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Gabriel LaPlante says:
I currently have 13 Thai Micro Crabs, and after watching behavior that seemed like possible breeding I began to look into it. I quickly found most people attempt breeding them like neocaridina shrimp. Like you guys im sitting here wondering, why dont you just set up the same environment from which they came? Clearly you guys beat me to that though. If it helps, In search of their habitat I got in touch with a few people in Thailand and they said they believed Thai Micro Crabs were caught in the Chao Phraya river? Also from dntaqua : "It is important to use a tank illumination during breeding attempts, as the zoea are dependent on light to orientate themselves correctly in the water column." Might help, i kept my tanks light low thinking the hiding space would help, maybe lighting should be high though? ALSO multiple forums now ive seen people saying theyve seen their micro crabs preying on small shrimp fry? Most inverts do very poorly when fed things like shrimp, maybe its the opposite for them and theres a nutrient in shrimp that the baby crabs need??? Also according to an article on mdpi, these "pill-box crabs" definitely spawn in full freshwater, not brackish. Also, alot of sources say theyre mainly found in roots of hyacinth plants, does anyone know if those plants have a specific property thatd attract these crabs? Maybe ill set up an enclosure like that. SUPRISINGLY, i had a hunch that if they are really from the chao phraya river, theyd be used to heavy water flow. I turn up my filters flow all the way throughout the day, and they stay active and even will come up to the filter "with padding on it" and rest and eat off it. They handle the currents extremely well. Maybe they lay eggs and send their offspring down stream to diff conditions? Im trying to think outside the box here... though they genuinely do seem to be more active during the higher flow (probably because more particle movement in the water for food.) ALSO IT IS JUST ASSUMED THAT THESE CRABS LARVAE DEVELOP IN WATER!!! It is not recorded yet, just assumed, for all we know they may bury in substrate or even be layed on land to return to water. It hasnt been documented yet. Im going to try to make a land area in the tank for them with moist substrate, just incase. I currently have 13 thai micros which i got for an unbeatable $19.99 , im waiting for more to come in stock so i can double or triple down on that in hopes of breeding them. In the meantime im going to try to contact some people from the areas these are present, and see what they can tell me about their habitats. U/satansearthworm on reddit posted footage of his crab spawning underwater, and the eggs seemed to float off drifting away, this lead me to believe in the wild, the eggs float down stream and many most likely end up on the riverbank or stuck on floating plants right? The videos here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/aqx3iv/caught_a_rare_sight_my_thai_micro_crab_spawning/ also on the same thread: "The biology is not well known. I have kept them in wholly freshwater with water weed and they have bred. Try using slightly harder water – maybe pH7 or 7.5 .... you should keep them in large groups as they seem to do poorly in small groups." Right now my ph and kh are a bit high, ill try to keep it that way, my shrimp seems to really thrive in high kh. A video from Rachel O'Leary says that she believes the female crab carries the eggs until after hatching, where she continues carrying the babies for weeks, however the footage from the reddit clip is contrary to that. Were all keeping our tanks in the mid to high 70s but why? I find it somewhat hard to believe that river stays so warm. Also WHY do the crabs change color from brown to clear?? Is it indicitive of anything? Ive never seen my micro crabs molt, and ive heard it happens when they change aquariums, but do we know for sure? Does it have to do with sterility? The reddit threads crab was pretty dark red/brown, NOT clear, so maybe only a few, like the darker colors are capable of spawning? Also, apparently the mother crab was spawning the eggs in the dark, then the redditor turned on the lights and the crab released the eggs in the water, they suggest it may be a defense mech. Maybe try keeping them in the dark, with little noise so that the mother crab keeps the babies held onto? Anyways thats all i got for now, hopefully i can get my hands on even more of them to increase chances of breeding. Please guys lets try to find out more about their natural habitats. If you guys have any useful info on breeding them email me please!Chase Klinesteker says:
Matt, Excellent article! And I really enjoyed your talk to GVAC recently. Breeding fish is my passion also. I was disappointed when FAAS ended their BAP program, as it motivated many to breed more fish, including myself. Chase KlinestekerLESLIE DICK says:
Since Dr. Lyons has written his excellent update on goodeids, the ALA 2020 convention date and location have changed. Our convention will be held from June 11-14, 2020, in Coral Springs, FL hosted by the Gold Coast Aquarium Society. Best fishes, Leslie Dick Chairman, ALA BODSusan B says:
I finally figured out im severely allergic to blood worms. I have had 2 swollen red eyes in which I was unrecognizable. My eyes were so puffy it looked like I got into a fight or something. My hands itch and are swelling up & it creeps up my arm. I'm so miserable right now. I've washed it for 20 minutes wth Dawn but it still is red tingling & spreads. I'm trying corizon & calling the dr to see if there is anything more I can do besides benadryl I'm sure. I didn't know this was a thing til I googled to see if it was only me but I'm not alone. I feed these to my discus fish & I try very hard not to touch them but a drop of that blood makes my skin go itch like crazy!D. Hall says:
New study? We knew this 30 years ago when it was "studied". Nothing done about it then, nothing will be done now. At least South Florida appears to be working to keep treated sewage form being pumped into the ocean but the Glades are another matter.Jeremy says:
Well worth the cost for what you get. It would be much more expensive to run all those tests weekly or biweekly like we should to get the results we want from our tanks. Plus no waste water, no test to buy and use before expiration, no human error (was that 3 or 4 drops I put in) and you get trends of what your tank is doing and not just a spot in time.