Cherry Shrimp with Black Eggs?

[kimkeat]

Thanks Fullraid. Any particular parameters I should check?

I bought a Boyu digital thermometer for $6 a few days ago. It showed 28 to 29C initially during the day but it has been showing 34 to 35C for the past two days. Most likely the thermometer is spoilt as my living room thermometer is showing 29 to 30C and the tank is in the middle of the living room, far away from windows. I don't intend to invest in chiller yet as it is expensive and costly to maintain too. Maybe I should buy a fan? I saw a small fan selling at $40, made in Japan. It stated 4C on the packaging. The rest I don't understand as it is Japanese. Does it mean it could reduce the water temperature by 4C? Possible? Will the high temperature affect the eggs?

[skvin2002]

Is your shrimps moving a lot or being still most of the time? Could be the ph level too high. I changed 30% water using those distilled water from ntuc and everything seems better.

[kimkeat]

skvin2002, my shrimps are very active. I use water from the bathroom shower with a filter which is supposed to remove chlorine etc.

[skvin2002]

Maybe you need to check all the parameter like ph, gh, kh so that all of us here can help each other.

[kimkeat]

Will read about these parameters and the way to measure them. Thanks.

[Urban Aquaria]

I saw a small fan selling at $40, made in Japan. It stated 4C on the packaging. The rest I don't understand as it is Japanese. Does it mean it could reduce the water temperature by 4C? Possible? Will the high temperature affect the eggs?

Most aquarium cooling fans i've seen usually quote 2-4°C reduction in temperature... i guess it depends on ambient temperature, water surface area and size of the tank.

I've used the Dymax Vortex W-8 model on my 2ft tanks before, its a compact fan but still managed to reduce the water temperature during warm afternoons from 29-30°C to around 27-28°C, quite effective.

Alot more evaporation though, need to top up water almost daily.

[kimkeat]

Quite good if it can bring down the temperature by 2°C. A fan consumes much less electricity than a chiller. How much is the fan if you can recall? Do you have to let it on for 24 hours or just during the day. For the past few days, I have been using 500 ml mineral water bottles with ice which can bring down the temperature by 1 to 2°C but the effect is very short, less than 30 minutes. So, it is not very practical.

[Urban Aquaria]

Quite good if it can bring down the temperature by 2°C. A fan consumes much less electricity than a chiller. How much is the fan if you can recall? Do you have to let it on for 24 hours or just during the day. For the past few days, I have been using 500 ml mineral water bottles with ice which can bring down the temperature by 1 to 2°C but the effect is very short, less than 30 minutes. So, it is not very practical.

The one i used cost around $15-$16 if i remember correctly, relatively cheap.

In my case, i automated its on/off by timer in sync with the lights (so it is working mainly during the late morning to afternoon period when temperatures are usually warmer). It helps create some additional surface agitation too.

[kimkeat]

Thanks Urban Aquaria. I will buy another thermometer to monitor the temperature to see if a fan is really required.

Woohoo! I saw them this morning. Two of them. There were two tiny shrimplets wandering in the tank. They should be around 10 days old. Now, they go into hiding again. So, my first berried mama did not drop its egss (at least not all of them). The second one has been berried for 13 days, the colour of the eggs is still dark green changing from the initial black. The third one has been berried for 6 days, the colour of the eggs has changed from dark green to light green. Hoping to see more shrimplets soon!

[kimkeat]

There are at least three shrimplets in the tank. I spot the fourth berried mama this afternoon and the eggs are green again. Hmm.. I thought yellow is more common. Could it be the food they eat? I feed them 2 Hikari pellet daily. It seems that my cherry shrimps are quite productive after all. Hooray!

[kimkeat]

It has been almost 2 months since I set up my first shrimp tank. I thought I had only around 15 but counted 22 (excluding the shrimplets) yesterday during feeding and some could still be hiding then. So far so good - 4 berried mama and a few shimplets.

While cleaning the tank this morning, I saw a discarded shell with eggs attached. I guess one of the berried mama just molted. I took the shell out and put it in a small plastic tank with the tank water as a shrimp was eating the shell. Can the discarded eggs still hatch?

