# Breeding Amano / Yamato shrimp



## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Additionally..

At day 15 my green water seemed to be fading slightly in one of my tanks. I don’t know whether this is because the culture is dying or perhaps the zoes are eating it. The zoes in this tank seem to be larger and more active than the second tank that is still deep green with phyto.

I have started a phytoplankton culture 21.09.12 (this is also new territory to me and Goggle say it should be ready after 8 days or so) this is so I can feed the zoes with a constant supply but now have two questions about this.

Q1 how much phyto should i add to the zoes tank? 
Q2 should I do a partial water change in my zoes tank to allow existing culture and possibility new culture to multiply?

Additionally I have some Spirulina tablets, should I grind these to powder and feed also / instead as suggested in Knowledge Base?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

More pics.. the air stone for scale


















































 
I would welcome suggestions from anyone who has experience of what to do next


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

i have nothing to give you in advice as i have never tried this, but really, good luck brother.


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## Zed321 (Jan 19, 2012)

I second that looks like a awsome project, something that is on my list of things to try.

Good luck please keep us posted on your success.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Zed321 said:


> I second that looks like a awsome project, something that is on my list of things to try.
> 
> Good luck please keep us posted on your success.



Assuming all okay with their survival i will post more picstures on their weekly anniversary ....


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

Good luck brave adventurer!

It is a worthy quest!


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

Definately keep us up to date and keep good notes to help others who might want to try this.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

Good luck. Subscribed.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

This is my first attempt not just with Amano zoe’s but also am new to marine water and phytoplankton cultures which I am now growing for their feed so feel quite exposed to having problems with any part of my process.


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

You're qtr of the way there.

I think if you can keep the cultures going you will have them survive. I don't think previous attempts on here included using a steady ample supply of phyto from what I recall reading.

Here's a link on culturing phyto

http://www.melevsreef.com/phytoplankton.html


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

mach_six said:


> Here's a link on culturing phyto


Cheers for the link.. i have 3 x 1lt cultivation at the moment and have read this link before and used ideas from it.. i read also about failed amano breeding attempt due to lack of Phyto so really keen (and lucky I think) my phyto seems to be cultivating. 

Am really worried about the next few weeks though as this seems to be the time when others before me have failed.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

I plan to put up pics at day 21 (this Sunday), and then every 7 days thereafter so fingers crossed and holding breath.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

I had some random thought to give them liquifry number 2 (as I had some left over from the past). I released a small drop just onto the water surface allowing it to spread on the water tension, when the particles began to sink the zoe’s just grabbed them. I assume they thought it was food, but as the liquifry began to sink so did the zoe’s into the murky depths of my phyto mix. Hope to see them tomorrow for their third week birthday as I want to take pics.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Very impressive attempts.
How do you get the eggs to hatch though? Like, I know that the shrimp will breed in freshwater but that the eggs need saltwater to hatch and survive, so do you slowly bring the egg carrying females into salt water? It would be great to have these breeding in captivity, since as far as I know, they are all collected from the wild for the pet trade. besides, if you were able to constantly breed them, it could be profitable on the large scale perhaps.


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

They hatch in freshwater. You have a day or so to transfer the zoes to saltwater or they'll die.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

pictures of 21 day zoe's taken today 30.09.12 (camera date not set correctly though)


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

Doing good so far. How many do you see that are in this stage?

Are you just keeping it in a standard tank with an airstone only?


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

Ah how funny looking! They are cute! I'm loving that you are keeping us up in progress. 
Are you planning on doing this again? Or is this just a one time experiment?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Elppan said:


> Ah how funny looking! They are cute! I'm loving that you are keeping us up in progress.
> Are you planning on doing this again? Or is this just a one time experiment?


Will keep trying i think.. well, one has too...

I’m just guessing my way through this now though as limited info around.. the questions I am struggling to answer are:

How do i know when they are ready to move? How long after morph?

How long can i leave the salt water before adding fresh tank water?

I will still have zoe’s that are waiting to morph so how do i catch the post morph zoes (shrimp) for acclimatise to fresh water?

The info seems to be limited


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

mach_six said:


> Doing good so far. How many do you see that are in this stage?
> 
> Are you just keeping it in a standard tank with an airstone only?


