Egg incubation again and Diapterons

[Diapterondave]

Today I collected 16 eggs from my two pairs of D.abacinum. That is 16
eggs in 5 days. I have been following the discussion on egg incubation on
this forum. I would like to try both shrimp and
snails to incubate eggs. However they are Asian snails and
shrimp. Does anyone have experience with North American snails and the
native North American Ghost Shrimp? Are these possible alternatives?

[nonamethefish]

i think the planorbids and physids we have running around in out tanks would work fine. The ghost shrimp we get here(Paleometes) seem like they would eat the eggs. Other people have tried it and have had that happen.

[whuntley]

Malaysian trumpet snails are notorious egg eaters at any time. My experience is that ramshorns don't eat eggs with mature chorion, but can eat them if freshly laid. Pond snails are likely about the same. I use the extra small ones with eggs.

The ghost or grass shimp will eat eggs, I think. You need one of the gleaner species that have mesh nets instead of claws.

Smaller species of aquatic amphipods are good egg cleaners, too. Bill Gallagher once brought me a tiny species (1/8-1/4" long) from, I think, Germany that worked very well.

Ostracods should work. They work over anything on the bottom and are way too small to eat eggs.

Wright

[Diapterondave]

thanks Wright. I am going to try diffrent methods for incubating the eggs.

[promethean_spark]

I once threw a couple gularis eggs into a dish of water that contained microlife (including ostracods) intended as first food and to help the eggs hatch. One egg hatched right away, but about 20 ostracods descended on the other egg and gobbled it down before my eyes. The fry don't seem able to eat these buggers easilly either, though the parents do.