harlequin shrimp breeding?

[luisse25]

last night while im feeding my tank,thousands of little critters went swarming and wiggling around..they look like tiny shrimps...i went to google and im positive its harlequin shrimps...sooooo my harlequin laid eggs...i tried catching some but then when i research about breeding it,it looks like its hard...so i put it back in the tank...my acans ate some and my fish...

anyone knows how to breed them?there were thousands last night..now theres none...

 

[Romewhip]

I don't know about harlequins but my peppermints have babies constantly, about an hor after I turn off the lights they'll moult and there are babies everywhere, the fish and corals gorge themselves.

 

[cyberdeth]

anyone knows how to breed them?

1) Turn on moon lights
2) A little Barry White
3) Read them a Harliquin Romance of your choosing

Srsly...

Good luck with that. I was hoping with all of my fishies out of the tank that my cleener or peppermint's would do this. They will probably all be fud with fishies in the tank.

 

[cyberdeth]

1) Turn on moon lights
2) A little Barry White
3) Read them a Harliquin Romance of your choosing

Srsly...

Good luck with that. I was hoping with all of my fishies out of the tank that my cleaner or peppermint's would do this. They will probably all be fud with fishies in the tank.

*edit* mah spealing wuz rong

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Photos?
Any shrimp fry survive?
If they breed reliably, Vicki in Puyallup can give advise. She has raised many generations of peppermint or cleaner shrimp.

 

[luisse25]

hi mike!i didnt try and catch them anymore...when i see my tank gets like dusty i knew the harlequin laid eggs again...one time i see 1 of my acans have a ball like thing in its mouth and tried to swallow it whole and when i went to get a closer look its a ball of harlequin fry..

 

[LeslieH]

Apparently these are considered a bit tougher to raise than Lysmata and also present ethical difficulties for those who don't like the idea of sacrificing live sea stars. A variety of information can be found at the following sites:

Summary of the life cycle by Reef Culture Technologies
REEF CULTURE TECHNOLOGIES :: Research & Development
I find this site most interesting because while RCT managed to successfully raise juveniles it is against the use of live sea stars as food & will not produce juveniles for sale until a substitute food source is found.

Progress report on breeding Hymenocera (see p. 79)
www.ctsa.org/Upload/AnnualReports/2009AnnualReport.pdf

Info on the life cycle --
Kraul, S. and A. Nelson. 1986. The life cycle of the harlequin shrimp, Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 9:28-31

Pictures of the juveniles
Hymenocera elegans

Info on breeding & development --
Report: Hymenocera picta (Rcvd: 9/11/94)

A discussion on the Marine Breeder's website
Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders Association • View topic - Harlequin Shrimps (Hymenocera elegans)

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Great links, thanks Leslie. I have a pair, have kept them for years.
Currently feed mine predominantly frozen legs of juvenile pacific sunflower starfish found in the Puget Sound.

I supplement them with as many astarina stars I can get my hands on, occasional sand sifter that is missing some legs and sold as-is and occasional chocolate chip when on sale.
They are doing great. Haven't heard of anyone else training them to take a frozen leg. I got them started by first giving them live legs of chocolate chips. These cams from a rotated group that I kept fed in the sump. After the live legs, got them to take frozen chocolate chip star legs and finally whole small sunflower star legs.

 

[Boomer]

Luisse

Got any pics they might be Mysid shrimp.

 

[LeslieH]

No way you're going to run out of those, not in PS!

A number of people have reported that they readily accept frozen legs or stars from temperature areas like yours. Some lucky folk get sea stars that are pulled off agriculture facilities where they're considered pests. Since the sea stars would be killed anyway it's a win-win situation.

 

[luisse25]

Luisse

Got any pics they might be Mysid shrimp.

ill see if i can find the pics i took of the fry's....i think my female harlequin will lay eggs again...i see her roaming around today....she dont come out in their cave unless she lays egg...

 

[Faciosity]

I still havn't gotten my hands on one, so maybe you can raise a good pair for me!

Good luck! I want to see pics!

 

[luisse25]

I still havn't gotten my hands on one, so maybe you can raise a good pair for me!

Good luck! I want to see pics!

i wish i could....maybe i should really pay attention on how to raise them...

 

[Faciosity]

i wish i could....maybe i should really pay attention on how to raise them...

I'm sure it would be well worth your time! I call dibs on the first batch!:lol:

 

[Faciosity]

If only I had a way to get my asterinas to you easily for food!

 

[luisse25]

woke up to go to the bathroom(2:30am)...i look at my tank for a second and saw my harlequins out....well i thought they are trying to beg for food(havent feed them for a week or so now)...but to my surprise i notice my female's tummy is bulging..bulging with eggs!!!:shock:..i called my husband and there we took bunch of videos(from camera) and pics.....heres 1 pic that is clear..and a video...my all fish are excited and happy catching and eating all the fry..makes me sad
sorry for the ugly sight...tank is very dirty,im breaking down the tank and im not cleaning anymore...now im really gonna plan on trying to breed harlequins...maybe the next hatch we can save some fry...

ill post the video later...
goodnight