bvreeding ghosties or crawfish
- Thread starter chenaus
- Start date
Ghost shrimp are simple, lots of java moss, opaque sided container, water, bubbler. Let them sit.
Crays, will pretty much do it for you just get several and let them establish their territories in your tank. Gender can be sort of hard to discern on a lot of species of crays if they are small so get a small group. Feed a rich varied diet to cut down on cannibalism a bit and in a few months some of your females will have a cluster of eggs hanging from tail.
Remove her to another thank until the eggs hatch. Then take her out of the tank . They like many fresh water crustaceans don't have a free swimming stage so they are pretty easy to rear. I'd feed them algal foods like nori,"I know that it's saltwater but, it's a good natural source of iodine", Fish food etc for protein since they are scavengers they won't be too very picky about where it comes from.
You should also consider adding a bag of crushed oyster shell, crushed coral,cuttlebone or etc. The iodine and the calcium are very important to them during their molt. They also need places to hide out after a molt. They will be very soft for a while and quite vulnerable to other critters in the tank. If you are raising them as feeders for larger fish I'd feed them a good diet especially right before I feed them to my larger fish.
Hth
Max
p
Remove her to another thank until the eggs hatch. Then take her out of the tank . They like many fresh water crustaceans don't have a free swimming stage so they are pretty easy to rear. I'd feed them algal foods like nori,"I know that it's saltwater but, it's a good natural source of iodine", Fish food etc for protein since they are scavengers they won't be too very picky about where it comes from.
You should also consider adding a bag of crushed oyster shell, crushed coral,cuttlebone or etc. The iodine and the calcium are very important to them during their molt. They also need places to hide out after a molt. They will be very soft for a while and quite vulnerable to other critters in the tank. If you are raising them as feeders for larger fish I'd feed them a good diet especially right before I feed them to my larger fish.
Hth
Max
p
Crayfish are another matter. Dwarf crays can be bred in a 55gal for a couple of pairs. You'll need lots of hiding places for the young. Most will be eaten but, some will survive. For a larger yield and for larger crays, You'll need several tanks and a grow-out vat/bin. A male can be introduced to a tank with several females. Once spawning is completed, remove the male. Once the females berry (display eggs in swimmerettes), place lone females in their own tank. After the eggs hatch the young will cling to the female for a time determined by species and temp. Once the larvae drop off, remove the female. Provide TONS of hiding spaces, throughout the water column, for the larvae. The fast growing young are more cannabalistic than their parents and larger larvae will eat their slower growing siblings. Then it's just lots of mixed animal and plant protein foods, lots of water changes, and calcium supplements to provide material for the carapaces of the developing young.
my ghost shrimp have been breeding in my ten gallon..no bubbler just an aqua clear set on the lowest flow rate constantly for the betta....i have a planted tank and the amount of decaying plant matter probably allows for a lot of microorganisms in the water channel allowing the larvae to become mini shrimp...the babies are cute..but i dont find them to be breeding fast enough to be of any use as feeders