In both tanks i think there are about 100 zoe's.... just using an air stone.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

I did 20% water change yesterday and added 6ml phyto, 2 drops liquizel and small quantity of spirulina powder


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

Richardblack said:


> Will keep trying i think.. well, one has too...
> 
> I’m just guessing my way through this now though as limited info around.. the questions I am struggling to answer are:
> 
> ...


Have you read these links? 

http://caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/Elevage.htm

Put the bottom link in the http://archive.org/web/web.php as it is no longer available but archived. Try any you find in 2008 as the one in 2009 doesn't load. 
http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/breeding_yamato.htm


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

mach_six said:


> Have you read these links?
> 
> http://caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/Elevage.htm
> 
> ...



That’s really clever... I have looked all over the web for this article by _Mike Noren _asit has been referred to so often by others... Many many thanks for showing me the way...


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

After reading _Mike Noren_ blog, i did a15% water change and topped it off with adding 300ml of Phyto..... I gave itall a stir. The zoe’s were grabbed hold of bits floating past but am not sure whetherthey thought it was food or just grabbing something for comfort.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 24. 

One of my two attempts was failing... The second setup which had half my larvae was made up of old tropical tank water with Tropical Marine salt started to show signs of trouble. Since day 10 I could tell tank B was not as active.

I’m going to refer the failed tank as tank B and the current working one as tank A

What I noticed apart from the apparent reduced numbers in tank B was that the larvae were not advancing in size as much as the other project in tank A. The only difference between tanks A and B is the water in tank B was old tropical water (which i picked because i thought it would be balanced). The water used for tank A was pure fresh RO. There were some other very small differences in salinity (which I have been struggling to define accurately)

In a vain attempt to save what was left in B I sucked up the remaining 20 or so larvae and put them straight into tank A.

Tank A had some waste on its base so I conjured up a rigid tube and 6mm pipe to siphon up the bottom... then replaced the 2 lts with fresh mix and topped the lot off with some liquifry feed. 
All my zoe’s are now in one tank.

For reference all my pictures are from tank A


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

*Project C*

I cleaned out my tank from project B (left in the diatom brown algae that was growing on the inside) and am getting ready for next batch.

After applying my recent experience I have produced the following setup.

Tank 19lt, 35ppm salinity, Pure & fresh RO, 500ml Phyto, 5ml Stress Zyme+, 5ml Stress Coat+, Lights 24/7, Room temp. Air stone on slow bubble. All now mixed and operational.

The Stress Zyme and Stress Coat may help to keep the zoe’s and water conditioned but then again it may kill them off.. Will let you know in thread when the female is ready.


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## Bluek24a4 (Mar 16, 2010)

Good luck Richard. This is all very interesting so far. You're doing a great job documenting it all.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 26

Things are changing....

There have been some noticeable changes of the last 24hours.. 

Firstly the zoe’s are far more active and they swim to the lower part of their tank whereas before they would just hang around the top 25%of the water.

Secondly they can swim in both directions so just stop and swim backwards instead of turning around. I have given thought to their swimming direction because actually if they look like they are swimming forwards are they not actually swimming backwards??? I ask this because since birth they have naturally swam backwards as their preferred method of direction!!

Thirdly their colour is changing from a light / transparent brown to a much darker brown. Parks of their body are more visibly defined because of colour and shade differences.

Fourthly they just keep grabbing at each other then sink together, about half way down they separate and swim back up. I have seen this activity before but not with this frequency.

Finally there kinked tails are straightening out more so, and on one or two zoe’s it looks like they flick it down to propel forwards.

I ground down some spirulina tablets into powder and mixed it with water for a feed and *by chance discovered something...* when I have fed spirulina powder before (as a ground paste with added water) it has always sunk to the bottom with little time for the zoe’s to feed, this time I used warm water to help the paste dissolve. What I discovered is when the paste is put into the tank (with a pipette) it floats up to the surface because the paste is warmer. I wafted the mix about and it formed a suspended cloud of green feed. The zoe’s seemed to like this because as the cloud moved with the slow water flow the zoe’s stopped with it.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 26

First signs of morph into shrimp.

