August 20 (Day 31) - we have hatching!!!! It is the two egg female. There is only one baby under her but it has hatched. This should mean that the one with many eggs shouldn't be too far behind. I don't see any floaters so I'm assuming she only had the one egg left but they are soooo tiny it is possible I just don't see the other one yet.
August 23 (Day 34) - the first floater. Looks like it took the two egg female 3 days to release the fry that hatched on the 20th.
Here’s a photo:
I still haven’t seen the other female, that has lots of eggs, for the past 4 or 5 days. I’m thinking she is hiding and should release a bunch the next couple of days.
Can't wait to see if I get any floaters. I have 2 shrimp with 10-12 eggs each and another one that only has one. It's only been a week since I first saw the eggs though. It happened 6 weeks after the first batch of shrimp went in. The only visible algae in the tank is the macro.
DCH48 good luck with the eggs. It’s hard to look everyday to see if they still are carrying, especially when they are first time mom’s. But it looks like it takes around 30-35 days before they hatch and are then released at 72 deg f. But getting berried shrimp after only 6 weeks is great, apparently your conditions were to their liking. Mine took 1 year and 7 months to get there!
August 27 (Day 38) - still only one little floater. Hoping that the one shrimp with many eggs will be hatching out. I haven’t seen her or the newly berried shrimp for well over a week.
Here’s a picture of my 5 gal tank (this shows how small the floater is in relation to the tank) and a closeup of the little guy hanging out on the front glass:
August 30 (Day 41) - still the one lonely floater. I’m starting to lose hope for the female that had many eggs. I would think by now there should be many floaters if they had hatched. Possibly the eggs weren’t fertile but since she had kept them for 30+ days I assumed they were good. Well this was the first batch for both of these shrimp so at least there is one that made it to the floating stage. And he is doing very well, moving around alot and each day seems to have a little more control of his movements. I also have another berried female that is over a week along, so maybe she’ll have a little better luck.
try close all light, use torch light beam it at the side tank. Observe properly for any small particle movement.
From my opae, not all eggs will float, some will just stay at the bottom but they just really loves going towards light. Try it and let us know.
Last edited by MrsT on Fri Aug 30, 2019 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MrsT thank you very much for the suggestion. I will definitely try it tonight and see if anyone shows up. I am glad you responded because I thought they ALL floated after they were released from the mother.
On another note I just looked in on the shrimp and there are two molts and lots of shrimp visible and active (usually I only see a few at any one time). This might mean more berried females in the morning!
JoeG wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:22 pm
MrsT thank you very much for the suggestion. I will definitely try it tonight and see if anyone shows up. I am glad you responded because I thought they ALL floated after they were released from the mother.
On another note I just looked in on the shrimp and there are two molts and lots of shrimp visible and active (usually I only see a few at any one time). This might mean more berried females in the morning!
Ahh alright , once berried happened it will be on going with the rest of the adult females, at least for me that was the case.
MrsT I did the flashlight trick last night and the only baby to show up was the floater. It was amazing, I would shine the light at one part of the tank and within a minute that little guy would show up and go right to the light like it was a magnet. Then I would shine it somewhere else and within a minute there he was again. It was pretty good how fast he could travel around the tank, and yes I’m pretty sure that it was the same one. Also some of the larger shrimp would come over and go right to the light. So it looks like I only got one survivor from the first two shrimp to breed, but its definitely a start and it was a long wait to get this far. The shrimp are still active this morning so I’m guessing that there will be more breeding soon. Thanks again for the support.
JoeG wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 3:00 am
MrsT I did the flashlight trick last night and the only baby to show up was the floater. It was amazing, I would shine the light at one part of the tank and within a minute that little guy would show up and go right to the light like it was a magnet. Then I would shine it somewhere else and within a minute there he was again. It was pretty good how fast he could travel around the tank, and yes I’m pretty sure that it was the same one. Also some of the larger shrimp would come over and go right to the light. So it looks like I only got one survivor from the first two shrimp to breed, but its definitely a start and it was a long wait to get this far. The shrimp are still active this morning so I’m guessing that there will be more breeding soon. Thanks again for the support.
Ohh that little survival must be lonely, sorry about that. I'm sure you'll get another berried again soon.
Yes they are really adorable creatures. I suspect it probably due to strong light that installs it above tank top, people will more likely to see floaters. If the light is weak they will still float but not all of them. For my case, I don't use light, I left them outdoor where sunlight reach them only in the morning for 3 hours, they always hang out to the side tank bottom towards that sunlight direction. Pretty cute :)Oh you are most welcome
Sep 1 (Day 43)-Well we have three floaters this morning! The original little guy (who is a lot bigger, relatively speaking) and two new ones. I wonder if these two are from the original female with the many eggs that we first saw 43 days ago or if there was another female that I never saw. Whichever it is I am very happy that they are here.
JoeG wrote: ↑Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:44 am
Sep 1 (Day 43)-Well we have three floaters this morning! The original little guy (who is a lot bigger, relatively speaking) and two new ones. I wonder if these two are from the original female with the many eggs that we first saw 43 days ago or if there was another female that I never saw. Whichever it is I am very happy that they are here.
Sep 2 (Day 44) - woke up to 12 floaters! Last night before I went to bed I saw a female with a lot of hatched fry clinging to her. I’m wondering if this is the mother with lots of eggs that I first noticed 44 days ago. Most of the comments I’ve read say they carry the eggs for around 30 days but could it be more like 40 days? The temperature in the tank holds pretty steady at 72 deg.
I'd say full term 30 days when you witness her eggs lowered to her swimmerets 1st day, otherwise its a hit or miss by 1 or 2 days not much.
I don't think the temperature effecting the berried that much but it does effect their colors.
Mine usually a bit pale when it's 82 degree but they turn to reddish when the my weather around 94 degree.
try close all light, use torch light beam it at the side tank. Observe properly for any small particle movement.
, once berried happened it will be on going with the rest of the adult females, at least for me that was the case.
that little survival must be lonely, sorry about that. I'm sure you'll get another berried again soon.
