# Amano Shrimp Breeding in Freshwater?



## Ahoffm02 (Mar 25, 2014)

Hey All,

I stocked my 75 with 40-50 Amano shrimp in February. I was under the assumption that Amano shrimp could not breed under freshwater conditions. When I saw a bunch of gravid females I just assumed that that was it and there would never be any offspring...

Yesterday 2 instances made me question this truth/theory:

1) In the body of the filter there were 5 young Amano shrimp swimming around in all the refuse. Knowing they were a little small for the safety of the big tank I put them back in the filter after cleaning. 

2) While I was sitting there watching the tank I saw my angelfish start to stalk something on the surface of the water (rather common practice when it thinks its feeding time). This time it struck the water and a small shrimp darted from the surface only to be gobbled up a second later.

Do I not have Amano shrimp? Can Amano shrimp breed in freshwater with a very high mortality rate? Any insight would be very helpful! 

Cheers!


----------



## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

Pictures?

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk


----------



## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

What are the water parameters? I notice you are located in central California. I have seen a successeful hatch under extremely hardwater conditions in this area. Though for the number of eggs the roach-sized female is carrying, survival rate seems to be low.


----------



## Ahoffm02 (Mar 25, 2014)

jrill: I should have snapped one when I found them. Maybe in 2 weeks when I break the filter down again or if I see one running around the tank before the angel does.

wheatiesl337: I agree, for the number of eggs the 5-6 females that I saw had the survival rate is extremely low. Parameters are as follows:

GH: TBD tonight
KH: 7
pH: 7.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate 0-5 ppm
Temp: 79-81 deg F
Lights: on for 10, off for 14


----------



## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

I mean how bout a picture of one of the adults.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk


----------



## Ahoffm02 (Mar 25, 2014)

Whoops, yeah I will post some pics of the parent shrimp tonight.


----------



## Ahoffm02 (Mar 25, 2014)

Here are some pictures of the shrimp that I could find. I believe they are all Amanos.


----------



## cjstl (Mar 4, 2013)

Those are Amanos. If the eggs manage to hatch in fresh water, I highly doubt the offspring will survive for long.


----------



## H2Ogal (Apr 27, 2010)

If they were amano shrimplets, they've already passed the larvae stage ... but that doesn't mean they hatched and matured in your tank (or filter  ). It may be that they came in as unnoticed contaminants with fish or plants. Three of my amanos showed up that way when they were so small I couldn't tell at first if they were fry or shrimplets.


----------



## Sergeant Dude (Mar 7, 2014)

AFAIK the larva only need brackish water because that's where their food source lives. If they somehow found another food source, it should be possible for them to survive in freshwater


----------



## brandon429 (Mar 29, 2003)

I have a friend who commonly has them breed in freshwater, i was surprised in reading this that its abnormal I thought thats how it was done.


----------



## H2Ogal (Apr 27, 2010)

Sergeant Dude said:


> AFAIK the larva only need brackish water because that's where their food source lives. If they somehow found another food source, it should be possible for them to survive in freshwater


What's the food source in brackish water ... and can it live in FW? If so, breeding Amanos would be a whale of a lot easier than it has been reported to be.



brandon429 said:


> I have a friend who commonly has them breed in freshwater, i was surprised in reading this that its abnormal I thought thats how it was done.


Most breeding attempts have the adults in freshwater, but the larvae are transferred to brackish (or the female is transferred temporarily just in time to hatch out her eggs). And there seem to be all sorts of problems getting salinity right, not to mention the feeding and the timing of the return to FW. There have been so few confirmed reports of successful amano breeding, your friend could become quite famous.


----------



## brandon429 (Mar 29, 2003)

I'll call him and get some details that's good to know it's rare

w confirm if generations raised, how many etc. His feeding is exceptional, usually fresh clams, live fruit flies put into the tank, really unusual stuff... blenderized veggies etc


----------



## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

brandon, this will be good to learn from!


----------



## Ahoffm02 (Mar 25, 2014)

Thanks for all the insight guys and gals.

Is a shrimplet just a small/baby shrimp? the ones in my filter were no longer than 1/4" and at most 1/16" thick.

What do the Amano larvae look like? Maybe I can see if there are any dead/living in teh tank. 

I can imagine the challenges of moving the shrimp into the brackish water and the very low/no success rate.

Is there a chance that the shrimp are adapting to breed in freshwater conditions explaining low survival rates?


----------



## cjstl (Mar 4, 2013)

A shrimplet is just a tiny copy of the adult. That's how neos and a lot of caradinas breed, and the reason we love those shrimp so much. Other shrimp, like ghost, amano, macrobrachium, etc., typically have several larval stages. Some need brackish or salt water for the larvae and some can survive in fresh water. The larvae still look like little shrimp, but they appear "undeveloped". Most swim upright in the water column or rest on the glass in their early stages, which makes them easy to pick off by fish and their own parents. I have tried multiple times to rear ghost and whisker larvae, and have failed every time. The key is in the feeding and the timing, and I can't seem to get either right.


----------



## brandon429 (Mar 29, 2003)

I called him, he said they have the juveniles in fw but can't verify getting an f2 out of them so it sounds just like you guys called it. perhaps they hatch and then dont make it to adult without the specialties mentioned. he mentioned having hard water, but we talked about how that doesn't compensate for a salinity requirement if any...even hard water registers zero on a swingarm hydrometer as pH and salinity arent linked in that way. 

if there is an osmotic requirement I can see how that isn't being met. regarding the feeding, i dont see how it could get better in bens tanks (my friend, doesnt do web forums he's just a tank nerd like me)

he will make slurries out of the grossest stuff to feed to his shrimp tanks, and these tanks were setup back when mine was so I know they are over a decade old I helped him bucket the water lol. neat call, didnt realize amanos had a salt requirement they were too big for me to get into. like cari's


----------



## screamingkoala (May 31, 2019)

It's happened to me. Amano's CAN breed in freshwater. I don't have any proof...just a rando's 2 cents....


----------



## caseypatrick1993 (May 1, 2021)

So, I read so so much about breeding amanos. After removing my females once eggs turned emerald, they laid their eggs in the freshwater tank made nursery tank. One female died from a bad molt, the other survived but did not lay her eggs right away. She later rejected them and I assume they were unfertilized. I gave up thinking neither had laid eggs that would hatch for me to remove and put transfer to saltwater. Now after some time, I noticed that yes in my freshwater tank... I have baby shrimp. All of which appear to be past the hatchling stage AND healthy. This might be rare, some of you say it’s impossible.. however I don’t think the domestication of this animal is being taken into account. I’m sure that in proper brackish water conditions there would have been more larvae survive, however it is possible for some to survive in freshwater with a proper food source and semi-average water conditions with added calcium (which I add to all my tanks anyway as I have snails)


----------



## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

@caseypatrick1993 

*1.)* Shrimp don't "lay" eggs. They carry them around in their pleopods until the eggs hatch.* 

2.)* Are you sure those aren't clear neos?


----------



## caseypatrick1993 (May 1, 2021)

I can see how you would assume that, but no. They are amanos.


----------



## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Do you have better photos of them then?


----------

