Question about a berried female

[allisonnorberg]

Hello! I have had my Supershrimp for almost a year now (got them last August) and I finally have my first berried female!!! I am so excited and don’t want to mess this up! However, after doing some reading on some other posts in this forum, I found that it’s best to disturb the berried females as little as possible as to prevent them from dropping their eggs. I have not disturbed my tank AT ALL since having my shrimp (minus the lid accidentally falling into the tank one time and the occasional distilled water top off) and I still have all 20 shrimp I ordered. However, right now my tank is at the point where it needs a top off with some distilled water to maintain salinity. Whenever I pour new water in, it does disturb the shrimps a little (they just swim around frantically for a bit), but now that I have a berried female I’m worried the water top off will disturb her enough to drop her eggs.

So my question is, can I top off the water or should I just let it continue to get lower so as not to disturb my momma shrimp?

Thank you in advance!!

[Malikta]

I try to stay away from feeding while my shrimp are berried but if you need water, try filling a plastic cup, laying it on its side on the waters surface and slowly emptying it. I pick a corner and wait for the coast to be clear. Maybe just put enough water to get by. Best wishes!

[allisonnorberg]

I try to stay away from feeding while my shrimp are berried but if you need water, try filling a plastic cup, laying it on its side on the waters surface and slowly emptying it. I pick a corner and wait for the coast to be clear. Maybe just put enough water to get by. Best wishes!

Thank you so much for your response, I will try this!

[Varanus]

Also, my impression has been that even if they are undisturbed its not unusual for first time berried females to drop all or most of their eggs. So don't worry too much even if it does happen.

[allisonnorberg]

Thank you for your responses guys!

I got back from my trip a couple days ago and I now have another berried female! No egg drops yet so I’m assuming that’s a good sign that maybe they will keep them?

[SuperProofer]

If you need water, you could also use a turkey blaster. Fill it with water then stick the nozzel up against the glass in one corner and let it just gently flow down.