Unknown eggs

filishy · Post by **filishy** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:23 am

Good morning everyone!

I have been finding in the last couple of weeks, some egg clusters that I thought belonged to my cherries but that I now know, they don't.

They look like a miniature grape bunch. Their color is creamy yellow and the whole bunch measures around 1 cm.

And no, they are not snail eggs. The snails that inhabit this tank are your regular, brown plant snails that lay their eggs ina mucus-like case which is transparent.

Has anyone else ever seen or heard of anything like this?

Any input would be appreciated for while I like creatures reproducing in my tanks, I would feel better knowing what kind of creatures are we talking about.

Thank you.

Evan · Post by **Evan** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:40 am

What do you have in your tank? Maybe your shrimp are dropping the eggs.

filishy · Post by **filishy** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:49 am

HI,

My tank has a bunch of tiny endeler's fry, regular snails and 17 cherry shrimps. That's it. I emailed Mustafa and he explained to me that when shrimps discard their eggs, the eggs get eaten right away so... it can't be the shrimps.

Can't be the snails either so... I'm kind of confused...

Thanks anyway, Evan.

Maria.

Evan · Post by **Evan** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:13 am

maybe the snails have a nutrient defentioncy(spelling) and are unable to to create the mucous sack. Also maybe you find they eggs before they're devoured.

filishy · Post by **filishy** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:34 am

Well, unfortunately for me Evan I don't think that the snails that live in the tank have any problems at all... I keep finding those little transparent sacks everywhere

.

In terms of the second alternative you post... I guess it could be but I am not inclined to think so. The reason is simple; I have seen the clusters for hours before I get the chance to remove them. What I mean is, I check my tanks in the morning before I go to work. At that time, I may spot a cluster. However, it is not until evening when I am able to remove it for I have little time in the morning to do such a thing. If they were shrimp eggs, the shrimps would have plenty of time to eat them.

So... I don't know...

I am researching over the internet and posting the same message in other forums (plantedtank.net, is one...) because I know some people there that keep shrimps in their tanks. Maybe someone does know what these critters are.

Thanks again, Evan.

Maria.

Evan · Post by **Evan** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:14 am

Just wait till they hatch. I was thinking......maybe they're plant seeds. My java ferns have bulbs that go around the tank.

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 10:15 am

Maria,

Can you possibly take some pictures of these eggs you are talking about?

That might help. They are definitely not shrimp eggs.

Take care,
Mustafa

filishy · Post by **filishy** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:24 am

Yes,

I was thinking the same thing. I will try tonight first, to locate another cluster and if I do, i'll take a pic of it and post it tomorrow. I've been researching over the net... might be Daphnia eggs, Cyclops eggs... we'll see.

And no, they are not plant seeds. The plants in the tanks are java ferns (the spores are different than these clusters...) and several echinodorus that propagate through adventitious plantlets, not through seeds.

Bummer....

Thanks a lot.

M.

51Cornell · Post by **51Cornell** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:04 pm

Do they look anything like the eggs your Red shrimp carry? When we first got our Red Cherries, two of the females did abort the eggs they were carrying--in little gold piles on the driftwood. We don't have fish in the tank but we do have a lot of large ramshorn and pond snails in there (and other Reds, of course). Those little piles stayed there all day, they were still there in the morning but then sometime during the next day they did disappeared. It was odd, the other shrimp would go over and "touch" the little piles but then go shooting off as though they were horrified or something.

When we got new tiger shrimp carrying eggs, the females aborted in the bag and in the tank when we first put them in--and the other tiger shrimp ate all the eggs immediately.

filishy · Post by **filishy** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 12:51 pm

Unfortunately, I was not able to locate any egg clusters last night... figures...

I'll be on the lookout for them and post as soon as I locate another one... if I do.

M.