Breeding Journal, Species: Lysmata vitatta

General
Species:  Lysmata vitatta
Social Structure:  Small group of 4 shrimp - one is larger than the rest
Size of Individuals:  Range from approx 20mm to 35mm
Age of Individuals:  Unknown, but I understand that they are less than 6 months old (captive bred)
Date added to Tank:  17 July 2014

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  60cm x 30cm x 30 cm 
Substrate Details:  None
Filtration Details:  Air driven sponge filter + macro algae
Water Changes:  30 % weekly
Water Temperature:  28 Celcius
Lighting:  Ambient
Lighting Cycle:  7am to 7 pm
Other Tank Inhabitants:  None

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Homemade frozen mash of mussel,  scallop, prawn, squid, fish and nori. Spectrum pellets.
Feeding Schedule:  Twice daily - around 7.30am and 5.00pm. More often on weekends.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  30 July 2014
Spawn Time of Day:  Some time after 7.30pm - noticed the eggs the next morning.
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  N/A
Courtship Details:  Not witnessed.
Egg Size:  Roughly estimated at 0.5mm
Egg Color:  Green
Egg Count:  Roughly estimated at 400+

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  9 August 2014
Hatch Time of Day:  9.00pm - 1 hour after the lights turned off
# Days after Spawn:  10
Larvae Description:  White, approx 0.8mm long and attracted to light.


Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Larval Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

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
(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 

10 August 2014 - the broodstock were moved to a larger tank - previously they were in a 40cm x 26cm x 24 cm glass aquarium

You will be required to provide photographic evidence in this thread of each event submitted for the MBI Program.
If your thread does not contain these photos the MBI Committee will not be able to approve your reports.

Intended as a stepping stone between breeding Clowns and Orchid Dottybacks, I have acquired 4 Peppermint shrimp as my initial brood stock.

The species available in Australia is Lysmata vittata.





A few of them are still quite small so I don't expect too much to happen for a while.

More for my own records
 
One of the smaller shrimp moulted overnight between 19/20 July. And my largest shrimp moulted overnight between 21/22 July.

Nice to see some eggs starting develop on the largest of my shrimp





Unfortunately, I couldn't find one of the smaller shrimp tonight - I suspect it has been eaten

The eggs seem to be developing nicely - I'm not sure when to expect a molt and subsequent moving of the eggs as this is my first time working with shrimp



And, following on from my previous post, all shrimp are now present and accounted for - one must have been hiding when I looked a few days ago

beautiful pictures!

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Thanks Kathy
 
Most journals I have read seem to start with the eggs already located within the pleopods and I have not seen any which document this part of the process. 

We have a spawn
 

 

 
Now, time to wait for the hatch....

There is now a definite change in the colour of the eggs - even a few eyes are now visible.

With no prior experience I don't really know when these are due to hatch - anyone able to offer some advice?

I posted yesterday that there had been a significant change in the colour of the eggs, and that some eyes were evident. I didn't think a hatch was far away but I was thinking a few more days.

But, I checked an hour after lights out tonight and the hatch had already taken place - the tank was swarming with larval shrimp. I wasn't planning to attempt to raise this hatch and my filter etc hadn't been turned off so these ones will just have to become part of the food chain

So, this hatch was 10 days after the moult and the transfer of the eggs to the pleopods - this is valuable information for me as it provides some timelines for future hatches. The tank temperature has been between 26 and 28 as it has been getting quite cold of a night time.

My second largest shrimp moulted last night and transferred the eggs to its pleopods - 10 days from then is Monday 18th.

I did manage to get one out of the tank for some pictures

Amazing pix! Good luck with these!

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Thanks Kathy - still learning how to use my new microscope and camera

As expected, another spawn hatched on the night of 27/8/14. I didn't have time to do anything with them before work so they stayed in the larval snagger for the day - I did put some NHBBS in with them.

On the evening of the 28/8 I set up a small tank and transferred over the larvae. I added some green water, Nannochloropsis, together with a generous amount of NHBBS. By the time I got home from work on 29/8 it was obvious that there had been significant die-off.

This morning I thought they were all dead as I couldn't see any, but this evening I was able to find 30+ still alive.

I will keep trying with the remaining zoea but my expectations are not high.

I don't think there is enough water movement in my tank and hope to find time tomorrow to buy a small fish bowl or something similar.

1 day old larvae in the snagger


This is a 1 day old zoea


2 day old zoea - notice the change in the eyes which are now on stalks - at least they are moulting




Cheers

My second attempt has come and gone with, again, all the larvae dieing by day 5. On this attempt I used a glass beaker sitting in the original aquarium, effectively operating as a bath. I was much happier with the way this operated and will use this method again. I did have a problem with the airstone blocking which prevented water movement which I think may have resulted in significant deaths.

I did manage to get some larvae through another moult, as shown in these photo's. You will notice that the tail has changed significantly.







I had a small hatch a few nights ago (20-30 larvae) which I plan to try a few different things with - I added some rotifers and NHBBS, along with some nanno to just tint the water. So far they seem to be going OK - time will tell if I can beat my 5 day mark

These are really nice pictures! Im looking at getting a scope that I can take pictures with, what scope/ camera are you using?

Great pics!

Do you have the beaker open at the bottom (with mesh) so water can transfer? The reason I ask is because beakers are small and with an air stone in there you may be getting some significant shifts in salinity over a small period of time.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

 
No, I was using a 'normal' beaker so your concern may have some merit.
 
I did manage to get a few to 10 days but I still have a lot of learning to do My next attempt will be in a few weeks. 

 
Thanks.
 

 
The general consensus from lurking on Microscope forums is that anything that costs less than $1,000 is a toy and is not worth buying. You may get what you pay for but there was no way I could justify spending that sort of money on a microscope.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any (relatively) cheap options in Australia and Google led me to Amscope, a US based business that sells a wide range of 'affordable' Chinese made microscopes - you can find them on eBay as well.

After getting some assistance from a couple of members here I settled on the 10X-20X-30X-60X Stereo Microscope, together with a 2MB USB camera.



The total cost, including postage, was AUD $330 but I think they have free postage within the US.

After playing around with it for a few months I am reasonably happy. Working out the best magnification and light source for each particular subject takes a bit of practice. I admit to being somewhat underwhelmed by the pictures provided by the USB camera. Maybe I am just used to my SLR Macro Lens and maybe I just need to expect mediocre images from a $100 camera when it appears that the top line cameras sell for $500+ .
 
I think I will eventually upgrade the camera but the purchase of the microscope was definitely a worthwhile investment.