My first berried shrimp!

[NYCShrimp]

Hi everyone!!!

I am very very very excited to announce that I have my first berried shrimp! I am also pretty sure there may be more on the way.

I want to thank all you guys for your help when I had a surprising die-off, and for your suggestions when I was upgrading my tank a few months ago. It seems like everything has gone smoothly and everyone has settled in nicely. I pop a tiny piece of algae wafer in once a month or so, have a small 10W heater, and otherwise just top off the water. Laissez faire is definitely the way to go with these guys.

If I get enough of a population going, I think I'm going to build little aquariums out of those Crystal Head Vodka Skull bottles! Of course I'll post photos.

Anyway, here's my berried shrimp mamma:

[Varanus]

Congratulations! Looks like she has a fairly large batch of eggs on her. Here's hoping they all get carried to term.

[JennyPenny]

Very cool!! That looks like a lot of eggs. Let us know how it goes!

[NYCShrimp]

Oh, you guys will certainly get plenty of updates! I'll try to bust of my husband's fancy camera with the Macro lens, too, to get some better photos.

So I've got to wait about a month? Oof...

[KenCotigirl]

Great news. That is one large batch of eggs.

[Mustafa]

Congrats!

[NYCShrimp]

Well, she already dropped several of her eggs, so the batch is much smaller now. It looks like she's still hanging on to 6 or 7

I expected this since the tank is still relatively new and I just got the majority of my shrimp almost exactly 2 months ago. They seem to be enjoying the warmer weather, so I expect more berried females and better luck in the future! It's a pretty new tank, so I'm surprised I even have a berried shrimp in the first place.

[tooth]

Very nice! It took my shrimp 6 months or so to start breeding. I've had a few dropped eggs as well. Bummer.
Brad

[KenCotigirl]

It is unknown to me why but it does seem the first berried shrimp in a new tank drops all or most of her eggs. It has happened to me also. I would not let it concern you but it is disappointing.

[NYCShrimp]

Well, sadly, mamma shrimp #1 has dropped all but 2 of her eggs.

That said, right now there is another female shrimp with stretched out swimmerets and the males are going nuts! Also, about 5 other females seem to have very developed saddles, so I'm hoping for some better luck in the near future.

Still excited!

Question: my tank is due for a top-up. Is this OK to do when the shrimp clearly seem to be in breeding mode? I don't want to disturb too much.

[Varanus]

Question: my tank is due for a top-up. Is this OK to do when the shrimp clearly seem to be in breeding mode? I don't want to disturb too much.

If you want minimal water disturbance you could try getting some thin airline tubing and using it to siphon the new water into the tank at a slow and steady rate.

[NYCShrimp]

Well, my first berried shrimp ended up dropping all of her eggs, which was unfortunate but not unexpected for a new tank.

THAT SAID! When I turned on the light this morning, I noticed 6 little larvae floating around, and a momma shrimp holding about 4 or 5 more!!! I didn't even see her over the last month, so I suspect she must have hidden in the lava rocks the entire time. I also got a brand new kitten, so I've been checking the tank a little less obsessively than usual.

I'm hoping some of these guys survive, but I know that larvae in new tanks may have a hard time sometimes, too, so I won't get my hopes up too much. Of course, I'll keep y'all updated.

[NYCShrimp]

Definitely counting 11 little floaty guys, and it seems they've all made it for 3 days so far. So cool!!!!

[Varanus]

Awesome! Hope things continue to go well.

[NYCShrimp]

Well, all 11 are still bobbing along, and they will be a week old on Monday. When do they become benthic?