I guess I am doing something right

sprucansailor · Post by **sprucansailor** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 8:32 pm

One of my ghosties is full of eggs! But I am not sure what to do in order to save some of the babies.

She is in a community shrimp/fish setup, and the plants have not yet grown enought to provide a whole lot of cover.

Can I safly move her to my cycled 5 gallon fry tank? I would move the fry (guppy, mollies, 1 unidentified) to my QT tank if necessary. I am just not sure if the stress of catching her would cause her to "miscarry" for lack of a better term.

How long will she hold on to the eggs before depositing them?

Thanks

Branden

Bradimus · Post by **Bradimus** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:09 pm

Ghosts are one of the harder freshwater shrimps to breed. The larvae are very small and require extremely fine food. There is a good chance that they will starve before becoming little shrimp. Mine feed on an established population of infusoria in their tank. They can be feed well-ground (think mortar and pestle) flakes, poweder egg yolk (boil it first), and fry foods like Liquifry or Golden Pearls.

Since they go through a short planktonic stage, they are likely to be eaten by any fish in the tank. During this time, they are free-floating and unable to hide.

Moving the mother may cause her to drop her eggs.

How long will she hold on to the eggs before depositing them?

Until they hatch, about 3 weeks.

beckypyyeung · Post by **beckypyyeung** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 5:54 am

Please see if my way of moving the shrimps can minimize stress:

Get a plastic container (like the size of a cup or bigger), net the shrimp (don't remove it from water), put the plastic container into the water near the net, make/ wait the shrimp go into the container, then move it to somewhere else without drying it at all. But remember : Make sure the water temperature of both tanks is the same. Do everything quietly.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 8:03 am

Yes, that's a good way, Becky.

I personally just use the net if I have to move shrimp around, even if they are carrying eggs. So far I have not observed any adverse effects.

Mustafa

beckypyyeung · Post by **beckypyyeung** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 5:45 pm

Shop keepers here say that pregnant shrimps "embrace" their eggs between their legs outside their bodies when in fact I can see the eggs inside their transparent abdomen. What they say sounds incredible. I've asked myself, "Will it be too tiring for them to "embrace" the eggs around that way?" But for safety sake, I dared not dry them out.

retardo · Post by **retardo** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 1:08 am

as far as i can tell, the eggs are outside the body of the shrimp on its swimmerettes, which are hidden under the "abdomen" and clearly visible. i would imagine that the eggs have some kind of cohesive compound that binds it to the mother's body until it's ready to hatch and/or hatches. that's just my take. i don't have a complete understanding of shrimp biology. any out there know for certain?

Bradimus · Post by **Bradimus** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 7:06 am

retardo wrote:as far as i can tell, the eggs are outside the body of the shrimp on its swimmerettes, which are hidden under the "abdomen" and clearly visible.

This is correct. The carapace of female shrimp extends down past the fleshy part of her tail to help protect the eggs. This can create the illusion the the eggs are carried internally.

sprucansailor · Post by **sprucansailor** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:49 pm

Does the female get rid of unfertilized eggs? I noticed a second ghostie had some eggs yesterday, and today she only has 3.

Is there anyway to tell the difference between a fertilized and unfertilized egg?

Thanks

Branden

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 8:01 pm

sprucansailor wrote:Does the female get rid of unfertilized eggs?

--I have never seen single unfertilized eggs with shrimp. Either all of them are fertilized because there was a male around, or all of them are unfertilized and the female drops them. More observation is needed in this area though...

I noticed a second ghostie had some eggs yesterday, and today she only has 3.

--If you have a male in the tank then the eggs were probably fertilized but dropped for some reason. Young females tend to drop eggs when they are carrying for the first time, but it could be some other reason.

Mustafa

sprucansailor · Post by **sprucansailor** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:05 pm

I tested my params earlier and the were all good to go. Ammo 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4. She must be a young one, I dont think she is full grown.

I moved the pregnant ghostie, the one that has oodles of eggs, to my fry tank today. I will move out the fry in about 2 weeks as long as she still has her eggs. The fry tank has a sponge filter and some live plants.

Thanks!

Branden

EDIT (Beckyp, I used your idea about just putting her in a cup of water and transferring tanks. It was a little difficult to catch her, but I think it was worth the effort! Thanks!!)

beckypyyeung · Post by **beckypyyeung** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:33 am

Hi Sprucansailor,

Very glad to hear that you find my the netting method invented by me workable.

Becky