Cleaner shrimp reproduction

[skozzy1]

Can one expect skunk cleaner shrimp to reproduce and live in a reef tank? Mine is populated with the livestock listed below?

[ryan_reefer]

they will reproduce quite easily but raising the larvae is a challenge you will need to collect the larvae after the parents have released them at night and you might have a chance and then you have the fun part of waiting for them to finish metamorphasising

[skozzy1]

What does the larvae look like?

[skipm]

You should be able to find the answers to most of your questions here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=846955

[stevemc]

If you get up during the night that they hatch out, they look like just hatched brine shrimp. You can see them best with a flashlight. With the other fish, filters, pumps, etc, you may not have any in the morning. They shed about every 3 -5 weeks, and the day they shed or molt, they get bred by any other shrimp of the same species. They cant breed any time but then. Then they develop eggs, and small shrimp. When they hatch, the mother swishes them off, and they become freeswimming. Lysmata shrimp are hermaphrodites, and all carry eggs. So the more you have, the more young you will have.

[Humuhumunuku]

wow I just noticed eggs on my shrimp tonight, anyone know how long the eggs take to hatch?

[purplehaze]

Originally posted by Humuhumunuku
wow I just noticed eggs on my shrimp tonight, anyone know how long the eggs take to hatch?

Which species? Generally 12-14 days..depends on the temp...

[skozzy1]

What kind of enviroment would they (skunk) prefer to lay the eggs?
Caves, perhaps?
And what color are they?

[purplehaze]

Originally posted by skozzy1
What kind of enviroment would they (skunk) prefer to lay the eggs?
Caves, perhaps?
And what color are they?

The don t lay the eggs on a substrate. They keep them on their pleopods (under the abdomen) until the larvae hatch.