Ghost shrimp laying eggs?

This is the first time I've had ghost shrimp. I have 11 of them in my betta tank. I got a few of them already pregnant and atm I'm watching a female pretty much pulling the eggs out of her. they're just hanging to her. do they put a gel out or something to hold them? jw what happens next lol.
thanks for all responses
-Alyssa

 

I believe what happens is she holds them against her swimmerettes(spellings?) Until they are ready to hatch... they hatch int a larvae form which 90-100% will not survive due to this... basically their care is the same as any dwarf shrimp species...

 

sweet well I picked out all the big pregnant shrimp I could find. I don't mind them over populating. My cichlids would love a snack lol. I think I got at least 7 pregnant shrimp so if a few make it that would be pretty neat. I over feed that tank anyways, so hopefully a bunch make it.

 

My ghost shrimp berry quite often. Never any babies tho. Ghost shrimp are more difficult than dwarf shrimp to breed. Would be nice if a few made it every once in awhile. It's awful to know that all those babies are just going to die every time...

 

is there anything you can do? like strip mom of the eggs and put them in their own little place? or will they not hatch? Does mom eat the babies once they hatch or does she just leave them alone? I have a lot of plants in the tank. java moss, tons of this cluster plant that the shrimp love sitting on, anubius, swords. will being heavily planted help the living ratio?

 

My tanks are also heavily planted. I use plants for my fish fry to hide in so there's lots of it. There is something about the life stages of ghost shrimp. Can't remember for sure but I think Ghost shrimp have a zoea stage and then morph into miniature adults. If this is true its hard for zoea to find and eat super small food. Maybe they need green water?

Now I've got myself thinking. I think I will take out one of my berried females and put her in my Daphnia tank. I dose green water in there every other day. Hmmm...

 

Will you explain green water? I have no idea what it is

 

Green water is water containing lots of single cell algae, freshwater MICRO algae. If you culture the proper algae it DOES NOT grow in your aquarium like all the dreaded aquarium algae. If you want to know how I can explain, it's very easy. I grow it to feed my Daphnia magna. Which is fed to my Triops cans and my Platties. Ghost shrimp like them too.

 

I would love to know how I really want the betta tank to thrive. I love looking at super green scaped tanks I'd like to do that with the betta/ shrimp tank

 

Okay, Greenwater:

#1 - Get a very clear container, I use Langers juice bottles since they are the perfect size and are clear. Rinse well, no soap. Remove label. I like to write the date on the bottle with a sharpie marker.

#2 - Fill the container with good aquarium water (no algae meds) but leave an inch or so of head space.

#3 - Drop in a spinach leaf (romaine works too, some people use lettuce but spinach works best for me). Rinse and rub spinach leaf in tap water first to get grime and preservatives off.

#4 - Put the lid back on the container. Place in a sunny window in a warm room (room temp, not a cold garage). The warmer the water the faster it goes.

Some say it takes 3 weeks, mine only takes a week for the water to turn green. I rotate (not shake) my bottle every day or so. Once the water starts turn turn green you can remove the leaf. Usually the leaf disintegrates so I strain the water through a coffee filter and put back into the container. I've always been afraid the leaf will start to rot and ruin the whole culture.

Once you've got your greenwater culture started you should split it into at least two containers, just in case one fails. I have three going at all times. It should never smell nasty, just a nice earthy pond/lake smell. I rotate/shake mine every day or so - whenever I remember.

How to use it:
Shake the container so it's mixed well since the "green" can settle to the bottoom. Pour the greenwater in with your filter feeders (Daphnia in my case) until the tank water has a green tint. Make sure to leave at least a quarter of your container with greenwater. Fill container back up with good tank water (make sure to leave an inch or so of head space for shaking purposes). In a few days the water your container will turn green again. This is why I always have three containers of greenwater going. I label mine #1, #2, #3 but you can always tell the difference between them since they are of varying degrees of green.

Now that I've said all that:
I would be happy to send you a starter culture of green water. All you would do is put it in your clear container and add good tank water to it. In 2-3 days you will have instant green water. No waiting for the spinach culture.

