[comet]

Can someone confirm for me that what I am seeing are baby shrimp.
I know what copepods look like and planaria, but these are different, and they seemed to have appeared shortly after one of my egg carrying shrimp "lost" her eggs.
They can be seen with a magnifying glass, are white and have tear shaped bodies and a long thin tail. They are covering the green algae on the walls.
It's been two weeks since I've seen them and they don't seem to be getting any bigger.
Again, are these shrimp?!??! And if so, how long until they are more defined in shape?
Any and all info is appreciated.

 

[AxolotlFarmer]

what shrimp do you have? There are differnt reproductive strategies for differnt shrimps.
What you described sounded like newborn ghost shrimp. Is that what you have? if so, in about a week or so they should morph into minishrimp shape. Adults may eat them(if it is ghost shrimps) and the need to feed on micro organism at this stage, probably why you see them all over the algae.
If you dont have ghost shrimps(or a shrimp that reproduces like them) pay no attention to my previous information.

 

[sethsmom5702]

Can you post a picture? It'll help us id(maybe).

 

[comet]

Re: type of shrimp and photo

They are supposed to be red cherry shrimp. Although today, I saw two (out of the 12 )that were very clear with no colorings, but I have no idea if they were ghost shrimp . I'll have to ask the person I aquired them from if he had ghost shrimp in his tank.

As for a picture, I don't think so.....As I said, I have to view them through a magnifying glass so I don't think my camera has the zoom needed to pick them up. BUT, I will try and see what I can capture.

 

[CAF]

::Sighs:: I once thought I had baby Amanos... turned out to be copepods. Sounds like what you are describing. Check here to if it looks the same:

http://www.2000webdesign.com/TAFCAF/InvertAlbum/thing3.html

This is an EXTREME close-up using the Macro mode on my wife's camera.

My baby cherries have ALWAYS looked like miniature versions of the adults.

 

[comet]

Great picture, but....

Great picture! But that's not it. I have those too, and they are distinct. The copepods have a more rounded body and twin tails.

What I'm wondering about have a more streamlined body with a longer single thin tail.

I tried to take some pics. (about 50) but they didn't come out well at all.
Perhaps I can coax my brother to come over with his higer tech camera and do some photo shoots of them....
Or I could just wait another 3 or 4 weeks and see if anything develops..

I should have mentioned in the earlier post that the shrimp that was carrying eggs prior to the infestation was in fact a cherry.

CAF, You mentioned that your cherry shrimp babies always looked like miniatures of the adults. How small were they? As small as the copepods?

I would love to know what camera you used to obtain that shot!

 

[wood]

You will definitely know a baby cherry shrimp when you see one. They look like a miniature version of the adults and are very small. No matter how young the babies are you can definitely see that they are in fact shrimp.

It sounds to me like you have perhaps baby snails?? Are they all white?

-Ryan

 

[sorab]

You wouldn’t need a magnifying glass to see them, here is a baby crystal red on the glass a few days old, cherry babies look slimmer and white to the eye but are about the same size, three/four millimetres maybe.

 

[toddnbecka]

Sounds like cyclops from the description. Male cherry shrimp are less colorful than the red females, transparent isn't particularly unusual.

 

[comet]

All I can say is Thanks! for all the great replies and photos.
I know they are not snails, and they do not look like an adult shrimp in any way that is visible. Just found out that they are not ghost shrimp either.
I did find this picture of a cyclops and they do have that shape and do "skip" around in the way the cyclops were described.
I think I will have to dig out an old microscope and get a closer look. I've easily gathered some up in a shot glass with left over boiled dandelion leaves that the shrimp had finished eating.
Here's the link to the cyclops picture if anyone is interested. And if I can find that microscope...it's been quite a few years since I've seen it last....I'll post my findings. Thanks again.

The site is named LarvaTech. And if the link comes up to the home page, just click on # 4, "Critter" in the left column, scroll down to Cyclops and at the bottom of that article is a link for "Photo of Cyclops".

http://members.aol.com/larval1/index.htm

 

[rain-]

Cyclops are actually Copepods, it's the same thing. There are many different Copepod species, some are rounder, some narrower, some have clearly two "tails", some seem to have one, some are white, some blue, some green with purple eggs. Unfortunately you can't really appreciate their amazing colors without a microscope or a macro/closeup lens, Copepods and other small creatures are rather interesting and harmless.

Here's more about the common small critters of our aquariums: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp/40061-whats-bug-how-recognize-them.html

 

[mistergreen]

wait a week... You can definitely tell if it's a baby shrimp. They grow really fast. They're also really hard to spot.

It's part of their instinct to hide.

 

[comet]

Interesting pics and articles on the critters. Thanks for all the replies.
I will be patiently waiting for new arrivals.