Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi)

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EasterEggs
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Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, September 22, 2011 8:00 PM
Breeding Journal DataSheet


General
Species:  Lysmata boggessi, Peppermint shrimp.  Wild-caught juveniles.
Social Structure:   A total of 4 shrimp; two per tank.  Simultaneous hermaphrodites; any two will make a "pair".
Size of Individuals:  1.25" to 2.25"
Age of Individuals:  Unknown, and various.
Date added to Tank:  Original four were bought in Mar 2011.  Two more bought in Dec 2011.  All shrimp moved to broodstock system in Nov 2011.

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  10, 15, and 20 gallon aquariums.  Plumbed into ~120 gallon system.
Substrate Details:  Fine dusting of sand, tile lean-to, a couple small pieces of live rock.
Filtration Details:  Central filtration system via sump.  Filter sock, bioballs, EuroReef skimmer, Chaeto filter.  Air stone in each tank.
Water Changes:   Weekly 20% to keep nitrate under 40 ppm
Water Temperature:  80F
Lighting:  T8
Lighting Cycle:  8 am to 9:30 pm
Other Tank Inhabitants:  Various pairs of clowns sharing with each pair of shrimp.  The shrimp are used as janitors.

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  They are fed indirectly by feeding the fish inhabiting their tanks.  Frozen: Homemade mash, PE Mysis, Plankton, Brine Shrimp, and Marine Cuisine.  Some New Life Spectrum pellets.
Feeding Schedule:  Fish are fed 4x per day.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  Unknown
Spawn Time of Day:  Overnight
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  Constantly; usually shrimp is carrying a new batch of eggs 1-2 days after the last eggs hatch.  Always the bigger shrimp of the "pair" that holds the eggs.
Spawning report refers to the spawn on 03/09/12.
Courtship Details:  Unknown
Egg Size:  Not sure
Egg Color:  Green at first, then pinkish-orange, then white/silvery just before hatch.
Egg Count:   Up to 300 so far on the bigger ones.

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:   Continuous. 
Hatch report refers to the hatch on 03/20/12.
Hatch Time of Day:  Overnight, just before daylight.
# Days after Spawn:  11-12 days.  Eggs don't always all hatch on the same night.
Larvae Description:  Look like mini shrimp, about 5 mm.  Fairly phototaxic.  Adult shrimp are cannibalistic and will eat the larvae.  I use a larvae collector made by Chad Vossen.

Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  80F
Size of Larval Tank:  1 and 2 gallon "fish bowl kriesels".  Larval tanks are placed into a 5 gallon tank.  The heater is in the 5 gallon tank.
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  Fine glass air stone placed at the 3 o'clock position on the curved side of the bowl to create a circular flow pattern and keep larvae and food pieces suspended.
Filtration Details:  None.
Lighting:  Small, single LED used resting on a piece of acrylic shining straight down to help keep larvae suspended.  Product is Hagen Marina Betta Kit LED Light and is fully submersible.  I don't submerse it, but it is nice to know if I drop it in the water it won't be an issue. 
Lighting Cycle:  8 am to 9:30 pm
Water Changes:  Daily 50% waterchanges in the evenings using water from established reef tank filtered through 53 micron sieve.  Daily bottom siphoning in the mornings.

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  NHBBS and frozen Cyclopeeze.
Feeding Schedule:  1-2 times per day add Cyclopeeze and NHBBS.  Several times a day use a baster to gently blast settled food. 

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
Days after Hatch: 
Date of Settlement End: 
Description of Fry: 

Grow-Out Tank Details

Temperature: 
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 
Size at Transfer: 
Age at Transfer: 

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Additional Information

<message edited by EasterEggs on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 7:27 PM>

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, September 23, 2011 9:19 AM

One of the shrimp carrying eggs:

 
Larvae in larval tank:


EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, September 23, 2011 9:20 AM
I lost the entire batch from Sept 16 yesterday to ammonia.  Newbie mistake...forgot to add ammonia detoxifier.

