Mysis Shrimp Propagation

[FarmerTy]

Sorry if I missed it but are you culturing freshwater mysis or saltwater mysiid shrimps?

[leliataylor]

Saltwater mysis. http://mblaquaculture.com/content/or...sis_shrimp.php

[leliataylor]

The white trap is working better and collecting more newborns. There at least 24 newborns in the trap this morning.

My volunteer population in the 30 gallon is expanding nicely and I was able to observe a female release her young from her pouch this morning. Guess it is time to set up a trap in that tank as well.

The population density in the tub seems to be increasing despite my continuous harvesting so it is time to move some to another tank. Last week the density seemed lower and I was getting a little concerned. I harvested some on Sunday and today the density seems to be back to where it was a couple of weeks ago. I did add some of the juveniles from the nursery back in to the adult tank last week which may account for some of the increase in the population. Another factor is I am only collecting newborns that are born about the same time and placing them in the nursery. The rest are on their own and some of them do survive. They seem to double in size in the first couple of days so it would be counter productive to add more newborns daily to the same system. At about two weeks they are large enough to be added back into the adult system and are capable of reproducing at about 3 weeks of age.

[leliataylor]

Here is a photo of a newborn mysis next to a water spot. For a size comparison the spot is .3cm wide by .4cm high.

[leliataylor]

When I fed everybody this afternoon I began watching some of the newborn mysis. They were darting around obviously in prey capture mode. So I began to shoot some pictures in a effort to visualize what they were feeding on since I could not see what they were consuming. I caught a picture of one of newborns and when I blew it up there was one tiny mysis (less than .2 cm long and less than .1 cm wide) and three pods that were much smaller in the picture. I did seed these tanks with A. Panamensis pods some time ago and the body shape is consistent with this species.

[leliataylor]

One my population is definitely expanding again and I have been able to feed out more of the mysis to my seahorses. One article that I read stated the females will stop producing if the population becomes too dense. I have added flake food to their diet as well. I am now up to four tanks on two separate systems that are dedicated to mysis.

[celticstarb]

Hi, Cheryl,

Here is a drawing of the mysid generator I saw online. I haven't been able to find the plans again, so if anyone knows who designed it please let me know so I can give them credit.

It won't let me upload the pic so here's a link:
http://s99.photobucket.com/user/Smil...ddbxd.jpg.html

You can use any size aquarium

Place a solid divider to section off the standpipe.

Drill a hole towards the top of the divider to insert the PVC through the divider.

Use silicon or a bulkhead to make sure the divider remains water tight

The PVC should touch the bottom on the breeding side of the aquarium. Use two 45 degree elbows to make sure the pvc lays flush on the bottom of the breeding side.

Glue netting to the opening of the PVC elbow on the bottom of the tank. The netting should be large enough to let the nauplii through, but too small for the adults to pass.

On the standpipe side of the generator, use zip ties to hang a plankton sieve on the PVC elbow.

Adjust the standpipe so it is about level with the middle of the plankton sieve.

Adjust the return pump so that it is enough to suck up the nauplii, but not too high that it damages them.

Set up and cycle a sponge filter for the breeding side of the generator.

So basically, as the water fills, It will start overflowing directly into the plankton sieve. The nauplii will be automatically harvested. You can then feed them to your fry, or put them in a growing container. Collect no less than every 3 days so the older nauplii won't eat the younger ones.

[leliataylor]

I dropped a piece of white PVC into a tank a couple of days ago. This morning there we a couple of dozen newborns all over it. The adults avoid the PVC. Go figure. Propagating mysis use to be a daunting task, now I am able to feed my seahorses live mysis a couple of times a week. There must be something in the water or all the years I have I have spent working on raising tiny pelagic seahorse fry has made raising mysis much easier.

[leliataylor]

Yesterday I moved a couple of dozen juvenile mysis out of the newborn nursery and into another tank. I then moved 10 very pregnant females into the nursery and have newborns this morning. In reality I have newborns in 4 tanks and if they are being eaten it is not putting a dent in my expanding population. The dozen or so mysis that I put in a 30 gallon tank last month has now developed into "too many to count" and I now have two tanks of adults that I can collect from. At this point I don't know if the tanks I seeded with mysis have any survivors since my seahorses will snick them in a split second if they can find them.

[leliataylor]

The juveniles I moved on the 20th have started reproducing as of this morning. I removed the females from the MMN (mini mysis nursery) this morning and added 5 more very pregnant females. The MMN is full of newborns (I counted at least 12 in a 1" square area) and the 5 females should add about 40-50 newborns within the next 24 hours. Right now I am very happy because I forgot to pick up any ABS to feed my young seahorses so they have been getting 3 feedings a day of live mysis. Currently I have the adults in three separate tanks with a total water volume of 70 gallons, minus the sumps. The adult tanks also have a number of newborns and juveniles which seem to be thriving. The copepod population density in these tanks has also continued to increase which I didn't expect.