Female Cherry Shrimp dropped her eggs

[kurly]

I thought we would have baby red cherry shrimp soon but it looks like it won't happen because I just saw a clump of small eggs on the substrate of my tank. Everything checks out fine with the parameters so I am not sure why it happened. Oh well, hopefully the next go round will turn out better.

[Algenco]

bummer, wonder why?

[country_boy454]

My female ghost shrimp did the same thing...

[Fishalicious]

This happens quite a lot with younger female shrimp.. probably her first batch.. the next time it will go well and you will have a tank full of baby shrimp ;) It happens here a lot as well with the younger ladies...

[msjinkzd]

she also could have been molting while carrying the eggs...i have seen them drop them then. No worries, you should have more soon!

[kurly]

We did actually see her drop them. It was like she kept trying to hold onto them but eventually she just let them go. My son was excited because he could see all the eggs in a little clump. He thought they would "hatch". I had to explain to him that it wasn't a good thing for her to drop them like that because she actually lost them and there would be no little shrimps.
This was her first time because we got her when she was very young.

I need to do a water change today. Am I supposed to vac the little clump of eggs up?

[Fishalicious]

You can leave them if you want as the shrimp will eat the abandoned eggs...
Next time it will go great ... before you know it you will have hundreds <looks over to her own tank> :thumb:

If they have started breeding also she will be carrying eggs again sooner than you think :ezpi_wink1:

[kurly]

That was my next question Fishalicious.....How often do shrimps breed? Or, how long does it usually take for a shrimp to carry eggs again after she drops the previous ones?

[Fishalicious]

The female doesn't have much choice in it :ezpi_wink1: If a male 'jumps' her she can be carrying eggs again within a few days...

They carry the eggs for around 28 days before they hatch... be really careful with water changes once the little ones are born as they are really tiny tiny little shrimp which often get sucked away with cleaning... try to put the water you syphon out into a white bucket first so you can check for babies. Or tie a filter net around the syphon you get the water out with.

Also check your filter regularly as many shrimp end up in there but can survive in it for a long time... I check my filter every 2 weeks and I always find at least 10 -20 shrimp in there (all alive)

[kurly]

lol... male shrimps look like this when it comes to mating----> :18: Poor females huh?

Thanks for the info. I have a white bucket that I use for water changes so I'll be sure to check for baby shrimps whenever I do end up with them. I don't have to worry about the filter though because that has already been taken care of. I had to put a sponge on my filter because my fish were very tiny when I first got them and a few ended up getting sucked into the filter so I learned my lesson on that one.

[Algenco]

when the new batch of eggs develop you will see a light patch at the back of the head( Saddled), when she molts the eggs will be transfered to the swimerettes ( berried) depending on water temp they will in around 30 days

[kurly]

I've always wondered what the light patch meant. The other day I noticed the patch had turned dark. What does that mean? I have to keep my tank temperature around 78-79 because of the fish I have in the tank.

[richberstler]

I can't wait until my babies hatch. I occasionally see really small ones crawling about, but don't know if they were part of Algenco's shipment or new life to the tank.