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, September 23, 2011 5:42 PM
I had a sticky heater yesterday that shot batch #2 up to 97F!  They survived that yesterday, but all perished today.  I think it was yesterday's heat wave.  Dangit.  I probably have a week before another shrimp releases larvae.

r33fking
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 10:53 AM
looks like L. wurdmanni

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, November 17, 2011 7:29 PM
I moved my shrimp over to the new broodstock system.  I separated them into (2) pairs, sharing their houses with clown pairs.  They haven't carried any eggs in the 40 gallons breeder for at least a month.  The nitrate was around 40 ppm in there though, so maybe that is why?  Hopefully I will have some success with them in the new system.
 
Quote Originally Posted by r33fking
looks like L. wurdmanni

 
Andy Rhyne IDed my shrimp as boggessi.  I wish they were wurdemanni.  They are Aiptasia eating machines though! 

aomont
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Tuesday, December 27, 2011 3:10 PM
Beautiful picture of broodstock ! Sorry for being late.
One of the differences between boggessi and wurdemanni is that the last one has a transverse stripe dorsally in the abdomen  and boggessi does not.
Anderson.

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, December 29, 2011 9:14 AM
Thanks Anderson!  I haven't had much time to work on these guys lately.  They quit breeding in the old system anyway due to high nitrate >40 ppm, I think.  Now they are in my broodstock system they are breeding consistently, and it's time to get working on them again.  I have a pair of boggessi in each broodstock tank for cleaning up uneaten food, dual purpose I guess! 

aomont
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, December 29, 2011 9:23 AM
Great ! That's also my plan too as soon as I have nitrates down.
I usually see L. ankeri around and I hope they are easy to breed too.
Anderson.

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, January 5, 2012 2:46 PM
I'm stealing some quotes from FuEl from Capt Crash's thread so it is easier for me to review his suggestions.  I'm going to follow FuEl's advice and see what I can do with some cylindrical containers and daily waterchanges.  I will set the containers into a 15 gallon tank that is heated so I won't have a heater in the larval tank, just a glass bead airstone.  Here is some of FuEl's advice:
 
Quote Originally Posted by FuEl
No need for green water & rotifers if you are running static system with daily water change. NHBBS is enough. No need for a kreisel either. A tall cylindrical container with a wooden airstone fixed to the side will do. No big bubbles, very very fine bubbles. Change out all the water every day, replace old BBS totally with NHBBS and switch a new container or wash the old one. Do this everyday and you can get >80% settlement rate. I've done about 100 shrimp in a 4-5L container so that gives you some idea on stocking. You need to remove the shrimp once they settle, usually they hang near the wooden airstone.
 
Sieving them will be harmful once their longer appendages start to appear. Not sure how small the glass bead airstone bubbles are but traditional wooden airstones have always worked. Start the 100% water changes from day 1 onwards. Once the larvae are in a tray they are phototactic, meaning you can attract them to one corner with light. I usually do the water change every morning when there is not much Artemia left in the water. NHBBS at 5/ml seems to work best.

Get a shallow white tray, pour everything out & gather the shrimp larvae using a syringe. If they are larger use a larger pipette.
 
Try cookie jars with a diameter of around 8". The wooden airstone at the side near the bottom creates a better circulating current. If the base is too wide it does'nt happen.

 
Thanks for posting the info FuEl, sorry I "stole" it to my thread!

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, January 6, 2012 7:34 PM
[I updated the Journal Details]
 
Ok, so I collected a batch of larvae this morning.  The shrimp released the larvae on the 10th day after spawning.  Not very many - maybe 20 or 30.  I put them into the only cylindrical container I have which is about 5" round and 13-14" water depth.  I lost my measuring tape.  I have just a gentle bubble going through a glass bead airstone, and I really like the very gentle flow that is going on in there.  No larvae are settling on the bottom of the container either.  I'm trying to get used to how long the shrimp are holding the eggs before releasing larvae, and I'm not very good at it yet, so I didn't have NHBBS ready.  I added rotifers at about 5-10/mL, and there are maybe 30% left (12 hours later).  I just added NHBBS at about 5/mL.  No greenwater.  I'm going to follow FuEl's advice and pipette the shrimp out tomorrow, sieve the rotifers and BBS out, then reuse 50% of the water and add 50% "new" water from the broodstock system.  I'm chicken to do 100% while they are so young.
 
