this helps. good luck.

tom

 

[addocdreefer]

heres another from the UK. http://www.reefsuk.org/articles/captivebreeding/breedcleanershrimp.php
careful tho, if you use it they may talk funny.:bigsmile:

tom

 

[Supreme Reefs]

My cleaner shrimp had babies but something ate them over the first night...

 

[cl2ysta1]

skunk cleaner shrimp still to this day have not been able to be raised past like day 20 I believe.

 

[john hill]

i love my long spine urchin just have to have frags nailed down