Ghost Shrimp Pregnancy

AiWen · Post by **AiWen** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:13 pm

Hi. I would like to know if my female Ghost Shrimp is carrying fertile or sterile eggs. There are about 5 other ghost shrimp in the tank so there should be at least 1 male if not more. I think Ghost Shrimp only carry eggs once they've spawned. However, somebody told me they can carry eggs even if there is not males in the tank, similar to female Apple Snails who can lay sterile eggs with no male in the tank. Here's a picture of the female:

As of now, she is in a 10g jungle tank with a few other Ghost Shrimp and 7 1/2 inch Black Molly fry. The tank looks like this except with more plants now:

I think I will isolate her, but I'm not too sure. I've read that I should isolate her in a solid colored 1 or 2 gallon tupperware tank so the shrimplets have a chance to survive. The solid color tupperware is so that the shrimplets won't jam themselves into the sides like they would if it were a transparent glass/acrylic tank.

Any suggestions or addition tips for a shrimp newbie like me?

Thanks in advance!

TKD · Post by **TKD** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:53 pm

Welcome to the board.

Well I see eyes in the eggs so I think it is safe to say that the eggs are fertile.

I'm not sure about were to put her though.

TKD

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:15 am

Welcome to the board!

If the eggs are not fertile, they will drop the eggs after a few days.

You MUST isolate here as the other shrimp & mollies will gobble upthe larva. After the hatch you must remove her as well or she'll eat them.

You need micro food to feed the babies. Seach our "golden pearls"

AiWen · Post by **AiWen** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:02 am

Thank you for the replies. I spawn bettas as a hobbies so I have plenty of golden pearls and bbs for them to chow on. Is 100 microns too small or just right?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:25 pm

100 would probably work, but I use the 300-500 micron. You don't need much as they morph to shimp in under a week. Water quality is your biggest issue.

Pugio · Post by **Pugio** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:39 pm

Great pic! Could you please give more info on where you got these shrimp or where they came from?

I am also trying to breed a Palaemonetes species (P. pugio) and would very much like to see pics of your newly hatched shrimp - if/when possible. I agree that two hurdles that need to be overcome are 1) isolating the female to protect the newly hatched shrimp from being eaten by your fish and 2) preventing the female itself from eating its own offspring - requiring some ingenuity.

In my humble opinion, I think the reflections are from the egg surfaces and not from retinas. My guess is that you have some time (maybe up to 2 weeks since photo) before the "post"-larvae are fully developed (and finalize retinal development). Eggs start cloudy and then clear as development of the larva proceeds. The eggs in pic still look cloudy to me. But predicting hatches is a crapshoot...I've been off by 3 days using retinal development as a marker.

I agree if the eggs are not fertilized they will not be retained by the female. It's my understanding that only fertilized eggs stimulate the female to produce complete "embryonic coats" - which functions as the glue that holds them onto the pleopods - and has antimicrobial and gas-exchange benefits: http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/192/2/231 . But then again I dunno if this is true for Palaemonetes species without an extended larval stage...such as yours may be (P. paludosus?).

AiWen · Post by **AiWen** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:33 pm

Thanks Pugio! I bought 12 of these shrimp in a local pet store. They were labeled and sold as feeder Ghost Shrimp and there was a tank full of them. I bought around 10 and place them in this tank. Some died off or molted, not sure. Now there are about 6 or 7 or 8 left.

I don't really understand these terms "retinas" and all that, but I will continue to update

And yes, I have read about female juggling the eggs in the swimmerettes so they are well oxygenated. Here are two more pictures:

They are quite big. Sorry about that, it's just easier to see the eggs when the dimensions are larger. I'll resize if it's too much.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:55 pm

Great pics! Those are eye spots for sure. Hatch will be in just a few days.

Pea-brain · Post by **Pea-brain** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:46 pm

I am pretty sure that a female will hold eggs for a while the first time she is berried regardless of whether or not they are fertilized. If they are not then she will drop them in a week or two. After that she will drop eggs if they are not fertilized. I read this in a few different places, so i think that is true, but not positive. Good luck though!

AiWen · Post by **AiWen** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:27 pm

Haven't hatched yet, but I just found yet another berried female in the 10g. Both are now in a newly set up 10g just filled up with 3 gallons of water and has a good bunch of floating hornwort for larvae and shrimp.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:36 pm

Thanks for the life-sized photos! I can actually see the clear details. The hornwort will give the young hiding spaces from the mother, sometimes she will eat them

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:24 pm

I agree. Be prepared for large losses if you do not separate the larva from the adults. Set up another 10 gallon tank for a nursery.

AiWen · Post by **AiWen** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:17 pm

I don't understand what you mean. This 10g filled with 3 gallons is going to be the nursery for the larva when they hatch. In this 10g, there are 2 berried female ghost shrimp, a bunch of hornwort, and that's it. The other 10g is where the other ghost shrimp and mollie fry are. BTW, I will be sure to remove the adult once the eggs have hatched.

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:52 pm

Hello Aiwen,

Welcome to the forum!

Do you have any reason why you filled up the 10 gallon tank with only 3 gallons besides being able to find the larvae more easily? The more water, the more stable the water parameters so I would fill up the whole tank. However, it all might be in vain as don't seem to have cycled the tank. Unless your hornwort is growing like crazy (for which it will need some kind of fertilization and light) your larvae won't survive. There will be ammonia in the water even if your test kit shows zero. Tiny amounts are enough to kill. Just a tip.

AiWen · Post by **AiWen** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:17 pm

I read that the bigger the tank, the less chance of larva survive because they cannot find the food. People keep recommending I isolate the females in a 2g or 3g tank so there is no different with the 10g in this case, IMO. I am also removing and replacing 1 gallon of water a day so that should be enough to keep the levels down. I can add a seed sponge filter, how's that sound?