On another note, my snagger isn't working as well in my broodstock tanks as it did in my larger quarantine tank.  I'm wondering why...maybe the clowns are eating the larvae when they see them in the LED light?  Maybe I should try making the light less bright?  Maybe having the shrimp broodstock in with the clown broodstock is not a good idea?  Hmm...
 

<message edited by EasterEggs on Friday, January 6, 2012 9:05 PM>

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, January 7, 2012 9:44 AM
Well heck, that didn't last!  They are all dead this morning!
 
What happened?  Did I add too many NHBBS?  Maybe my guesstimates of number per mL are not correct.  I had AmQuel in there, so it shouldn't be ammonia.  How long is starvation for these shrimp?  Maybe I only imagined the rotifer numbers dropping.  WTH? 

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, January 19, 2012 6:33 PM
I collect about 80 larvae this morning, same setup as last time.  My BS didn't hatch quick enough (I started them lastnight, but forgot to put a light over them) so the larvae didn't get fed until about 12-16 hph.  I didn't add very many NHBBS, I'll measure how many per mL.  I watched for about 10 minutes and didn't see any of the larvae catch any NHBSS though.  Hmmm...
 
Temp is about 82F.

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, January 21, 2012 8:21 AM
They looked good yesterday, today all dead!    I tried 24/7 lighting this time via a small LED on the lid to help keep the larvae suspended...it seemed to work.  What am I doing wrong?  Maybe back to the goldfish bowls on the next batch (in 9 days) since I achieved the best progress that way (11 or 12 dph).

CaptCrash
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, January 21, 2012 9:09 AM
Keep it up, Im having the same sort of failures as you.
In trying the 8" black tubs I had a much larger failure rate sooner.  I also am getting a larger failure rate with wooden airstones than I was with cheap normal ones.
 
So far its a bit of a fail on the shrimp for me, but im still trying.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, January 21, 2012 9:14 AM
Just a guess, but maybe the larger containers makes the food density to low for them?  As Fuel mentioned, he was using 4-5l (1-1.25ish Gallons) containers with 100% water changes each day.  Food density would be very high in those smaller containers (and I'm guessing the reason for the amount of water changes!).  
 
Good luck!  I'd love to see a serious push towards captive bred inverts.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, January 21, 2012 9:18 AM
Its wierd, If i approach anything like a high density of NHBBS, the NHBBS gang up on the larvae and kill the larvae.
I dont seem to be able to find a middle ground.
Are you still having the same problem EasterEggs?

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, January 21, 2012 5:48 PM
Yeah I think so CaptCrash, it seems like too many NHBBS rather than too few, but of course I am just guessing, maybe it is too few.  Increasing food density would be easy.  The volume of my container is a little over 2 liters.  I'm still not doing 100% waterchanges, mostly because my timing on the NHBBS hatching is not good enough.   Everything needs to be coordinated and work around my part-time job to boot!
 
I keep getting sudden, complete die offs.  Which must mean that something is really wrong.  I am frustrated that I was getting longer survival in my first attempts.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Monday, January 23, 2012 11:20 AM
its interesting that your losing them within 2dph .
i dont think it has to do with food at all . the starvation time is much longer than that . 
i would look into other other things i.e. water parameters , additives, physical damage ...
look into your amquel dosage , these larvae are sensitive to chemicals . i would not add amquel in the first few days these guys arent very dirty unless you have added un rinsed artemia or had alot of die off. just to rule it out .
i once did a iodide dose lover than recommended by manufacturer and lost a hundred + month old larvae . 
is that clear cylinder one of those things for steaming vegetables or noodles? i love those i have accumulated a bunch of those over the years from second hand stores . they are great for fluidized beds , rotifer enrichment containers .
 

