Breeding Ghost Shrimp Palaemonetes paludosus

Second batch born 10/8/17

Hey, 

Im putting this info here because the information online that I was able to find (at the time of writing) seems misinformed or incorrect. 

Important stuff:

Breedng is easy, just have a male and female

Eggs hatch after about a month

When you first see eggs, place the female in a separate tank for birthing.  You can also wait until you see the eggs look like they are falling off of her, as they get lower, she is about to drop. 

This tank is very important as it will become the nursery.  I don't put any substrate in.  This tank needs to be cycled and aged and stagnant.  No filter (not even sponge) and no water movement.  This tank should also be pretty dirty with as much algae and cloudy green water in it as possible... this is how the larvae survive, they eat the microorganisms that thrive in these pond-like conditions.  

After the female has laid the eggs take her out, she doesn't really lay, she sort of kicks the eggs off of her as they hatch so they are "born" and depending on your vision you can see them pointing downwards right away.  

with her gone, you don't have to do anything, if the tank is old and cycled and you have it all mucked up with too much nutrients (leave fish food in it before they are born) and too much light, they should survive even if you never feed them.  I mean this.  They are very predatory at this age, I have seen them stalk and attack cyclops copepods and other tiny life in the tank.  

If you want, you can also keep some jars of green water growing in your window to make some food for the shrimplets.  

The babies look a lot like mosquito larvae and can sit at the surface or slowly move around by moving these little hair like appendages on their sides, they can move in all directions and like the adults they can zoom with a tail flick if threatened.  They don't have legs at all and hang upside-down most of the time unless attached to something. 

If you can keep them alive for the first 48 hours you are in a good place.  After about three days they "get their legs" and are much easier to care for because they can eat anything, not just tiny lifeforms.  

I put them back with the mom and other adults when they are about 0.5".