First Tank

[skittymars]

I cleaned the front of the tank glass. The diatoms (brown algae) stuck to the glass harder than I thought they would. I thought it would easily come off, but i had to use a tooth brush and scrub pretty vigorously. Next time I will be more prepared with a metal algae scraper. But I can finally see inside the tank again, but the water is looking pretty brownish from all of the diatoms and algae that was taken off from the front glass.

Are these the beginning signs of females becoming berried? If so, how long before the eggs migrate to the outside?

The one on the bottom

[KenCotigirl]

Sorry that I cannot answer your question about females producing eggs. If these were freshwater shrimp the answer would be yes but for these? I showed similar pictures to one of Dr. Santos' research students and he said the dark area was part of their digestive system. Their ovaries are more in the head area. If I find the old email I will post it.

Ken

[Mustafa]

Sorry that I cannot answer your question about females producing eggs. If these were freshwater shrimp the answer would be yes but for these? I showed similar pictures to one of Dr. Santos' research students and he said the dark area was part of their digestive system. Their ovaries are more in the head area. If I find the old email I will post it.

Ken

Nah...those are eggs being produced in the ovaries. The student just didn't know. But it's still hard to say when those eggs will actually end up being carried.

As for nerites..they don't really eat the course sheet forming (and then peeling)algae at all. The specialize on biofilm forming algae that stay flush with the surface and don't form thick mats. The brackish water snails on the other will eventually eat the course stuff, but they don't really put a dent into the really tough green algae that that tends to grow on the glass ("green spot algae"), which, in turn the nerites like to eat. But either way, over time the algae problem shouldn't be an issue with the the right feeding regiment and things like macroalgae or "Supershrimp mossballs" around. They get outcompeted.

Skittymars...I noticed that you have very excessive algae growth for a newly established tank. There must have been lots of organic waste/nutrients somewhere along the line in your setup. It reminds me of how the tank of another of our forum members ("tooth") looked like when he started out. This means you don't have to feed for a very, very long time. Tooth hasn't fed anything ever...in years..and his shrimp have been reproducing like clockwork. It's worth reading his thread...he just posted again.

[skittymars]

The excessive algae growth was probably from the fish pellets that I put into the tank to help with the cycling process. I have not fed the shrimps since I got them. They seem to be doing very well and growing quite large since I got them 6 weeks ago. The macro-algae I got from you has also doubled or tripled in size. Even some of the macro-algae that broke apart and loose are also starting to grow and establish their own clump.

What surprises me the most is that the snails I got from you are nowhere to be seen. I wonder if they're all dead. Seems strange.

On another note, I witnessed the most bizarre thing two weeks ago with one of the Opae-Ula. It seemed like it was doing this weird dance for about 2 minutes and I was able to catch the last minute on video. If you watch the youtube video you will see the shrimp just floating vertically in place inside the sunken battleship and about every 10 seconds or so it would turn from one side to the other in place. I haven't witnessed any of the other shrimps doing it, but this happened as the lights went off before I turned in for the night. Has anyone else seen this? Is it their mating dance?

Opae Ula dance
https://youtu.be/FtltMKgfZGY

[Varanus]

If I were to speculate, perhaps it was getting ready to shed its skin? Crustaceans often use jerky motions to free themselves of their old skin.

[KenCotigirl]

I agree with Varanus. A prelude to molting. I have been lucky to see shrimp molt. The ones I have seen bend in half and pop out the top. Happens quickly.

Ken

[Mustafa]

Glad things are going well!

What surprises me the most is that the snails I got from you are nowhere to be seen. I wonder if they're all dead. Seems strange.

These are burrowing snails, so they're probably in the substrate munching on natural food and growing. You'll start seeing them at a much bigger size at some point. And you'll also see babies around that time or shortly after. It may take some time though. The only time you can be sure that one of these snails is dead is when a shell has been in the same spot for weeks.

On another note, I witnessed the most bizarre thing two weeks ago with one of the Opae-Ula. It seemed like it was doing this weird dance for about 2 minutes and I was able to catch the last minute on video. If you watch the youtube video you will see the shrimp just floating vertically in place inside the sunken battleship and about every 10 seconds or so it would turn from one side to the other in place. I haven't witnessed any of the other shrimps doing it, but this happened as the lights went off before I turned in for the night. Has anyone else seen this? Is it their mating dance?

Opae Ula dance
https://youtu.be/FtltMKgfZGY

I agree with Ken and Varanus...you were observing a molting event. The "skin" was probably attached to the roof of the cave still after the shrimp popped out.

[Edwin]

Hi skitty. How are your plants holding in the brackish water? They surviving? What plants are those?

[Mustafa]

Hi skitty. How are your plants holding in the brackish water? They surviving? What plants are those?

Those are plastic/artificial plants.

[skittymars]

They are plastic plants. The only live "plants" that I have are the Macro Algae from Mustafa. The Macro-Algae are doing great. It has increased in size by 3x/4x times since I got them about 4 months ago.

[skittymars]

Looking at my tank this evening and I was surprised to find my first berried female since I got the shrimps back in January. Too hard to tell how many eggs she's carrying. How many weeks before they are released? I still have not fed the shrimps anything.

[Keystone]

Nice camera work skittymars! Congrats on the expectant mother

[KenCotigirl]

If memory serves I believe it takes about 35 days till the shrimp hatch. Obviously you are doing a good job. Keep those pictures coming.

Ken

[skittymars]

so far I've seen at least 4 or 5 different pregnant females since my May 9th. They all seem to be taking turns 1 at a time it seems. is this normal? It seems like most of these new mothers are dropping the majority of the eggs before they hatch. But after waiting for more than a month, I was surprised to see some babies floating up and down a few days ago. I was able to count a total of 5.

[JennyPenny]

It's very common for new moms to drop many or all of their eggs. It can take them some practice to learn to carry the eggs. Don't worry, the next time they are berried they will do much better.
I had several months without any berried again, then within about a week, I had at least 8 shrimp carrying eggs. Your tank and shrimp sound perfectly fine. Congratulations on the larvae! They are really cute.