Pregnant peppernint shrimp! What to do

[McCarrick]

Hello! I purchased a peppernint shrimp this past weekend and she is pregnant! I have some sea monkey eggs that my sister had given me, and my understanding is that they're essentially just brine shrimp. She was a little disappointed that I planned on feeding them to the shrimp babies. I am currently unable to get baby brine unless I purchase them online. I also have the sea monkey food, which I believe is freeze dried phytoplankton. I have read that the shrimp will eat that as well. However, I was watching a youtube video and in the comments, someone said something about egg yolk paste. Does anyone happen to know anything about that? She is currently in my 29 gallon hiding under a rock so I can't easily see how the eggs are doing. The only other things I have in the tank is a black baby ray goby and a zebra hermit crab. I placed a fine mesh bag over the intake of my filtration in the Hopes of preventing any babies from getting sucked up. I havent turned off my powerheads though. I will be able to go back out to Cheyenne this weekend to find some more supplies to hopefully keep at least a few of them alive. Is there anyone out there who has any advice on what to do or what I should do differently?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
If the shrimp does give birth and anyone is interested in following. I'll have updates on my build thread!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Hello! Your best bet will to turn off all filtration at night until the eggs hatch; the larvae won't be able to fight any type of strong current at all. You probably don't need to know this, but you'll need to set the larvae up in their own tank. Look into getting a copy of April Kirkendoll's "How to Raise and Train your Peppermint Shrimp" (I got mine off amazon), it's got a pretty decent how-to guide.

Sea monkey eggs are brine shrimp eggs. I use Brine Shrimp Direct for my eggs. As a reminder, you'll want to hatch them out daily since you don't know how long the shrimp has been berried, so the day of hatching won't leave you scrambling. Luckily, black ray gobies looooove brine shrimp, and you can set them up in their own 5 gallon bucket to grow out if the larvae end up growing past the initial BBS stage (where they'll start to need larger and larger prey items).

 

[McCarrick]

Hello! Your best bet will to turn off all filtration at night until the eggs hatch; the larvae won't be able to fight any type of strong current at all. You probably don't need to know this, but you'll need to set the larvae up in their own tank. Look into getting a copy of April Kirkendoll's "How to Raise and Train your Peppermint Shrimp" (I got mine off amazon), it's got a pretty decent how-to guide.

Sea monkey eggs are brine shrimp eggs. I use Brine Shrimp Direct for my eggs. As a reminder, you'll want to hatch them out daily since you don't know how long the shrimp has been berried, so the day of hatching won't leave you scrambling. Luckily, black ray gobies looooove brine shrimp, and you can set them up in their own 5 gallon bucket to grow out if the larvae end up growing past the initial BBS stage (where they'll start to need larger and larger prey items).

Awesome advice! I have a 5 gallon tank that I will be setting up for them. I've read that they tend to give birth after the lights are out, so I'm assuming that's why I would only need to turn off the filtration at night. I'm assuming there's enough stored oxygen in the water for my one fish to be fine over night. I also have a good amount of algae pumping in o2 to the tank since I'm still in "the uglies phase". once they have berried, how long does it take for them to hatch on average? I'll definitely be looking into those resources you suggested!
Thank you!

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

shotgun wedding?

 

[McCarrick]

shotgun wedding?

Oh most definitely

 

[ichthyogeek]

Awesome advice! I have a 5 gallon tank that I will be setting up for them. I've read that they tend to give birth after the lights are out, so I'm assuming that's why I would only need to turn off the filtration at night. I'm assuming there's enough stored oxygen in the water for my one fish to be fine over night. I also have a good amount of algae pumping in o2 to the tank since I'm still in "the uglies phase". once they have berried, how long does it take for them to hatch on average? I'll definitely be looking into those resources you suggested!
Thank you!

I want to say 2 weeks average? Less if at warmer temps (82 F), more if at cooler temps (76 F)

 

[ichthyogeek]

If you see eyes on the eggs, then hatch night is most likely near, but if they’re still relatively pink blobs, then you’ll have a bit longer to go.

 

[McCarrick]

I want to say 2 weeks average? Less if at warmer temps (82 F), more if at cooler temps (76 F)

Alright, they dont seem super dark yet. At least as of 2 days ago! I'm running at 78 degrees. I hope they wait til I can get to Cheyenne this weekend!!

 

[McCarrick]

We have babies! My brine shrimp eggs never hatched, possibly they were too old. I ordered new ones which should be here tomorrow. Updates on build thread!