# Cherry breeding question



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Well, I have these cherry shrimp see......wonderfullittle buggers. They live in the little 2.5 gollon on my desk and give me lits of distraction time when the posting on APC gets slow I started with 5 shrimp, one died almost immediatly but the other 4 have survived for almost 2 months. sadly, no little baby shrimps for Dennis;(well, upon closer inspection I believe they are all males so I picked up 2 more, one is definatley a female carrying eggs and the other looks exactly the same coloring wise, but no eggs. 

This was a week ago and still the one carries har eggs. Originally htey were small dark dots in the leggy things of the abdomen. Now they have developed into slightly larger yellow blobs in the same place. 

When can I expect my little friends to enter their aquatic lives? Whatis the gestation period for shrimps. The shrimp are housed with lots of java moss and one tiny rosy barb fry. I worry that the little shrimp will be consumed by the fry before they even get started but the fry is tiny, less than 1/4" overall. Do you think I should worry?

Thanks for your time


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Cherrys carry their eggs for 22 days, some don't hatch a some do, good luck! With hidding places most if not all fry will survive. I have two shrimps carrying right now.


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## stocker (Jun 15, 2004)

I think you have a good chance soon. I started with 7 shrimps, no idea which are male or female. In a week, I noticed 2 carry eggs. Less than a month later, I saw a really small shrimp, Another week later, I saw three!


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

22 days huh... Any way of telling based on how the egs/female look as to how far along I am? Thanks for the help,btw


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

the eggs gett bigger and yellower.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

but how far into the gestation period do the egs turn yellow?


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

I'm not so sure myself, they usually dissaper for a few days-weeks after I see them like that and after a while I see fry and the shrimp again.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Try not to fret too much over the eggs. I'm sure they will hatch. I really can't give you any help as far as the gestation period but kinda like that old saying goes "a watched pot never boils!"

I moved from Maryland to Ohio back in December and brought 12 Cherry Reds with me. Six survived the trip and the week in a container until I could get my tank set up again.

I now have a ton of them! I populated my 30g with them and also a 5g. The only thing you need to watch out for is them getting sucked into your filter. Every time I change my filter floss I find 6-12 shrimp in it. 

If things don't work out with the eggs let me know. I may be able to help you out with a few more shrimp once it warms up a bit


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Yes the filter is a dangerous thing.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

My filter doesn't seem to be too dangerous at all. I just remove the top and pour them back into the tank. I haven't lost any yet, not counting the first few that went down the drain :-(


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks all,

I know about the filters(although the 2.5 is infiltered) as i used to have to release my Amanos for my AC150 every week. When I stopped seeing them in the tank I knew they were either in the filter or under the couch.

Matt, how is Ohio treating you. I was born and raised in the southeastern part of the state (hill-billy). You still building furniture?

Oh, and I'll try to remmebr to updaye when the exciting day comes. I know the eggs turned from black specks to yellow sometime around the 22 of Feb.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Ohio is treating me good. I'm originally from a town about an hour north of Columbus so it is good to be back home!

The furniture building has come to a halt for the time being :-( Moving around the holidays isn't fun to begin with but then you have family stopping by to check out the new place and getting settled in has been slow. It's taken the past two months to get the house in order. Once it warms up a bit I will tackle the garage  I have a lot of stuff I need to sell to make some room so I actually have room to work! 

Hopefully you will be able to tell when the time comes. I never seem to see my pregnant shrimp when the time comes. They seem to disappear under the driftwood until they release the eggs. You will know it has happened once you see the baby shrimp all over the tank


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Ack, the filter.... I really should look in there. I do maintenance, but have never taken the time to check for livestock in it. :shock:

I know many people use either foam or something like a (clean) nylon stocking over the intake tube so they don't get sucked in.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Yeah, every couple of months when I clean out the filter, I find some shrimp in there. I just put them back in the tank, none the worse for wear.


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