[Jonnywhoop]

Came home today only to find my first berried CRS doesnt have her eggs anymore! im assuming she gave birth already but I am having a hell of time looking for the offspring in my tank. What exactly am i looking for? is there a possibility she dropped and killed her eggs prematurely?

thanks!

 

[GeToChKn]

How long did she have the eggs for? It takes 3-4 weeks for them to hatch.

You probably can't see the babies. If she dropped them today, they are very tiny, clear or near clear and hiding like hell as is their instinct to hide in the moss, plants, substrate, anywhere they can't be eaten. They also need and only eat all the organisms in the biofilm covering plants, substrate, moss, driftwood, etc, so they will stay there as it's safe and full of food.

As they grow, they will venture out. I had a tank that I tore down, took everything out of, drained the water to a few inches, checked and triple checked for babies, got all the ones I could see. Went to work on the tank about a week later, found 14 baby crystals in it. This was a 12" cube tank with everything but substrate taken out and 14 shrimp still hid on me in a few inches of water.

 

[steven p]

dear lord.. shrimp babies are tiny... i would assume theyre atleast a week by the time i can spot them.

 

[Jonnywhoop]

Thanks for your response.

I actually saw ONE little tiny itsy bitsy orange/red shrimp! It was on an IAL. Atleast I know they are alive and she didnt drop. She has had the babies for about 4 weeks. I cant wait to see how many I have!

How soon will she be berried again?

 

[Imi Statue]

I would try using this method to see them early.

When room is darkened, put flashlight behind tank shining through to the front and have all other lights off(may have to angle the flashlight till you see them, ie too much or too little can interfere with you ability to see them).

The shrimp move in front of the light and look like tiny slivers of glass moving around, if too thickly planted, try also using a magnifying glass to see better while flashlight is on.

This also works with tiny fry from smaller fish like tetras or barbs to be able to see them earlier as well.

 

[blacksheep998]

Another method to see babies sooner is to set up a location that they'll be drawn to but where you can still see them.

I have a stack of slate pieces with small gravel bits between them to form very large, thin, horizontal gaps. These are deep places where the babies, and nothing else besides baby snails, can fit. It's a great place for biofilm to grow and when I get level with the gaps I can see everything inside silhouetted against the back of the tank. I can often spot babies in the first day.

It usually takes 1-2 weeks before they're comfortable enough to start moving out into the open.

 

[cantsay39]

my tibee momma drop her eggs or drop the babies i cant see it