Pregnant Peppermint Shrimp, Help

[Glaswegian]

Hey guys, I have a 5 gallon Pico reef. I have two peppermint shrimp in there and I just noticed that one is preggers. Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

[Aquattro]

Free coral food. Congrats

[albert_dao]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/nftt/

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/aafeature

Second article has more success as it was written later onwards.

[kien]

Free fish food too for that matter. I keep an army of shrimps for this exact reason. To feed my corals treats for my fish. My pair of clownfish contribute to this as well on occasion :-)

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Raising any sw shrimp is very difficult and time consuming. Tried multiple times with cleaner shrimp and could never get past the 10-14 days hump. I then changed my attitude and considered the baby shrimp as free live food for corals and fish. This was far less stressful than continuing to beat my head against the wall.

Anthony

[Dearth]

My peppermints gave birth in my small tank at least twice that I am aware of I as many others viewed it as free food for everyone. Since putting the shrimp in my big tank one died about a week after going in the other is still going strong but no more babies its the percula's turn now.

[Glaswegian]

Sounds like it's free fish and coral food. Lol. Thanks guys.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Glaswegian

I have two peppermint shrimp in there and I just noticed that one is preggers.

FYI, Peppermint Shrimp don't get pregnant - they carry eggs. Peppermint Shrimp are simultaneous hermaphrodites which means all of them carry both the male and the female reproductive organs all the time. There is no male, and there is no female. Any one of them can produce eggs, and any other one of them can fertilize those eggs. Essentially, any two will make a "pair".

[naesco]

You mean they don' t ...... ?
I have seen two of them 'fairly close' on a number of times at night.

[Dearth]

So a couple of hrs after lights went out in the tank tonight I went searching in the tank for any interesting critters that might be popping up so imagine my surprise when I found 2 small peppermint shrimp climbing around the rocks tank has been up and running over 2 months now and of the 2 peppermints I transferred from the small tank one died a week after transfer as I scooped its corpse outa the water. Needless to say I am surprised to see the lil shrimp in the tank and not really sure how any more might be out there and whether or not these lil guys will survive or become a meal. The surviving large peppermint stays mostly with the coral banded shrimp and showed no signs of egg bearing at all that I have noticed.

So it is an interesting find but who knows how many more there are as I have so many rocks with nooks and crannies they can hide in.