No longer lurking

[03amida]

The order of shrimp arrived April 6th and I was able to add them to the tank on April 8th, about 4 days after I noticed a speck of green algae! So my timeline for this tank was:

January 14th was the day the tank was set up.

April 4th was the day I noticed a spot of algae, approximately 10 days after snails and mossball were added.

The next morning that spot of algae exploded to cover the surface of the water in the tank!

April 8th the shrimp were added and spent the day zooming around the tank as pale as could be. I should note that when the shipment arrived all shrimp were alive.

April 10th all the shrimp calmed down and some are already a wonderful red color.

On the 11th I saw something white in the sea fan and was afraid it was the dreaded hair algae. When I turned the tank for a better look it dropped a little. That’s when I realized it was a molt!

Also it looks like one of the shrimp has a yellow color to it. I tried to get a good picture of it but these little guys are fast!

[i<3Opae]

Wonderful news! That was a nice pic of the molt. Have you noticed more molts? It seems that they shed whenever they get disrupted, so at the end of a trip would warrant some molts!

That is def an orangish shrimp, very cool!

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the post! That lighter colored shrimp will most likely turn red at some point. Some shrimp go through these lighter colored phases. It's not a "true" orange or yellow colored shrimp.

[03amida]

Mustafa: darn, I was hoping I got lucky! Honestly the range of colors from white/pale pink to crimson. I think my mossball is budding.

I<3Opae: yes I have seen more molts, the most recent being today! Most of the little guys seem to like molting on the sea fan. I saw one swimming mid molt but wasn’t fast enough to get a picture of it.

The algae that was on the surface of the water has been eaten but I’m noticing green spots on the lion’s paw shell so I’m not worried about food. I haven’t fed this tank once and have only needed to top off once since January.

[03amida]

I have a new date to add to my tank timeline: July 2nd I noticed my first berried shrimp!! I am so jazzed right now!!

So that makes it a total of 85 days (12 weeks and 1 day) from introducing the shrimp to the tank to my first shrimp mama.

I’m beginning to think I fed them when I didn’t need too. Right around Memorial Day I noticed that they were all super pale and swimming around frantically. I had noticed a decrease in algae and assumed that they were struggling to find food and that was stressing them. I broke an algae pellet into the tiniest piece possible and once they found it they were practically fighting over it. Gone within the hour. The next day color had returned and activity was high but not as bad and the following day everything returned to normal.

I was able to watch mama push a couple eggs out onto her underside which was really cool. I’ve been able to see distinct eggs in the saddle of another shrimp so maybe I will have more news soon.

The weather has been in the 60’s until this week when it has bounced around from lower 60 to upper 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

[03amida]

So I came into work today to a wonderful sight: shrimp babies!! Since I just noticed the mama this month she must have been hiding earlier on.

I noticed a second berried female on July 12th, but when I returned from vacation on the 22nd she had dropped all but 3 eggs. Today she is down to 2. I know this is a common occurrence for first time shrimp mamas but I was still sad for the loss.

I’m going to get a magnifying glass over the weekend and then let my coworkers know about the new arrivals. They are so tiny that I don’t want them thinking I’m imagining things.

[Dch48]

One of mine berried after only 45 days in the tank but she lost all of the eggs within 2 days after that.

[Mustafa]

Congratulations!! How are the babies doing? And, yes, your mossball is in the process of budding.

[03amida]

Mustafa: not only are the babies from August doing well, but in March I had 3 berried shrimp! It is so nice seeing them bob around in the tank. I tried to get a picture of the newest babies and the juveniles as I’m sure you like knowing the shrimp you once cared for are happy and healthy.