My shrimps seem to molt quite frequently as there are often discarded shells in the tank. I just leave them there as I read that they are good calcium supplement for the shrimps. How often does a cherry shrimp molt? Do they stop molting once they reach the adult size? Thanks.

[Urban Aquaria]

Its possible for the eggs to hatch separately, the main thing is to have good flow and circulation around them (that's what the shrimps do when they use their pleopods/swimmerets to "fan" the eggs).

In my case, i put the unattached eggs in a small breeder net box and placed it in front of my filter outflow, so there is a constant flow of water around them. After a week or so, i spotted some shrimplets in the net box, though there were also some eggs that turned white and didn't hatch at all too (probably got taken over by fungus/mold).

Your shrimps molting frequently can be a good sign, which means they are healthy enough to do so without issues. Though the speed at which shrimps grow and molt is usually affected by temperature and diet, warmer conditions with high-protein foods tend to encourage faster growth and hence more frequent molting.

[kimkeat]

Urban Aquaria, thank you for the advice. I don't have a breeder box. I will put the shell (11 eggs attached) in a small net and place it near the rainbar outlet.

[Aventador]

Its possible for the eggs to hatch separately, the main thing is to have good flow and circulation around them (that's what the shrimps do when they use their pleopods/swimmerets to "fan" the eggs).

In my case, i put the unattached eggs in a small breeder net box and placed it in front of my filter outflow, so there is a constant flow of water around them. After a week or so, i spotted some shrimplets in the net box, though there were also some eggs that turned white and didn't hatch at all too (probably got taken over by fungus/mold).

Your shrimps molting frequently can be a good sign, which means they are healthy enough to do so without issues. Though the speed at which shrimps grow and molt is usually affected by temperature and diet, warmer conditions with high-protein foods tend to encourage faster growth and hence more frequent molting.

To segregate the berried shrimps from the rest, Is net box better or those acrylic satellite box, in terms of higher survivor rate.

[Urban Aquaria]

Both can be used, but i find that net box gets flow from all sides so better in terms of circulation... though can't really see the shrimps inside as clearly.

[kimkeat]

Sorry, what is the difference between net box and satellite box? Are there any pictures to show? Tried to google but could not find the answer.

Is it necessary to segregate the berried shrimp when it is a shrimps only tank i.e. no predator to the shrimplets?

Thanks.

[Urban Aquaria]

Net boxes are basically in-tank enclosures that use nylon netting as the walls, can find those at most LFS, usually comes as a box frame and you slide the pre-shaped net over it like a sock.

Satellite boxes are usually made of acrylic and can be in-tank or external. The in-tank ones are just floating clear boxes with slits on the sides for water to flow through... while for the external ones, they hang on the outside of the tank (looks like a hang-on back filter, but without motor or impeller), but you need to use a separate air pump to circulate water though it.

For shrimp only tanks, there isn't any real need to segregate the berried shrimps (other than for closer observation), it's probably better just to let them roam around the tank and have full access to foraging areas and ample water flow.

I guess if berried shrimps are segregated it's usually to protect them and their shrimplets from getting attacked or eaten by fishes in a community tank.

[Naraki]

I would not recommend using of satellite breeder box. I've used the medium sized and placed 2 berried mamas inside. Next day one of em dropped eggs. Could be due to stress.

[kimkeat]

Net boxes are basically in-tank enclosures that use nylon netting as the walls, can find those at most LFS, usually comes as a box frame and you slide the pre-shaped net over it like a sock.

Satellite boxes are usually made of acrylic and can be in-tank or external. The in-tank ones are just floating clear boxes with slits on the sides for water to flow through... while for the external ones, they hang on the outside of the tank (looks like a hang-on back filter, but without motor or impeller), but you need to use a separate air pump to circulate water though it.

For shrimp only tanks, there isn't any real need to segregate the berried shrimps (other than for closer observation), it's probably better just to let them roam around the tank and have full access to foraging areas and ample water flow.

I guess if berried shrimps are segregated it's usually to protect them and their shrimplets from getting attacked or eaten by fishes in a community tank.

Thanks a lot!

[kimkeat]

There is no more egg at the discarded shell. Carried away by the current? Hatched? Don't know. I will buy a breeder box in case it happens again.