I can also put some of my Daphnia magna in your greenwater culture. Then you could start your own Daphnia! I love my Daphnia just like my other tanks. And my fish LOVE eating live food, just like in their native habitats. I don't have anything other than Daphnia in that tank - no Copopods or Scuds.

FYI: Daphnia magna are a lot larger than Daphnia pulex. Easier for fish to see. The BABY Daphnia magna are about the size of an ADULT Daphnia pulex.

If you want to increase your Daphnia population really fast just feed them yeast! Super duper easy. Buy 3/pk of yeast in the baking isle at your grocery store. I can explain that as well if you like.

 

Greenwater culture. (Pop can for reference)

 

Thank you I actually want to try to make it myself. Just to see if I can lol The daphnia sounds really neat though. I probably wouldn't put daphnia in the cichlid tank unless there were fry. I don't need them getting that much protien.

can a person find daphnia or does it have to be bought. My husband tolorates my fishkeeping. but has told me that unless it's essential "no you can't have it" lol. would you find daphnia in a pond once it gets warm?

I'm definitely going to try to make this green water though. I'd like to see some baby shrimp

 

Yes, you can get Daphnia from local ponds. It will be D. pulex tho, pretty small. And you will end up with other critters. You can keep Daphnia in anything, even a juice bottle. It's good to have a small amount of air bubbling through. I really don't mind sending you some (free! ).

 

Another note: Daphnia are sometimes easier to catch in the wild during winter. They are much closer to the surface due to less O2 in the water. They also seek the light. If you go ice fishing or know someone who does just start dipping your shrimp net in the water. PLEASE don't go to your local pond or stream and fall through the ice!!!!!

 

will I be able to see them to scoop? or is it just a chance of luck? lol. awesome idea. I may take you up on the offer but not at the moment. I really want to see if I can do this myself is all. just to say I did. I like diy. Thank you so much for the offer though

 

Scoop around the water in a figure 8 motion with your net always facing the same direction. Then take it out of the water, turn it inside out and dip the fabric into your water container. You should see a bunch of teeny white things swimming around. You will get lots of other critters, not just Daphnia. A bright light shining close to the water surface will help draw them in.

When you get home I would use an eye dropper or pipette to remove all but the Daphnia and copopods. If you don't know what you are looking at you could get some things that are not so good for the aquarium.

Earlier I was talking about feeding the Daphnia to your Betta. Your cichlids will eat them too but I'm not that familiar with the current knowledge regarding cichlid diet. In my experience ALL fish and other aquatic animals love Daphnia. They are next to the bottom of the food chain.

And Daphnia almost always give birth to clones. So if you have a single Daphnia you can start a colony. No need to get males and females. Sometimes in nature they reproduce sexually but that's not important for our purposes.

I don't mean to be one of those crazy people that won't stop typing. Sorry... Just nice to have a new "friend"!

 

lol. I ramble too. I always add a story to the post then most of the time I'll delete it and try to shorten it up lol.

mbuna are herbavours. they can't have very much protien. I may add the green water if it helps my plants in the mbuna tank but otherwise I'll put daphnia and green water in the betta tank. he'll eat them and so will the shrimpies
awesome. I will look for pics of both of those.

 

The green water won't feed your plants. It is only used to feed filter feeders. I'm not sure but it might take nutrients out of the water to feed itself. Don't know. I do like the green colored water.

It's amazing to pour greenwater in my Daphnia tank and come back the next morning to clear water. They've eaten/filtered it all. Same thing with yeast. Pour the yeast in the tank and it turns completely white cloudy in seconds. The next morning *poof* all the white is gone, the water is clear, and there are tons of new baby Daphnia.

My husband says I'm weird...

 

don't worry mine says that to me too so I was kinda wanting a few bamboo shrimp. they're filter feeders. would that help them? I'm still going to make it and try to find daphnia.

 

I'm not sure if greenwater would work for Bamboo shrimp. I think they filter larger stuff in fast-ish currents (larger stuff like Daphnia LOL). But maybe ask in the forum if greenwater works for Bamboo shrimp?