I HAVE ZOEAE!!!!!

[ciaraalston]

FINALLY found this thread! Congrats!!! I've been following your youtube videos, so excited to see them grow! GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

[GotButterflies]

They are still doing good!! I had a good amount of the second batch die off..not quite sure why, but I have the most that I have ever had living at Day 12/13! Down side is I'm out of nanno again. I ordered it last Friday, but they didn't ship it until Tuesday. :/ I went ahead and placed another order so I will have triple the amount when it comes in.

I also placed an order for teeny nerite shells on Ebay. Mary was going to generously share some of the shells she purchased from Shadoe (Alaska Hermit), but it ended up not being necessary. I also purchased more when I was in Daytona yesterday that I will have to sort. I'll see how many I get there. Hopefully I'll make it that far!

[Motörcrab]

Oh wow! You and your crabs have been busy! Your crabs are taking after the Isopods the way they are producing! Good Luck! Out of curiosity how much time out of your day do you need for the water changes and feedings?

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[GotButterflies]

Hello everyone! I'm just checking in to let you all know that the zoeae are still alive! This is the furthest I've ever made it - Day 17 possibly 18 for the first batch!! The second batch is now 10 days old!

Water changes - doing three a day 33 % change each time. Takes about 2 hours because I'm doing two each time. I have two set ups. The batches have been mixed even though I had originally intended for them to be kept separate. When I have caught them during water changes I've added them back to the bowls and that is how they got mixed. The older zoeae are definitely larger than the others.

I have had to put my store on hold/vacation. I've been getting daily migraines - and my fibromyalgia is flaring. I cannot afford for my Lupus to flare also. I'm a wreck. :/

I've done my best at posting daily videos - but just kept it to one video since they are mixed for the most part. Hope everyone is doing well!

Edit: Feedings - they take about 15 minutes each time, but I do that every 4 - 5 hours. That just requires turning off the air stone, putting a light to encourage them to come to get the food, dropping food in, and going back to turn the air stones back on. I leave Nanno and live brine shrimp in there at all times so if they get hungry they have those available. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I am raising brine shrimp in.

[Hermiesguardian]

I hope you feel better!

[Motörcrab]

Wow that is a lot of time to be taking care of those guys. Hopefully you will have them out of the water and into shells in no time. It hard to believe how much each crab has to go through in order to make it to land only to be caught and endure more obstacles!

Hope you feel better and have a nice holiday!

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[mlakers]

I SO feel your pain!! Migraines here, too. All that staring into water with a bright light trying to pick out tiny, half invisible little squiggles. Maddening! (I put my shop on hold, too. This is a fill time job!) But you are doing so fantastic!! Those are some lucky little zoeae!

[GotButterflies]

I SO feel your pain!! Migraines here, too. All that staring into water with a bright light trying to pick out tiny, half invisible little squiggles. Maddening! (I put my shop on hold, too. This is a fill time job!) But you are doing so fantastic!! Those are some lucky little zoeae!

Oh my goodness - yes - the light is terrible!! Thank you Mary! You've been helpful to me! It's so nice to have someone to talk to!

[GotButterflies]

I just wanted to check in with everyone and let you know they are all still doing great! I have found a few dead zoeae, but not many. Clutch #1 is 21/22 days old. Clutch #2 is 14 days old. I'm pretty confident the larger zoeae are eating the smaller, there seems to be more of the larger ones. Looks like this clutch may be purple pinchers! For about four days now I have seen that they are turning orange!

In the meantime I purchased some paint trays and siliconed beach sand to them, not sure if that will work or not, but we will see. I did that on Monday. After I did it, I looked at my empty sw fishtank and thought perhaps that sand would have been better - it's a little more course. IDK... these days I find I second guess everything, but I'm trying to just keep doing what I have been doing. It's working.

I went to the beach last week to take a pet store some isopods and bought several bags of small shells. Going to send Mary some today. I also found teeny tiny Nerites on Ebay...

Thank you everyone for the well wishes! I still have daily videos on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNmSjm ... subscriber

[GotButterflies]

Everyone is still doing well. I've had a few losses - but I know some are getting ready to transform to meglopa so that is to be expected. I texted Mary yesterday...which ultimately ended up creating more work for me. The larger artemia (brine shrimp) were really terrorizing the zoeae, and I think they were eating them, so I ended up having to siphon all of those out of both of my bowls. She was noticing the same issue.

Today I am setting up a little tank to move the later staged zoeae to - I had some funky sheds floating in the water today, but no megs - so I guess they either got eaten or are on the bottom. Hopefully I can find them! Then, I need to work on my transition tank. The silicone paint trays with sand came out good. I just don't have any large tanks to move them to - going to have to use a 10 gallon. I also need to sort shells, work on orders, do water changes, and live my "normal" life!

Have a great day!

[ciaraalston]

Bless you! This is so much work, but you're literally making history! Breeding hermit crabs in captivity is so rare, and hopefully one day with your (and the others as well!) work, it will be a common thing! You're doing amazing! Praying for you

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[GotButterflies]

Thank you Ciara! I appreciate it!

[GotButterflies]

Hello! Just wanted to give an update I haven't done any daily videos because it's been a little crazy around here!

First of all, I don't think the artemia are able to eat the zoeae - I read that they do have mouths, but they are filter feeders. IDK...I watched them for awhile (I rear them in a five gallon bucket), and they sure do pick at the garbage on the bottom that I have to siphon out. Who knows.

Yesterday I set up a little 2.5 gallon tank for the zoeae that I think are going to be close to mega stage. They have the pregnant look Mary has described. My zoeae are going to go a little slower than expected - I'm not using heaters in my water - the room they are in stays 80 degrees. I'm confident that the reasons why I lost them in times past is the water got too warm and I wasn't feeding them enough. Anyways...They are doing great this time, so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing! I put smooth pieces of coral on the bottom, and made the sand a little wavy. This way they have places to hide away from one another - because they definitely do terrorize one another!

I also set up the 10 gallon tank with my paint tray to transfer megas to when I get them. Then I started setting up a little tank for babies that I get! Boy is that fun!!!

I've also been shell sorting. Fun fun. All this while feeding, doing water changes, filling orders - down to my last few PTL - and dealing with normal life!

Please keep the positive thoughts my way!! I appreciate it!!!

[GotButterflies]

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, and I barely have a chance to come up for air today...but I have megalopa!!!!! I haven't had time to take or post any video. Luckily I'm set up for it all, but it's been crazy dealing with it all. I know only Mary truly understands. I just wanted to get on here and make a post to keep you informed. Thank you again for the well wishes!! Please keep them coming!!! They are working!!!

[mlakers]

You are doing SO great!!! I have a good feeling about this batch!! Really super excited for you--you deserve all the success you're having. You have earned it! And I meant to text you again, but those shells you sent me have been a LIFE SAVER. Or more accurately, multiple life savers. So many of the megalopa are in tiny shells from the bags you sent. I'm so very grateful....as are the babies.