Egg-laden Amano Shrimp

To my surprise, I noticed that one of the female shrimp in my Betta Bachelor Pad is heavily laden with eggs. Now I know that the Amano shrimp fry need brackish water conditions to survive and John is trying to persuade me to go for this. I do have the option of moving the WCMM out of the coldwater Q tank into the main goldfish tank. I could then put a heater into the small tank and once the temperature was correct and I've added salt to the water, I could move the "pregnant" female into it. What do you think? Should I have a go at it?

Yes, i would. I know nothing about shrimp but i'm sure it'll be fine, you're a bit of a pro

Isn't she just !!

Of course you should go for it Mary - what else have you got to do with your time?

Oh that's cool! that must be great to see

When you say 'laiden with eggs' it conjures up a picure of a little shrimp with a huge stack of eggs, one on top of the other, wobbling as she walks along.
Please enlighten me with a pic, i have never seen them

Yeah........WE WANT PICS!!!!

Go for it!! Pics s'il vous plait

Actually, I must try and get a photo 'coz it does look cool. Basically, she's carrying this huge cluster of pinhead sized eggs under her abdomen and holding them in place with her back legs.

A thought just occurred to me though - surely one small shrimp in a 15L tank won't be enough to keep the filters going? I don't have any fish that can go in with her so I might have to have a rethink. I'll do a bit of research in the meantime.

Maybe adding a bit extra food with the single shrimp will help as it will be like waste wont it (maybe not though I'm not sure).

Dont want to sound daft but will it matter? I doubt that there will be a hell of a bioload from just one shrimp so your water is not going to deteriate quick is it?

Cant you just keep an eye on the water and just have the filter running just in case?

Well I've since discovered that trying to rear amano shrimp is quite difficult as they need to be slowly weaned from full saltwater back to freshwater and I'm not sure if I have the patience or know-how to do so. I'll have to do a little bit of research first I guess.

I didn't know Amano's had to be raised in saltwater? Do you have to put a bit of salt in the tropical tank for them too? I think I have read that some tropical fish like a bit of salt added (is that right?), so is the same needed for these too?

Well in nature, the amano shrimp eggs are hatched in seawater and then the fry find their back to freshwater rivers hence why the conditions for rearing them are so particular. AFAIK this isn't the case with cherry shrimp fry though which can be reared in freshwater.

As for fish and salt - this is often recommended for species such as swordtails and mollies which apparently prefer brackish water conditions but I have both and have never added salt for either species and they're thriving.

Thanks for that Mary . it seems every time I come on here I end up asking loads of questions, but I have learnt such a lot already, its like bein back in school :lol:

have you decided what to do about raising the eggs Mary? It would be great to see them wouldn't it?

Did you ever get a pic Mary as I think one of my shrimp may be carrying eggs but they look dark and any pics I have seen the eggs look white :|

hey a pic would be really cool, I've never seen pregnant shrimp. In fact I never thought that you could keep shrimp as part of a tropical set up.

Could they go in with a betta?

Oh shrimp are fine with a Betta. I have seven in with mine and he takes no notice of them. They do a good job keeping the tank clean. I wasn't able to get a photo in the end and now I've noticed that she's shed the eggs so if she does acquire a new lot, I'll try getting a photo then. Btw, Gypsy the eggs were white.

Thanks Mary, thats what I keep finding although I think I have found a couple of pics now where the eggs look darker. Just for anyone esle here I'll put a pic of mine up (not that its a very good pic I'm hopeless with cameras).



Looks like she is letting go of some of her eggs as I have found some teeny floating whitish things which is a bit weird, so now I'm toying with the idea of seeing if I can manage to keep any of them alive.

Oh wow, that is great! I would love to have a crack at raising some of them, but I guess I'll have to get used to looking after fish first! . Could I get some of these when I get my first lot of fish then?

Shrimp are great, and come in all sorts of sizes so just make sure you don't get some that grow into 7ft long monsters! :lol:

Only joking! I love the cherry shrimp I have although quickly learnt that they need to be kept in a seperate tank while they grow a bit otherwise just end up a a tasty treat for the fish!

thats what they are for aint it a tasty treat ????

nothing better than having a nice live shrimp for dinner lol

OY!!!! That is not allowed!

Well sorry to burst your bubble and sorry if anyone has said it already, but Amano shrimp babies need brackish water to survive. mine have laid but lost the babies.

Anyways, theyre moving house soon. hehe

oh yer forgot about those lol