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Monday, January 23, 2012 11:25 AM
 
" looks like L. wurdmanni "

my bad ! upon a second look boggessi all the way . very colorful specimen 

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 7:14 AM
Quote Originally Posted by r33fking


its interesting that your losing them within 2dph .
i dont think it has to do with food at all . the starvation time is much longer than that . 
i would look into other other things i.e. water parameters , additives, physical damage ...
look into your amquel dosage , these larvae are sensitive to chemicals . i would not add amquel in the first few days these guys arent very dirty unless you have added un rinsed artemia or had alot of die off. just to rule it out .
i once did a iodide dose lover than recommended by manufacturer and lost a hundred + month old larvae . 
is that clear cylinder one of those things for steaming vegetables or noodles? i love those i have accumulated a bunch of those over the years from second hand stores . they are great for fluidized beds , rotifer enrichment containers .

 
Yeah, I have been using tap water (filtered with sediment and carbon pre-filters), but I have chloramines in my tap water so I have to use AmQuel to remove the resulting ammonia.  I will try using my reef salt mix (RODI water and better quality salt lol) on my next batch of shrimp and will skip out on the AmQuel.  I suppose we may not need ammonia control if we are doing large or 100% waterchanges daily.
 
My cylinder is a homemade Zeovit reactor I had built out of cast acrylic.  I never bothered to set it up for Zeovit, but am happy the darn expensive thing has a use now! 
 
My shrimp are becoming predictable...eggs hatch, and one the second day after they are carrying eggs again.  Essentially they only go one day without eggs.  The eggs are hatching on the 10th day consistently as well. I like predictability! 

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:49 PM
Well, there goes predictability...they were 11 days this time.  Go figure! 
 
I collected about 40-50 this morning from a small shrimp.  This is the first time I am using RODI as source water in the larvae vessel.  I have been using tap water treated with AmQuel (to remove ammonia resulting from chloramines) in the past.
 
I lost a small handful today...maybe 8-10?  My BS eggs aren't hatching (prob too long decapped) so I am trying this batch strictly on frozen Cyclopeeze.   I have been seeing the shrimp larvae hanging onto Cyclopeeze regularly where I never saw that with NHBBS.  I just did a 75% waterchange.  Since I am using frozen food I will siphon the bottom tomorrow morning and do a 100% waterchange tomorrow evening - if they are still alive.   I set the jug of waterchange water into the tank holding the larvae vessel so that the temp will match exactly.
<message edited by EasterEggs on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 9:34 AM>

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, February 3, 2012 6:47 AM
Well, they are 4 DPH today which is twice as old as I have been able to get in recent tries!  I switched to RODI water instead of tap, and it seems to be helping.  I'm doing daily 100% waterchanges.  I still have them on frozen Cyclopeeze.  They like the Cyclopeeze though and it stays suspended in the water.  With the 100% waterchanges it doesn't foul the water.  When I did the waterchange lastnight I only counted 19 though.  This batch is not developing evenly...some are smaller, and less developed.
 
I should had a bigger batch expected this morning from a larger shrimp.  That I was going to put into a 1 gallon fish bowl that I setup lastnight.  This shrimp went 12 DPS today.  However, the light fell off so they didn't get drawn into the larvae trap.     EDIT:  Nevermind, they didn't hatch yet.  Haha
<message edited by EasterEggs on Saturday, February 4, 2012 6:18 PM>

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, February 3, 2012 6:49 AM
Congrats!  Heck just a matter of time if you keep doubling up on your days

EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, February 3, 2012 6:51 AM
Hehe, yeah thanks!  I have heard rumor that Peppermint shrimp larvae have a 5 day starvation time though, so I guess I don't know how well they are doing yet.  I can't find confirmation on that number though.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, February 3, 2012 7:21 AM
I've just tried to always keep food available in some form.  Sure "on average" some things might not "need" food for a day or two, but if there is always food for them to eat your early risers/growers can start munching down. 
 
