Huh? Baby Cherry Shrimp

[Nightfall]

About 6 weeks ago I added two cherry shrimp to my 7G/30L Betta tank. He didn't go for live brine shrimp and I figured with two I would find out quickly if they were going to last or if they would be pricey snacks. I suspected one was female as she was larger and darker and the other being smaller and paler I figured was male.

I saw the female periodically, but I only saw the male once. Last week I didn't like my ammonia reading so I did a 60% water change. During that time I removed all my plants to try and find the pair (plus, I was replanting) and caught the female but the male was nowhere to be seen.

At no point have I seen the female carrying eggs, or with the 'saddle' marking.

Today I was examining the tank and I noticed what I thought was the female hiding in the corner by a pot of dwarf hairgrass. I looked closer and discovered several little cherries. They're about a centimeter long and already dark red (I have black substrate).

How on earth did this happen? Or, rather, when? The obviously female shrimp never appeared to be carrying eggs. The smaller one is nowhere to be found. How old are the shrimp, being red and a centimeter long? I can see about 6 or 7 of the little guys, but there could be more hidden in the tank as it's very heavily planted.

 

[mike455555]

id say the babys are about 1-3 weeks old. when they newly hatched there about 2-3mm's, you might of sexed them wrong? and the male which you havent seen might be female, or if the female was a deep red she might of been carrying eggs when you bought her, and droped them when u moved them in althoguh cherry's are very fast breeders, your shimp could of mated when you put them in, and then went into hiding. anyway congrats, you may want to think of buying a few more to keep the genes fresh in the future though (or trade some)

 

[Nightfall]

Yes, I will definitely get a few more adults from a different source to diversify the gene pool if I have some survivors. I will keep my fighter well fed and trust to the plants, driftwood and speed of the little critters. I knew the could breed fast in the right conditions (which I seem to have), but I didn't expect it to be that fast. As I said, last week when I did that water change I inspected every inch of that water and the plants to check for shrimp and didn't see the missing adult, let alone any tiny babies!

I might have solved the mystery of how I missed them, though. They've mostly congregated in the pot where my dwarf hairgrass is planted (it's a lattice type pot so the roots can come through, rather than a solid one) and I'm thinking that maybe the eggs were dispersed in the hairgrass when they were released (the big red girl loves to hide there because it's too dense for Heph the fighter to follow her into) and the babies were all hidden in there.

During that big water change, I actually took the pot out and give it a trim because I turned the lights off for 48 hours during a heatwave (water was 30C with the lights but no heater on) and it badly yellowed the top of the plant, so I probably lost quite a lot when that happened and also when the temperature dropped with the lights and heater off. Maybe the ammonia spike was caused by the babies dying off during the heatwave?

Do you think it's worth removing my fighter from the tank for a few weeks to give the cherries a chance to mature? I would love to establish a solid colony in this tank, and possibly in my Dwarf Gourami tank if it's safe.

 

[mike455555]

umm i like that theroy, although cherrys and there variations hold onto there eggs until there born, so you should of seen the eggs on the female, the hold onto them for 2-3 weeks (well mine do) some people think that they drop them if there scared, another theroy could be that the male as actually a female, has died with eggs (it can happen) and the eggs have hatched. the fighter will eat them if he gets a chance so it might be an idea to move him, or make a shelter small enough for the shrimp but not the fighter, and any which he gets hold of he can have? i think removing him is a good idea, for afew weeks until the cherrys are adult sized then any young from there can edge there bets? if you want i can snap some pic's of my preg blue pearl and my baby cherry's to give you an idea of how old each are

 

[Nightfall]

I've moved the fighter, so hopefully they stand a chance now.

Those snaps would be great, thanks!

 

[mike455555]

sure i'll get on it now =]

 

[mike455555]

right this one was probally born about a week ago i think its in the middle of the photo on the moss

this ones slightly larger and is probably about 2-3 months old maybe

this is the preg female carrying eggs

this is a female with a saddle

this is a mix the 2 larger ones are about 2-3 months old the smaller ones are about a week or 2

 

[Nightfall]

Mine seem a bit smaller but roughly the same. I'm truly hoping they'll all make it! Thank you for your help.

 

[mike455555]

no problem =] glad to help, if they have places to hide and stuff to eat they will survive =]