Exciting day today after two and a half months since I got my shrimp I see my first berried shrimp. I took a picture with the cell phone so the picture is not so good. Looks like she's carrying eight eggs. I know a female carries her eggs for about 30 to 38 days. Once her eggs become visible to the naked eye does anyone know where that is along her cycle of carrying the eggs? I'm hoping it might be the last week or so.
I have about 70 adult shrimp. They all look healthy, feeding just fine and look very red. They are in a five gallon so plenty of room and space. I find it interesting that only one shrimp is carrying eggs and not more. Would anyone know the answer to that?
Thanks!
Great news on the berried shrimp. If I understand your question correctly you should see changes in the eggs 25-30 days from now. The eggs take a two toned color. The day she releases them the larvae will have elongated. I have found she does not release all the larvae at once. They are released over several hours to a day in my experience.
I do not know what induces the shrimp to berry. They are not like the popular cherry shrimp that seem to berry monthly. Maybe since they live a much longer life they berry less often. If your population is half female and they berry only once a year you could have three berry in a month. Since the larvae have a very high survival rate that could translate to twenty new shrimp a month and 240 a year. High density does not seem to slow down their reproduction. Long story short do not worry and enjoy.
I'm not sure what you mean by "once the eggs become visible", but here is some info: Eggs take 30-35 days to hatch (depending on temperature). The larvae float around for about 15 days (give or take, again, depending on temperature) before they turn into "mini-shrimp" (postlarvae).
