Red Claw Macro, Alpha male issue

[pixl8r]

Hello everyone! This is my first post here, though I've been reading this forum for some time now.

As the subject states, I've a breeding tank of Red Claw macro shrimp, one adult male, two females. The shrimp have hatched two sets of babies now, and all has been well. Last night I noticed some different behavior from the male.

He's going about chasing the females, and babies. He doesn't do this constantly, but seems to get moody. I've checked the water parameters and all is well (no new additions or changes to their environment). Oh yes, he's also been compulsively moving gravel around his 'home'.

I'm wondering, should I move him to another tank? Or is this something not to be concerned about.

Thanks!

[Mustafa]

I would not worry about it. Macros display much more "complicated" behavioral patterns than dwarf shrimp. They are more cichlid-like. However, unless you have a huge tank I would try to separate out the females that are about to "drop" young into a separate tank for hatching purposes. You should then move them back to the main tank after hatching. This way you can maximize survival of the young as the older shrimp do tend to eat the young if they can catch them. This, of course, only works if you have an extra tank available.

[pixl8r]

Thanks Mustafa.

I've already done that, and the young have grown substantially. They are already showing signs of being territorial so I'm going to split the population between a 15g and 20g tanks.