Water quality can be an issue of course, but if you're doing wc's every day can't be all that bad eh?

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, February 3, 2012 8:49 PM
Yeah, I'm letting the Cyclopeeze settle in the mornings (turn off air) then siphon it out and feed fresh Cyclopeeze.  In the evening I do 100% waterchange and add fresh Cyclopeeze.  I think I only lost 1 today.
 
I have a larger shrimp that is carrying eggs that should hatch tonight.  I'm going to put those larvae into a 1 gallon fishbowl and see how it goes in comparison.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Wednesday, February 8, 2012 8:06 PM
I had a big die-off on 8 dph which was yesterday - down to 10.  I had 16 the day before.  Today I can't actually see any in there, but I haven't done the daily waterchange/count yet.  They may all be dead now.  Hmm...got a lot further this time.  On just Cyclopeeze.  Interesting...

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Monday, February 13, 2012 9:35 PM
^  Ok, so I guess that batch made it to 9 dph.
 
After reading Whys Alives journal on Sexy Shrimp, I noticed there was lots of talk about damaging the shrimp larvae by handling them via siphon or maybe even pipette.  I'm wondering if that might be contributing to my deaths.  What do you think? 

I have just been slowly pouring the water out into a shallow tray and then pipette each larvae back into the culture vessel.  So every single larvae is handled everyday.  Also, in the mornings I siphoned the bottom of the vessel, and would siphon out a few larvae each morning which would be pipette'd back to the culture vessel.  Now I think if it there were always a few deaths everyday.  I wonder if those were the larvae that got siphoned out during the morning clean?  Also now I think of it I siphoned the vessel out into the tray with a 1/2" hose a few times near the end of the life of my last batch...maybe that was the reason for the sudden die off over 24 hours?

I did 100% waterchanges everyday for the first time, didn't skip a day with the last batch.  That was the first time I started using RODI water as source instead of treated tap water as well.  So I'm still not sure if the waterchanges or the RODI were contributing any benefit.  The water I am using has been mixing for several days, but is not cycled in any way, no ammonia detoxifiers added, just salt mix. 
 
I got a hatch yesterday, so I have a new batch that are 2 dph.  A bigger batch, but still only about 60ish?  This new batch I'm going to do daily evening 50% waterchanges, morning bottom siphoning.  Maybe the 100% changes are too harsh.  The new batch is in a 2 gallon glass fish bowl "kriesel".  Watching the water flow is interesting as the center of the tank has very still water and that's where most of the larvae hang out.  It is much more difficult to keep the food in suspension though...it gets hung up on the bottom.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, February 18, 2012 2:09 AM
I haven't had time to read the whole thread just yet, but I'm following.
 
I can only tell you my own limited experience with Thor amboinensis, but I haven't had to worry too much about handling the larvae.  I've picked the same one up with a pipette multiple times without any obvious harm.  I've also siphoned one or two by accident, and I tell you, the things just keep ticking like nothing happened.  Keeping the brine shrimp at proper density has been the far greater challenge for me, and I suspect gradual starvation of the larvae is why none yet have made it settlement.
 
They really are exceptionally helpless when it comes to feeding themselves.
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EasterEggs
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, February 18, 2012 7:27 AM
I was thinking that I was damaging the larvae more from pouring the vessel into the tray than the pipette.  With this last batch I am not removing the larvae from the vessel during waterchanges as I am just siphoning out 50% using a floating sieve to siphon out of to keep the larvae out of the siphon hose.  I am not having any better luck this way.  I am at 7 dph today and I think I've lost at least half (can't get a good count when I don't remove them all and pipette them singly. 

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, February 23, 2012 7:10 AM
My latest batch is 12 dph which is my new record.  There are only 2 of them though.  Haha.  I guess it is possible that handling them less makes a difference then.  I have been bottom siphoning once a day and then once a day I do a 50% waterchange by floating a sieve and siphoning out of the sieve so the shrimp larvae are not getting transferred with a pipette except for the odd one that gets siphoned out during the bottom siphoning.
 
