[Allison]

I have a 14 gallon tank with a male betta, 3 mollies, a bamboo shrimp, and now I just brought home three ghost shrimp. (I think shrimp are cute.) I got the new ghosties to temperature then let them loose. Once they were no longer in a bag with print all over I noticed one of them is carrying little green eggs. They're a good size! I'm not sure what to do. I bought a morimba(?) moss ball for my tank which came in a lidded cup. For the moment I have the preggo shrimp in that cup floating in the tank. How close is she to having her babies? My friend told her kids about it now they want me to raise the baby shrimp for their tank so if I let the betta eat them I will be the devil to a 4 and 9 year olds, lol. I told then we'll have to see if any survive. I don't have another tank she can live in, would the floating cup work if I change out some water daily?


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[Allison]

I keep trying to attach the photo and I don't think it's working...

 

[KPainter]

It's my understanding that ghost shrimplets need brackish water to survive, so the chance of them getting beyond the egg stage is slim. I keep ghost shrimp in my big tank and they get eggy all the time but nothing ever comes of it.

 

[Allison]

Hmm, I may have to fib to the lil kiddos then. I don't really want to set up a breeding tank.


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[Allison]

OK, now that I am on the computer and not the app, here are pictures. How far along is she?

 

[Agent13]

I got a bunch the other day for dirt cheap at one of my lfs and about 8 of them were full of eggs. I considered for a sec setting up a breeding tnk for them then scraped that quickly. One day but not yet as they would likely die while my fish sitter was careing for them..which would coinside with when they were ready to need more care. However next shipment I get of blue velvets or blue tigers I surely will try to breed!

 

[thekoimaiden]

Ghost shrimp do NOT need brackish water to breed. (That is amano shrimp that need brackish.) Ghosts breed just fine in freshwater, but their life cycle isn't as easy as neocaridina or caridina (the most common ornamental shrimps). They go through a free-floating larval stage in which they filter-feed. If the tank is very mature (been set up for a year or so) and has live plants, there is a change some will survive past this stage, but most larval ghost shrimp won't.

The best way to tell if the eggs are ready to hatch is if you can see little eyeballs on the eggs. It's not something we would be able to tell from that picture as the eyes are very small. You would need a pretty good macro lens to pick them up.

 

[Allison]

Under fish tank photos I posted a bunch of macro shots, no eyes yet but pretty jade pearls!

 

[Allison]

 

[thekoimaiden]

Ya. No eyes yet. You can also tell when the eggs are about to hatch because the female will develop a saddle. Meaning her ovaries will swell with unfertilized eggs and they will show up as a saddle-like marking on her back.

 

[Allison]

Hmm, I'll post new macro shots when I see a change.

 

[KPainter]

Well, good to know about them not needing brackish water. I guess you could set up a breeding tank if you really wanted to.