# Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimp - Berried?



## chrisjj (7 Jan 2010)

Hi, 

I've had a fish tank for about 2 months and started populating after a fishless cycle of 3 weeks, so I'm new to this!

Could anyone plaese advise regarding my shrimp;

I don't want to get too excited, but I do believe one of them is carrying babies, or a baby at least?! She has been hiding behind a rock for a few days & I spotted a reddish purple thing about the size of a grain of sand under her belly last night, which she seemed to be fanning a lot. I thought it might just be something that got stuck there, but it is the same colour as the adult, just paler, similar to when they molt - is this an egg / baby shrimp?  There is only one that I can see - I thought there would be 10 to 15 if it was a baby?

I must say though, she has been very timid & checking out her belly has been very difficult, so I'm trying not to get exited.  If it is a baby, I suspect that it won't last long anyway with the fish in there.  My plants & moss haven't had a chance to grow sufficiently to provide enough cover - I didn't anticipate babies so soon (if it is a baby)

Any advice appreciated. 

Cheers


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## gratts (7 Jan 2010)

Shrimp don't carry babies - only the eggs, which eventually hatch into miniature versions of the adults.
A berried shrimp has tens of small circular eggs on her underside, similar to this:




Depending on the species it can be harder to see, though still obvious. In some species the underside becomes much darker when eggs are present, in others its an obvious bright yellow. Haven't kept cardinal shrimp, so can't comment on what colour the eggs would be!

Once hatched there is no parental care, so baby shrimp won't cling to/stay around the mother.


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## mlgt (7 Jan 2010)

Ive been keeping Cherry shrimps for about 6 months now and have had 1 succesful lot. Although I have 2 more females which are pregnant with eggs I suspect they will be fine.

You have plenty of time if the shrimp is pregnant and it might be worth buying some moss online and plonking it in the tank. You can either get it from this forum from members or lfs. Else try ebay as its fairly cheap.

This will protect the baby shrimps and give them something to eat whilst growing.

The succesful lot were noticed 2-3 weeks ago and so far I have counted around 10 baby shrimps. If you have a filter, best to cover the filter parts with a stocking to avoid the baby shrimps getting sucked into the filter.

I tend to do a small water change each week and top up with untreated tap water. 

Good luck 

I will update when my next lot come out as well


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