Feeling nervous

As you can see other zoe’s still have a way to go

You can see the digital thermometer in the pics.. shows how small things are


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 26 update

Found a moult on the glass


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## shloken38 (Aug 17, 2012)

This is fascinating. I am really pulling for you to get this done. Best of luck to you! I will be following along, cheering the whole time.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

day 29 pictures due tomorrow


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## jncme (May 29, 2012)

Nice, I have 2 berried at the moment from the last week, will give it a try also. Good luck


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

jncme said:


> Nice, I have 2 berried at the moment from the last week, will give it a try also. Good luck


I have three berried also (got tank 'C' ready and waiting for the big day lol.

What set up are you using?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 29


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## jncme (May 29, 2012)

This is going to be my 1st time attempting. I have a spare tank so thought why not. What phytoplankton are you using? seachem, DT's?



Richardblack said:


> I have three berried also (got tank 'C' ready and waiting for the big day lol.
> 
> What set up are you using?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

jncme said:


> This is going to be my 1st time attempting. I have a spare tank so thought why not. What phytoplankton are you using? seachem, DT's?


Home brew blend of nannochloropsis....

To be honest it’s my first attempt at phyto.... from the way I give info you would have thought I was a grand master lol


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

Ohhhh they are getting so big, and looking like shrimp now!
I'm loving seeing the updates.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Elppan said:


> Ohhhh they are getting so big, and looking like shrimp now!
> I'm loving seeing the updates.


 
Cheers, looking at them today I think we still have a long way to go before these get anywhere near fresh water.


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## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

I'll ask a stupid question: Is it at all conceivable that a young Amano shrimp (a "zoe"?) can survive without salt water? I ask because my 75g has a few Amanos and I have noticed some berried ones and simply thought "no way", yet I just spied a juvenile shrimp (larger than those shown here) that can only be an Amano since I have no other shrimp species in the tank! Can this be?

If this has happened to me, surely it has happened to others? I am doing absolutely nothing special. In fact, I have put very little in the way of sinking food in the tank because I am trying to lower my pond snail population. Freshwater tank with IE fert dosing and CO2 injection....


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 33

Things had been going slowly and up to today and nothing seemed to be changing much. 

Today I have noticed five or six zoe’s clinging onto the green mossy tank glass (have only previously seen this with one zoe last weekend). Also, I can' t see all the way around the tank so assume more could be doing the same. 

I did a quick 20% water change and wiped the top two 3 inches of algae from the inside the glass. I just realised that the reason things were looking quiet was because there was so much green algae / moss like coating on the glass it had actually stopped me looking in to the water and seeing any details.

After the water top up I immediately saw one mini shrimp dart across the tank. In a second it was gone and now I can’t pull myself away from the tank hoping to get another glimpse. 

As I sit here staring I notice the other zoe’s are doing the usual bobbing up and down in the top half of the water. I feel very reassured things are going well now..... Other blogs suggest the zoe’s will not change all at once and to add to the ‘timing event’ I recall I put in larvae over a 6 to 9 day period (as more than 1 female released her eggs) not to mention I combined my Project B tank with this tank the other week.

Hope to have some pics for day 35 (end of week 5)

Have added foods every day since last week.


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## shloken38 (Aug 17, 2012)

Oh man, I admire you for doing this. An incredible feat this will be.....I have good feelings about your project. Keep it up, I am definitely one follower that is not going away.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

shloken38 said:


> Oh man, I admire you for doing this. An incredible feat this will be.....I have good feelings about your project. Keep it up, I am definitely one follower that is not going away.


Cheers for the support... keeping fingers crossed


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

tomfromstlouis said:


> I'll ask a stupid question: Is it at all conceivable that a young Amano shrimp (a "zoe"?) can survive without salt water? I ask because my 75g has a few Amanos and I have noticed some berried ones and simply thought "no way", yet I just spied a juvenile shrimp (larger than those shown here) that can only be an Amano since I have no other shrimp species in the tank! Can this be?..


It may be, but I am no expert.. google say some have asked this before whilst feedback has seen a similar query where someone with your event may have ghost shrimp rather than amano. I just cobbled together my own ideas from the web... you may be right also... post a topic and see what others think... good luck with your new baby shrimp.


