niceguy_90638
New Member
I bought two cleaner shrimp for my 20 gallon tank. How do you know if the shrimps are male or female? I was wondering if they were going to spawn or something.
How do you know the sex of you cleaner shrimp
- Thread starter niceguy_90638
- Start date
carrie1429
Active Member
Actually each shrimp is both male and female. They reproduce asexually.
niceguy_90638
New Member
Then how come there are mated pairs. Are they like clownfishes, where they can be both male and female.
carrie1429
Active Member
Yes I think they are like clownfish, I don't know very much about it, I always thought that they didn't need a mate to reproduce, but if they sell them in mated pairs then I don't know.
reefgirl
Member
All Lysmata sp. shrimp (cleaners/common, peppermint, blood/fire, etc) are hermaphrodites (they have BOTH male AND female organs, although the younger shrimp function only as male at first). If you have two in your tank, you automatically have a pair & they'll both end up carrying fertilized eggs eventually.
They will normally molt every 14-20 days at which time will couple with another shrimp, storing the sperm. They're also able to store sperm for a lonesome rainy day so can have 2-4 viable batches of eggs even when alone in the aquarium.
After a few hours, the newly molted shrimp will produce eggs which are then fertilized with the stored sperm & tucked away in the swimmeretes under its tail. If the shrimp is alone in the tank & the stored sperm has been used up, the eggs will be infertile & eaten/abandoned by the shrimp.
At this point the fertile eggs are green in color, but lighten to an amber color then silverish as they're ready to hatch 14-20 days later. During this time, the adult shrimp cleans & aerates the eggs.
The larvae hatch after lights out & are the size of a speck of dust. Unless they're removed they just become food for the fish/coral/powerheads - they're much too delicate to survive to maturity if left in the main aquarium. There have been VERY few accounts of raising them to maturity as they go through 10 or so larval stages & require special/frequent feedings & pristine water. The larval stages up to metamorphosis to a juvenile shrimp takes approx. 40-60 days depending on the species.
I tried several times to raise L. debelius (Blood/Fire shrimp) & gave up. It was VERY time consuming & disappointing - none made it past the 5th larval stage.
HTH & didn't bore anyone to death!
RG
They will normally molt every 14-20 days at which time will couple with another shrimp, storing the sperm. They're also able to store sperm for a lonesome rainy day so can have 2-4 viable batches of eggs even when alone in the aquarium.
After a few hours, the newly molted shrimp will produce eggs which are then fertilized with the stored sperm & tucked away in the swimmeretes under its tail. If the shrimp is alone in the tank & the stored sperm has been used up, the eggs will be infertile & eaten/abandoned by the shrimp.
At this point the fertile eggs are green in color, but lighten to an amber color then silverish as they're ready to hatch 14-20 days later. During this time, the adult shrimp cleans & aerates the eggs.
The larvae hatch after lights out & are the size of a speck of dust. Unless they're removed they just become food for the fish/coral/powerheads - they're much too delicate to survive to maturity if left in the main aquarium. There have been VERY few accounts of raising them to maturity as they go through 10 or so larval stages & require special/frequent feedings & pristine water. The larval stages up to metamorphosis to a juvenile shrimp takes approx. 40-60 days depending on the species.
I tried several times to raise L. debelius (Blood/Fire shrimp) & gave up. It was VERY time consuming & disappointing - none made it past the 5th larval stage.
HTH & didn't bore anyone to death!
RG
niceguy_90638
New Member
Thank you for for your help
