Hello everyone, it is once again Shrimpy Sunday!!
It has been a eventful week in the tank. This past Monday the snail eggs started hatching much to Rosie's delight. Best count I have got so far the other day was around 30. I know there were more hiding in plain sight where I could not see them as they are so small and blend in when they are not attached to the tank walls.
The next big surprise was Momma Ghost Shrimp is back out of hiding as of yesterday minus her eggs. Now, I really figured this round of eggs would be infertile if she were truly a Ghost/glass shrimp which I had started to have doubts on.
When I bought momma Ghostie, I got her in a group of 7. Sadly within a week I was down to just her and the 4 Bumble bee cherry shrimp. All 4 of my cherry shrimp are males. Momma ghostie was berried up within days of putting her in the tank when there were still male ghost shrimp around. Some of you have noticed that as they have gotten older the first batch of little shrimp are getting yellow and orange color to them. This should not be possible and not be happening. True ghost shrimp are a different species then the cherry shrimp and are not compatible for breeding. Does not matter to momma ghostie as she will still lay her eggs and even if infertile she will act and behave as if they are for the entire incubation process.
Now in my research of shrimps I discovered there was a variety of cherry shrimp called "snowball". They look almost identical to ghost shrimp. When I found these I got suspicious. I also found out that in color breeding of cherry shrimp or "Neocaridina" shrimp some offspring are considered "wild type" which also look like normal ghost shrimp. The wild types are technically culls and are often sold to pet stores as ghost or feeder shrimp. I figured the truth would be known about momma Ghostie if her eggs were actually viable.
Well, when Momma Ghostie appeared yesterday eggless out in the open I got to looking. Low and behold there they were, freshly hatched tiny little shrimpies. I've found about 5 of them, which going from the first hatch means nothing. There is probably another at least 20 or more hiding in the tank. Momma Ghostie is not really a ghost shrimp but a cherry shrimp.
This video shows everyone in the tank. I know know why over half of the young shrimp are turning orange and yellow. You can also see briefly that Momma Ghostie has already molted again. This means that within 5 days she will once again lay another clutch of eggs and the whole process will start over. I will not question whether or not they are fertile anymore as she has proved they will be. In a way this has turned out to be a blessing for a stable shrimp colony. Sadly shrimp only live about a year at most. There is no telling how old they are when they arrive at the pet stores as petco does not sell juvenile shrimp. I could really loose Momma Ghostie anytime along with the 4 original Bumble bee males. My hopes is that in the first group of shrimplets there is at least 3 females. The rate they are growing I should be able to tell in about another month as they will be close to maturity. Sexing them will be easy. Males have long antennae and females have very short antennas.
It has been a eventful week in the tank. This past Monday the snail eggs started hatching much to Rosie's delight. Best count I have got so far the other day was around 30. I know there were more hiding in plain sight where I could not see them as they are so small and blend in when they are not attached to the tank walls.
The next big surprise was Momma Ghost Shrimp is back out of hiding as of yesterday minus her eggs. Now, I really figured this round of eggs would be infertile if she were truly a Ghost/glass shrimp which I had started to have doubts on.
When I bought momma Ghostie, I got her in a group of 7. Sadly within a week I was down to just her and the 4 Bumble bee cherry shrimp. All 4 of my cherry shrimp are males. Momma ghostie was berried up within days of putting her in the tank when there were still male ghost shrimp around. Some of you have noticed that as they have gotten older the first batch of little shrimp are getting yellow and orange color to them. This should not be possible and not be happening. True ghost shrimp are a different species then the cherry shrimp and are not compatible for breeding. Does not matter to momma ghostie as she will still lay her eggs and even if infertile she will act and behave as if they are for the entire incubation process.
Now in my research of shrimps I discovered there was a variety of cherry shrimp called "snowball". They look almost identical to ghost shrimp. When I found these I got suspicious. I also found out that in color breeding of cherry shrimp or "Neocaridina" shrimp some offspring are considered "wild type" which also look like normal ghost shrimp. The wild types are technically culls and are often sold to pet stores as ghost or feeder shrimp. I figured the truth would be known about momma Ghostie if her eggs were actually viable.
Well, when Momma Ghostie appeared yesterday eggless out in the open I got to looking. Low and behold there they were, freshly hatched tiny little shrimpies. I've found about 5 of them, which going from the first hatch means nothing. There is probably another at least 20 or more hiding in the tank. Momma Ghostie is not really a ghost shrimp but a cherry shrimp.
This video shows everyone in the tank. I know know why over half of the young shrimp are turning orange and yellow. You can also see briefly that Momma Ghostie has already molted again. This means that within 5 days she will once again lay another clutch of eggs and the whole process will start over. I will not question whether or not they are fertile anymore as she has proved they will be. In a way this has turned out to be a blessing for a stable shrimp colony. Sadly shrimp only live about a year at most. There is no telling how old they are when they arrive at the pet stores as petco does not sell juvenile shrimp. I could really loose Momma Ghostie anytime along with the 4 original Bumble bee males. My hopes is that in the first group of shrimplets there is at least 3 females. The rate they are growing I should be able to tell in about another month as they will be close to maturity. Sexing them will be easy. Males have long antennae and females have very short antennas.
