I ahve a pregnant ghost shrimp. How can i get it to have babies safely?

[pinchyboy]

Hello well i always go to my lake and catch shrimps and stuff, so today i caught a giant ghost shrimp about 1 inch long. I know its pregnant cause it has eggs under its belly...... I was wondering how i can have it give birth safely and whats the proper breeding ground for the shrimp?

[xximanoobxx]

"Ghost shrimp are easily bred in aquarium but the fry is very hard to raise. You will se female ghost shrimp with pink eggs or baby shrimp under their bellies. The fry is however hard to feed since it is very hard to offer them food that are small enough. Feeding them infusoria can sometimes be successful. Ghost shrimp are better and more easily breed and raised in ponds where there exist a lot of food for the young shrimp. Adding a few females and one or two males in a pond usually results in a lot of shrimps in a couple of months. "

Got it from the aquatic community articles...

[pinchyboy]

I would have to take the shrimp out of the tank right....because wont the fish eat the babies?

[plantedlab]

Yes most fish will prey on the small shrimp. I have never really tried to breed ghost shrimp successfully, so I can't say how hard the young are to rear. I have had alot of success breeding Cherry Shrimp. They are a little smaller, bright red, and eat more algae.

You can breed them pretty easlily in a 10 gallon or larger aquarium. They cannot tolerate high nitrate levels, so it really helps to use live plants. Java moss is excellant for a beginner to plants, it will attach itself to rocks or driftwood, and absorbs alot of nitrates. I use a layer of sifted compost under my gravel to give the plants some root feed. This also breed lots of micro-organisms, flat worms, water fleas and other things that can be fun to watch and feed small shrimp or baby fish. I have never seen these types of organisms in a tank with fish in it, but if you have never tried a planted invertebrate tank, I highly reccomend it. Just get yourself a good magnifying glass.

I like to use sponge filters, or rig up some type of diffused intake screen to keep the baby shrimp from being sucked into the filtration. Keep the water very clean and well oxygenated. I have found the ideal temp to be 82 degrees F to trigger breeding.

I have bred them successfully with fish if there is adequite cover, but the survival rate is much higher in an invert tank.

[plantedlab]

Here are some pics of the Cherries.

[aquasteph]

i personally have had a pregnant ghost shrimp, too. It didn't go well. I mean, she was fine and everything until I pulled her out and put her in a breeder. I guess she got too stressed out and ended up eating her eggs because they just kind of... disappeared.

Currently I have one with eggs under her belly and I am leaving her free with rest of the tank in order to see if I have more success. I'm really worried because I have other fish in the tank and I'm sure they would eat the tiny baby ghost shrimp, but I'm too scared to remove them all and mess up my tank and stress them all out, just for one pregnant shrimp.

Basically what I've read is that most of the time the mother just ends up eating her babies. I'm kind of tempted to see if there would be some way to extract/get her to drop the eggs early but I don't want to be cruel or hurt the momma shrimp.

Sorry this may not seem like much help but that's my personal experience! Good luck and please keep us updated if you have success, I'd love to hear how you got it to work! I'll let you know if I have any success, too.