Red Cherry Shrimp Mystery

alikhanweb · Post by **alikhanweb** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 5:21 am

I have a 10G tank with around 15 Red Cherry Shrimp. The mystery is that my red cherry shrimp population is gradually increasing but I can't spot any egg carrying females. I see females that are intensely red with a almost white backline but I can't spot any eggs. I count the young shrimp and that number keeps going up but no eggs to be seen.
Are these females hiding? Am I not looking in the right place? What am I missing?

Starringme · Post by **Starringme** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 6:49 am

Erm.. I think the "almost white backline... IS the eggs... Hmm... Wonder if I'm right...

alikhanweb · Post by **alikhanweb** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 7:23 am

I was under the impression that you could see the yellow eggs in the female's stomach. Maybe I am wrong but if you are correct then I have quite a few females running around with eggs.

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:43 am

For one, females with eggs try to hide as much as possible when they carry eggs, so they are harder to spot. Also, your intensely red females are probably carrying eggs, but you are not able to spot the eggs because the red gets so intense that the yellow eggs do not shine through anymore and are hidden behind the red coloration. If you look really closely, you'll still see them.

Mustafa