# Purple Zebra Shrimp Larvae 8/27/07 (brackish species?)



## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

Well I checked my Purple Zebra tank and there were larvae floating upside down. This leads me to believe that they in fact need saltwater in order to breed, similar to the Amano and Hawaiian Red Shrimp. I do not know if there is a larval stage shrimp that does not need brackish water to survive. I could be wrong however.

This may start to clear up any rumors that have surrounded this shrimp. Little has been known about it, but now we all know that is is a larval shrimp.

There were at least 20 larvae floating upside down. Twitching and such.

Pictures of the Purple Zebra Larvae:


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

yup mine looked just like your pics. VERY very tiny and now they are motionless so i think they are dead : (

im no shrimp pro like ryan so if these dont work out (which it dosnt seem like they are) i might just stick to CRS for now : )

Thanks for adding some insight to this relatively unkown shrimp, i think now that its become bit more popular a lot more people will be coming to your posts for reference : ) So are you going to attempt to start a saltwater rearing tank? please keep up posted on your progress with these guys i find all your posts very insightful and would like to see someone have success with these guys (since its probably not going to be me lol)


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## Stina (Aug 16, 2007)

Out of curiosity....does that mean that the species is actually a brackishwater species that can live in freshwater? Would the reproduce in brackish?...or is full saltwater needed for reproduction?....


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

Stina said:


> Out of curiosity....does that mean that the species is actually a brackishwater species that can live in freshwater? Would the reproduce in brackish?...or is full saltwater needed for reproduction?....


I have talked to several breeders and they say that it is still a freshwater species that does not require saltwater to breed. I will keep updating and hopefully they turn into adults 

They do not hold as many eggs as the Amano.

-Ryan


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Nice pics Ryan. It's good to know a little more about this species. 

One question, the Halocaridina rubra- they are full fledged saltwater shrimp, are they not? I know they breed in saltwater, but isn't that because they are a saltwater species? I was just suprised to see them catagorized with amanos. Just wondering.

Good luck.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

Six, rubra can live in anything from fresh water to 2x sea water salinity. that said, they will breed readily only in brackish-sea water. it really depends on where they were collected originally. mine were fine in 1.008-1.012 water and bred regularly. they are easier to breed than amanos, since your not really changing water conditions for the fry at all like the amano. they both exibit a larval stage though, so that maybe why he characterized them that way.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

I see. I figured I was just reading into the post too much.  Have you bred them? How do you do it, if so? these are a shrimp I've wanted to keep for quite some time. Too bad people here use them as seahorse food. But, I just don't really like seahorses.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

they are even easier than cherries. i kept mine in 2.5g tank, but i would reccomend at least a 5g with a small sponge filter, some rocks/sand and thats it. once cycled, some marine/brackish algaes will start to cover the rocks and glass, i scrape the front only and leave the rest as thats what they eat mostly. you can supplement with a VERY small amount of crushed fish flakes once or twice a week and thats it.top off evap with distilled/ro water and leave em be, they will breed once they settle in. just make sure you get the specific gravity of the tank they came from to match yours to. the water in the store tank should have all the algae spores you need to start a garden in your tank. if you keep them happy, they can live up to 20 years. and i cant stand sea horses either.....


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

Wow purple zebra shrimp here? Thats cool. All I could find was CRS. havoc what shrimp have you seen here on the rock? O thanks for that plants. Everything is nutz now. Props to havoc he is the man.


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

Update:

I have been watching the tank very closely. There are no more floating larvae. I have looked very closely at the substrate as well as all over the moss. No shrimplets to be found....

Two theories I have to explain the "missing babies":

1. They died.
2. They are very well hidden in the moss. Their parents are very shy and hide quite a bit. If the babies practice the same behavior as the parents then they are most likely impossible to find.

I could stir up the moss and see what might pop out, but I would rather not. I will post an update soon if I decide to stir up the moss, which I may end up doing out of pure curiosity. 

-Ryan


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## KnaveTO (Jul 4, 2007)

I just got some purple zebra shrimp and would be interested in knowing the proper scientific name of them. Anyone know?


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

KnaveTO said:


> I just got some purple zebra shrimp and would be interested in knowing the proper scientific name of them. Anyone know?


That is another big Unknown about this species. They are not like Caridina or Neocardina in any way.

I believe that they are an entirely different Genus of shrimp. They are smart creatures however. I have been observing them a lot recently. They like to hide but they will always be looking outside of their hiding spots. They also huddle in "packs". Almost all of the time I see 5 of mine together in the same spot underneath the moss looking out into the tank.

I am going to observe these more and try to learn about their wild habitat as well. I suspect that they might actually be ambush predators and not scavengers. The positioning of their eyes "close together" like a spider leads me to believe that they like to hide in small crevices looking only in front of them. Perhaps they sit back and wait for something to pass by... Just a random hypothesis....

-Ryan


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