I should be collecting another batch of larvae tonight.  With this new batch I will continue the waterchange method.  I would like to try to figure out a way to get BBS out without having to transfer the shrimp larvae so I can add BBS every second day so that I can have two food sources (BBS and frozen Cyclopeeze).  Any ideas?

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, February 23, 2012 10:50 AM
Sure.  Use a mesh screen that BBS can fit thru and the larvae can't.  Then attract the bbs to the other side with a bright pinpoint light source (led flashlight).  Just an idea.  Should work to a fair extent, but it does sound slow.
 
Congrats on 12 dph!
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, February 23, 2012 8:57 PM
Thanks!  Yeah, that's the only idea I've come up with, but I don't have a sieve that size (400 micron? 600 micron?) nor any mesh.  Hmm...I wonder if window screening would work - that should be about the right size I would think.  Maybe a tad too small.  Well the two are still kickin tonight.  They are finally old enough that they look bigger now.  LOL.
 
On the other hand, I lost one of my adult shrimp today...not sure why.  They were due to spawn about 5 days ago, but didn't.  Maybe nitrate?  It is about 40 ppm I think.  I am working on lowering nitrate.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:26 PM
i had just lost one of my adult F2 shrimp last night . i think high No3 is the culprit as well mine is 40ppm + 
i ran out of salt and am waiting for my half pallet to arrive .
sucks 

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Thursday, February 23, 2012 11:10 PM
Quote Originally Posted by r33fking


i had just lost one of my adult F2 shrimp last night . i think high No3 is the culprit as well mine is 40ppm + 
i ran out of salt and am waiting for my half pallet to arrive .
sucks 

I've so been there.  Seems like the little things are the ones that get in the way and nearly bring things to a halt.  Of course, procrastination on my part never helps.  I can always order the salt tomorrow... :]
 
I quote myself.

Link
Quote Originally Posted by Whys Alives
Amazon has a great selection of micron meshes to choose from. They come in polypropylene, nylon, and polyester. I chose nylon for its strength and resistance to deformity. Note: polypropylene is buoyant in fresh water.


I don't know the size of your larvae, but you'll want as large of a micron opening as is safe.  For Thor amboinensis I use 420 micron mesh, but Amazon carries it in nearly every size imaginable.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Friday, February 24, 2012 11:24 AM
Thanks Ryan!  I will probably end up ordering from Amazon as it seems to be the only place really... the prices seem ok.
 
I collected the biggest batch to date this morning...I will try to get some sort of a count tonight, but I'm going to say around 200-250 larvae.  This morning I couldn't find the two left in the (now) 13 dph batch, so I put the new larvae in that bowl.  If the older larvae are in fact still in there they should be fine.  The new batch is too crowded in the 2 gallon bowl though, so tonight I will move 1/3 of them to a 1 gallon bowl.  This will be interesting because then I can try an experiment with the split batch.  I've never had a batch big enough to split.
 
I guess I have to get that nitrate down in the broodstock system.  I just mixed up a bunch of new saltwater yesterday so I can do a big waterchange today.

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, February 25, 2012 4:45 PM
Ok, well there could be over 300 in the latest batch that is now 2 dph.  No noticeable die-off yet.  I will have to be very careful about water quality I'm sure as I think they are more crowded than they should be.  They are about 100 per gallon right now if my estimate is any good.
 
Interestingly, I just fed the vessels frozen Cyclopeeze and was observing the larvae feeding and I noticed that the two from the previous batch are still in the vessel!  They really aren't much bigger, but I can tell them apart because they have longer eye stalks and more legs/swimmers.  So those two are 14 dph today!  Woohoo!

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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, March 3, 2012 4:22 PM
Updates?
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) - Saturday, March 3, 2012 5:08 PM
The population has severely declined.  There are still many of them, but definitely not 300 anymore. Maybe 100 between the two vessels.  I started feeding some live BBS a couple times per week, but mainly still just using frozen Cyclopeeze.  They are 9 dph today.  I don't think those oldest two are in there anymore...

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