Is this cleaner shrimp larvae?

[Pedro]

Last night while i was cleaning my pump quick filter i put it down on the sink and when i picked it up i noticed what looked like a shrimp swimming around in the water left behind. So i went to get my magnifying glass to confirm. Of course i then had to get my camera. My thoughts were that these are the larvae of my shrimps, im not sure. They are constantly carrying eggs and i noticed that they had released them recently. So i am not sure if these are their larvae. You can tell that some have a different color. It does seem that they have the same shape almost as the parents. I included some pics for size reference as well. It was not easy photographing them. Enjoy!

 

[JHOV2324]

Pedro are you serious....how did you even see that thing....I think right now your just showing off what a good photographer you are...but to answer your question IMO...it does look like shrimp larvae....my shrimps are always :bunnies: and when they release the lil shrimps into the water column it looks like that...i saw one with a magnifying glass on the tank glass....

 

[aaron23]

those may look like mysid shrimp?

 

[Pedro]

I think i should just get another pair of shrimps and then i don't have to worry about live feedings :spin: . Too bad they don't grow on their own. There were quite a few trapped in the filter too.

Aaron, i'll look into it, i'm not sure. But if they are it's still cool cuz that means i have live mysis in the tank.

 

[deelucky]

i agree it could be mysis,do they swim around real fast? i have alot of tiny shrimp in my fuge and display,but i could never get a good look cause there always zipping around.nice pics

 

[Pedro]

The thing that has me thinking it can be cleaner babies is due to the color of some of the larvae. There were quite a few that possessed the red skin. Also i have never gotten this in my filter, it just so happen that i find it when one of the shrimps released her eggs, coincidence? Who knows...

 

[Deanos]

More likely mysid babies. Cleaner shrimp larvae take several weeks and a specialized diet before metamorphasizing into something that look like baby cleaners.

 

[deelucky]

looking at the pics better maybe your right.what ya did with them? maybe the filter there in is providing a safe haven and a source of food.godd luck.

 

[Pedro]

I scooped up what i could and put them back in the tank, better than the drain. So does this mean i can stop buying frozen mysis? lol

It was pretty exciting though when i saw this, i was like oh what is this.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

mysis will not reproduce in high enough levels that you can stop feeding the tank.

 

[reefman]

it look like a baby size shrimp j has
link

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

i have seen these in my tank as well they swim head down tail up. ive never seen a live adult mysis in my tank. i have 1 cleaner shrimp. when it produces eggs after some time at night i see tons of these in my water column. the naxt day my cleaner doesnt have any eggs. it kinda gave me the idea of how coral feed off of plankton in the water.

 

[crox99]

I have hundreds of those in my sump.

 

[Pedro]

Damn, here i am thinking i had cleaner babies, i got so damn excited. But they are still good, the more plankton the better! :thrash:

 

[crox99]

Damn, here i am thinking i had cleaner babies, i got so damn excited. But they are still good, the more plankton the better! :thrash:

The first I saw them too I thought they were peps or cleaners. I also got excited for nothing.

 

[nemo]

What type of camera did you use? I always get blurred shots when I try shooting up close.