Wednesday, May 16, 2012

We've Got Prawns! Baby Prawns!


Prawn Box, courtesy of UPS.

2400 tiny PL's  (Post Larvae) are in that bag.
Here's a PL up close. In real life, he's about 1.5 cm long.
In 8 months, he could be the size of old Pablo below.

Pablo is about 20 cm (8 inches) long. He's also the last survivor from the 100 PL's I raised in my first, very small scale experimental prawn farming project. Long time Pure Florida readers may remember the many posts about that earlier school project.

Good ol' Pablo dates from March of 2010. He's king of the roost for now in prawn land and he molted just last week.

Pablo was moved to a new abode temporarily so that the second graders could see him on Pen Pal day ... and in the process, he lost one beautiful blue claw.


Not to worry ... he will grow it back and we may even see it in the next molt.



There's a tiny video clip below of the babies in a 500 mL beaker. My finger is just to provide a size reference.



The school year is barreling to a close so I am making room at PFHQ to babysit these little guys over the summer. In the next week or two, I have to shift some koi from one home tank to another, move a turtle, and set up my old tilapia tank for 2400 tiny prawns.

Where did this school year go?

A project like these prawns almost makes me look forward to August!

Almost.



8 comments:

threecollie said...

Nifty neat little guys! I do love seeing them.

lisa said...

Hard to believe that they start out so small!

Anonymous said...

They really are SO small! How many will survive to get to the size of Pablo? They're going to love moving into PFHQ, and they'll probably dread going back to school at the end of summer, just like the students and teachers!

Maineteecha said...

Are prawns freshwater shrimp? What is the difference? I am a teacher from Maine who loves to come to your beloved Fl. spend my $ and enjoy your wildlife and SUNSHINE. Love your blog and check it often. -Maineteecha

R.Powers said...

3C,
I feel the same. I love watching them.

Lisa,
I know. And they grow so fast!

Robin,
I know I'll lose some, but I'm doing whet I can to get them to the finish line safely.

Mainteecha,
WELCOME to PF! Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoy PF!

Nature Coastee said...

Shades of "Sea Monkeys" when I was a youngun :-)

Caroline said...

We have one week left, I am making room for plants and extra aquarium at my house, plus all the kid artwork I have been gifted with this year. Pablo is quite the looker, even missing a blue claw.

R.Powers said...

Nature Coastee,
Yes, but these are more like "Sea Gorillas" when they grow up!

Caroline,
I hear ya. I have so much to "shut down" for the summer.