cleaner shrimp with eggs

[prodogg02]

hi everyone anyone know if a cleaner shrimp with eggs needs a partner or will they do it all themselves ,will the eggs hatch anyinfo would be great thanks

[Scavenger]

From my experience, you will have a well fed tank for a couple days. My apologies if this sounds harsh, but the eggs will not last long in a community reef tank

[Kabong]

If i recall correctly they are hermaphrodites, But yes they need another shrimp.
They would also need a special set up breeding tank for there to be any hope of survival of the young.

[marie]

Originally Posted by Scavenger

From my experience, you will have a well fed tank for a couple days. My apologies if this sounds harsh, but the eggs will not last long in a community reef tank

Harsh? The only reason I have my cleaners is so they produce babies to feed the tank...kinda makes up for all the food they steal from my corals mouths

[Matt]

Why is it that pods and other small inverts can reproduce and populate successfully, but the things we like (cleaners) never can?

[andsoitgoes]

Originally Posted by Matt

Why is it that pods and other small inverts can reproduce and populate successfully, but the things we like (cleaners) never can?

Well that's why we LIKE them!!

From the research I've done on Cleaners, they simply have a HUGE requirement for pristine conditions in their water - talking with some people that have tried to breed them, it's largely been unsuccessful, which would explain their price

[Delphinus]

It's free food to the tank. That's why I like to have shrimp in the tank too, and yeah, ever try to feed a coral with shrimp in the tank? Good luck with that!

They are simultaneous hermaphrodites, so both male and female, but, they cannot self-fertilize. So you need 2, but any 2 will do. It's actually better to have them in small groups but you usually need to introduce them at the same time. They are a socially structured animal believe it or not and the social dynamics/interactions are very interesting to observe.

They mate when they molt.. if you get to see one molt you'll usually see the shrimp go into a mating frenzy. A day or two later you'll notice one of the shrimp will be carrying eggs.

Once they start, they more or less continually carry eggs all the time.

The babies hatch at night (shortly after lights out) and look exactly like miniature versions of the parents. But they rarely last more than the night unfortunately. Apparently they taste pretty good.

[prodogg02]

it molted on saturday,does it once a week its about 3 1/2 inchs long,i will have to lookin to getting another.thanks for the info