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Baby shrimp?

Just looking at my tank in the dark. Saw my 2 shrimp hanging around the usuall area. I see them by their orangey eyes first. Then I see movement in a 1/4 inch hole. Looks like a bunch o pods. But then I catch light on tiny orangey eyes. Looks to me like baby shrimp. An I nuts?
Well I know I'm nuts but...
 
Pretty much all of the shrimp we keep in the hobby release pelagic larvae. In the wild they become part of the plankton and float around for weeks until they're ready to settle. Raising them in captivity is actually pretty difficult and won't happen just by accident. (Check out MOFIB [marinebreeder.org] or the book How to Raise and Train Your Peppermint Shrimp, if you're interested in learning more) If your two shrimp are the same species, they will eventually start reproducing regularly, and you'll have a chance to see the larvae for yourself.

So my guess for what you saw is a bunch of amphipods. Possibly, but less likely, you might have some mysis shrimp.
 
I think I had some mysis shrimp shrimp in my sump before I let it run dry (litterally - it looked like a block of salt after 6 months).

They were pretty cool to watch! At perfect eye level when laying on the floor as well.. But, after two floods , a hurricane, and life it just got turned off and last I looked nothing survived. Well, i'm sure there is still bacteria in the brine.

For what it's worth, they were in my sump for almost a year, so they seem thrive without predators.
 
If you have hermits, it could be thier larva. From what I've read they seem to get past the "Plankton" stage with ease in our tanks. Its just when they reach the megalopa stage when they need shells and are not provided that they crash. I had this happen once or twice and I thought it was my peppermint shrimp, but the more I looked into it, it was more likely to be my hermits. Hope this helps. http://www.marinebreeder.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2525&highlight=
 
I just read the posts. Might just be hermits. I have a bunch in my tank. Red and blue legg. And they have been there for over a year now. Hmm... Lots of mini shells on the bottom so we shall see:)
 
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