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

I hope it works out for you.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

dougolasjr said:


> I hope it works out for you.


 
Cheers dougolasjr.. i'm still holding breath


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 35

This guy in the first picture is the funniest looking shrimp i ever did see ha ha .. Looks like he’s just been caught nicking the algae from the others lol.... all the others are different shrimp including one that it totally transparent..

You can also see where I wiped the glass... the difference is just amazing.. no wonder I thought things were quiet.


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## jncme (May 29, 2012)

awesome, things are looking good


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

jncme said:


> awesome, things are looking good


 
Yeah thanks
They look like the seven dwarfs
1.Sneezy
2.Sleepy
3.Dopey
4.Doc
5.Happy
6.Bashful
7.Grumpy
lol


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 37 

20% water change

Still feeding daily


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

*Day 39*

Nearly half the zoe’s have morphed into mini shrimp.. the other half still swim up and down....

The pre morph stage still are attracted to my LED torch light so I can see a gradual reduction in the number of zoe’s each day but still have about 50 to transform. (the post morph shrimp are not attracted to the light so it seems to be a simple numbers game... so I think I will know when to start adding fresh water?)

Things still look a little quiet when I look through the glass but when the lid is lifted up its easier to see from above the post morph shrimps dart about. 

I’m thinking about the process of acclimatizing them into fresh water and was going to do a drip process into the whole 19lt tank... I recon I will need to wait until all zoe’s have morphed... does anybody have an opinion about this as comments / ideas would be welcome?

My project C tank is still waiting for new larvae and I have three berried females... things seem to be taking longer than I recall and I have not seen any new larvae for the last 39 days. I was sure the females were ready to release.. , maybe my water is too cold (23c), anybody have any ideas about this?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 43..

Been reading blog by Mike Noren 2004... His theory supports a process into fresh water as soon as the first zoes morph, he writes he had suffered losses at this stage by keeping salinity at marine levels

As nearly all of my zoes have transformed I have decided to risk the few zoes left to benefit the others who are expecting to find fresh water and to this end I have swapped 1lt of marine with established fresh water (from my planted and stocked 400lt)... 

As I have read elsewhere the mini shrimp do start to get very active and dart around in all directions.... this only lasted 5 to 10 minutes then things went back to normal.

I know I only changed a small amount (5%) but I plan to change 1 lt per day for the first week then if things look okay will change 2lts per day or perhaps more..... 

I will record salinity daily to see how things react. Now it’s 33ppt


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

Good Read. Mikes Blog if anyone is interested.

http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=05le06lapu&logNo=10048661099


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

the second photo day 35, any idea what the string is? is that just bits of hair, or something from the zoes? just wondering.

i would assume that in the wild the zoe/shrimp would be slowly swimming from salt water to fresh water, so i guess my question is why you are not transfering some of the morphed shrimp into different salinity level water( mulitpul tanks) as opposed to how you doing it now, treating them all with the same salinity.


also man i love what you are doing with this attempt. you should keep something secret, and when you get it figured out, sell the secret, make a killing and the never work again


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Aquatic Delight said:


> the second photo day 35, any idea what the string is? is that just bits of hair, or something from the zoes? just wondering


I think it was just some fluf


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Day 66 

As I was adding fresh water I realised some were not ready so had a moment getting the smaller shrimp back into another marine tank... which is where they still are!.....

The rest I continued to convert to fresh and have counted a total of24 juvenile amano as i moved them across to a cherry shrimp tank i have.
Pictures to be unloaded tonight.


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## Jayme (Nov 27, 2011)

Can't wait to see the pics!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Keeping these he bred Amano for yourself?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

*Day 66*

These are standing on the cable for the small 100w heater


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## jimko (Aug 17, 2007)

Way Cool!!! Thanks for sharing your experience. 

Now lets try getting some of those purple zebra shrimp going. The craze on those shrimp was very short lived.


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## KenP (Nov 8, 2012)

Awesome and great read!


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

KenP said:


> Awesome and great read!


Thanks


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## KenP (Nov 8, 2012)

Please let me over simplify your recipe.

Start nanochloropsis at 19ppt.

