my first berried shrimp

[babydragons]

Still being completely new to shrimp keeping I couldn't wait for the day when I happened to spot my diary berried rili. Well its finally happened. And as I sat here admiring her she preceded to drop every single egg she was carrying. How heartbreaking. I realize that they may do this the first time that they berry but is it normal to happen so fast? I only did the water change yesterday. She's still holding onto a small clutch but they are just dangling out for everyone to see.

[GeToChKn]

How much water did you change? I try to avoid big water or any water changes when a female just gets berried, which is hard when you have lots and their is always 1 or 2 in a state of being berried. lol.

[babydragons]

I did a 30% water change on a 15gal tank. It wasn't too big. The water was aged and still treated with prime. Thing is she wasn't berried yesterday. Not that I know of atleast. I'm running water parms now.

[acitydweller]

use a net to recover the eggs and try hatching yourself. its not too late

[babydragons]

Like the net we use to scoop them out? She's still dangling some

[acitydweller]

the ones on her should be fine. retrieve the ones that fell off in the tank... unless the other shrimp have gotten to them already

[babydragons]

Ph 7.6
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0

Also it looks like the other shrimp got to the eggs already. Thanks for trying tho acity

[ravensgate]

I've been dealing with this for 3 months since I got into RCS and PFR. They drop every single egg within just a couple of hours of being berried. I've had it happen with 5-6 (all that have every berried have dropped their eggs). I swapped tanks last week because my parameters were a little whacky in the last tank so now I guess I have to wait for them to get used to it. Obviously this isn't helpful but misery loves company I guess. I sure want some babies. I got a clutch last week that had been dropped but they developed a fungus in 4 days that took over the whole clutch. I checked and checked for it an overnight it took over....and they had constant water flow. So double sad last week

[babydragons]

Well I guess its nice to know I'm not alone. I want babies just as badly as you do raven

[babydragons]

Well I guess its nice to know I'm not alone. I want babies just as badly as you do raven

[babydragons]

Well I guess its nice to know I'm not alone. I want babies just as badly as you do raven

[babydragons]

Oh jeez.. idk what my phone just did.. sorry guys

[hedge_fund]

What is your temperature in your tank? Better yet, what was the temp when the shrimp dropped the eggs? 30% water change is fairly large and should be avoided. I have a 15 gallon as well and I only change out 2 gallons weekly which equates to ~13%.

btw, I used to live in Hoboken NJ when I worked in NYC. I loved HB, still go there all the time. Great place.

[Kunsthure]

Neos shouldn't be this hard to breed. What about KH and GH? What are you feeding them? Tankmates? How old are these tanks, Raven and OP? There's got to be something a bit off with the water, or tank conditions that the shrimp don't like. It's just a matter of figuring it out.

-Lisa

[ravensgate]

The last tank mine were in the parameters were as follow (this is where all the eggs were dropped, I may have had one do it since the new move this week, but she molted, bred, and dropped before I ever saw them if I'm correct). I've actually only seen one clutch of eggs and those were just dropped. I've NEVER seen any of them berry. I've seen them breed and the saddle disappear and most of the time it's at night so I get real excited to check the tank in the morning only to find a female with the whole dropped down shell look like she's holding eggs, fanning her swimmeretts <sp?>, but with no eggs present.

pH 8.2
KH 14
GH 18
TDS 331
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate all 0

Pea gravel substrate, some plants, cholla logs, IAL, sponge filter

New parameters are with Fluval Shrimp STratum. I wanted some buffer but not a lot and so far it's holding pretty perfect for me after a week and half.

pH 7.2-7.4
KH 6
GH 10
TDS 190

Plants, cholla logs, sponge filter, IAL

Ammonia and Nitrites 0
Nitrate was measuring 4 ppm last time I checked a few days ago.

The shrimp are FAR more active in this tank and they look fabulous, the color has deepened considerably on what were pretty dang clear RCS. I understand the thought that they look better on dark substrate but I didn't realize it would be this much difference.

The first 4 that dropped berries were first time mothers. But I think I've had a repeat from one of the same ones. Since they just moved I don't know if they need to get used to the new parameters before they do well or not. I'm starting to think I'm like 1% of the population that can't get them to breed. Don't know whether to laugh or cry at this point.

Oh, and the first tank I fiddled with the temperature after the first one dropped her eggs. It was at 78 at that time. I yanked the heater and it stayed between 74-76 and I still had problems. The tank is currently holding at 74, no heater and no drastic temperature changes.

My tank is shrimp only with the exception of one nerite snail. They get a varied diet of baby spinach, kale, zucchini, Borneowild products, Mosura products, Benibachi, Ebi Dama, occasional frozen bloodworms or Hikari algae wafer. I mean, these shrimp ain't hurting in their diet at all. They get fed every other day and at least once a week I skip two days. Trying to keep bugs and creepy crawlies at bay or at a minimum so I try not to overfeed.

So yeah, I've researched, asked, researched some more, and can't find anything wrong except luck. But they are happy and healthy. Molt regularly. I was doing 2 water changes weekly when I had the pea gravel but now I'm doing once a week of maaayyybe 10% or sometimes just top offs and no water change. Dechlorinated tap but I'm about to start mixing distilled water in so I don't wear down the substrate with my liquid rock that comes from the tap.