Start the tank for the zoaea at 34+/- ppt

add the nanochloropsis to the zoaea tank as a food source 

Question? Your tank with the zoaea stays green? I would think think the nanochloropsis would die at that salinity?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

KenP said:


> Please let me over simplify your recipe.
> 
> Start nanochloropsis at 19ppt.
> 
> ...


Yep, yep, yes... you got it
Phyto does well at 35ppm.. i use refractometer to be sure of salinity


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Very cool. Congrats


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

mistergreen said:


> Very cool. Congrats


Thanks


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## concepts88 (Oct 4, 2012)

Any update? Pictures?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

concepts88 said:


> Any update? Pictures?


Pictures posted last week... they dont change quickly so will be a short while before next pics


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## mitchfish9 (Apr 30, 2012)

wow great job. How many did you end up with?


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

KenP said:


> Please let me over simplify your recipe.
> 
> Start nanochloropsis at 19ppt.
> 
> ...


Culturing may be somewhat of a task, you can buy DT's live phyto which contains that algae and another strand, though a bit expensive but it's ready to go. They come in containers up to 1 gallon if you would ever need that much but unlikely since the light source should make it reproduce.

Any decent marine LFS in your area should be able to get this product.


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

Looks like you have been doing great! i'm sure you have come across this site, or will see the post, but just incase you don't heres a link soothingshrimp found about breeding.

http://caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/Elevage.htm


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

mitchfish9 said:


> wow great job. How many did you end up with?


24 so far... with another 20 or so rescued and put into marine water.. the ones in marine water are still there


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Aquatic Delight said:


> Looks like you have been doing great! i'm sure you have come across this site, or will see the post, but just incase you don't heres a link soothingshrimp found about breeding.
> 
> http://caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/Elevage.htm


Yes I have seen it, and read it many times 

Thanks for the info though..


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

Am pleased to let everyone know one of my tank bred females is berried... she is 152 days old so far.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

*Breeding Amano / Yamato shrimp NEW PICS*

My tank bred Amano's pics including berried female


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Very cool!


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## KenP (Nov 8, 2012)

Congratulations! Great job.


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## KenP (Nov 8, 2012)

Richard at day 66 you were adding fresh water. What % of fresh water were you adding and for how long till they were fully acclimatized to fresh water? I have read in other attempts that this when many shrimp were lost.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

KenP said:


> Richard at day 66 you were adding fresh water. What % of fresh water were you adding and for how long till they were fully acclimatized to fresh water? I have read in other attempts that this when many shrimp were lost.



I really had a bad time with this (in terms of knowledge base).I was scared of keeping the zoes in marine for too long because if I lost them at this stage then the last two months would have been for nothing (if you know what I mean). I should have waited much longer as I now believe this would have increased survival. 

I have my own new ideas about identifying when the zoes would be ready for fresh water, but want to practice this before sharing (as I could be wrong). 

Are you attempting this yourself?


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## KenP (Nov 8, 2012)

Right now I am working on another specie. Brackish to full salt back to brackish.
I am considering the amano in the coming months. Seems like more fun in a sadistic way.


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

KenP said:


> Right now I am working on another specie. Brackish to full salt back to brackish.
> I am considering the amano in the coming months. Seems like more fun in a sadistic way.


I would only call it fun at first.. two months of pushing your nose up to green water shining a torch light in can get a bit too winded. lol


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## sphack (May 2, 2012)

Reread again. So, are you continuing to breed or only as you need more?


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## Richardblack (Sep 25, 2012)

sphack said:


> Reread again. So, are you continuing to breed or only as you need more?


Still trying.. am looking at different salinity, temperatures and phyto cultures.. I have about 10 female amano in a 30lt nanno tank. 2 male amanos are in there also so i have myself my own amano larva factory lol. 
14days in phyto mix seems to be the point where things are lost so it’s a long trial and error process.
Any suggestions are welcome


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## Imsyu (May 22, 2013)

this indeed was a great read! hope you have more luck


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## sphack (May 2, 2012)

This is on my list of inks to try. I have a few amanos berried and would like to keep their numbers going. Thanks for all the info


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## kingjombeejoe (Feb 17, 2013)

Thanks for sharing this. I'm sure all your work will be rewarded, even if it's just bragging rights.


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