Cleaner Shrimp Has Eggs?

I have had two cleaner shrimp for about three months. One of them looks like it has many eggs under it's tail. I'm thinking they have mated and are going to have babies. How long does it take for the eggs to hatch out?

 

Congrats and no idea.

 

Congrats. I'm not sure. Cleaner shrimp make eggs basically every time they molt(while the exoskeleton is still soft) & it's difficult to catch them(the shrimp). Unless caught & put into another container they will surely not survive. They can also change the sex whenever needed, so if you have two they can both be preggo.

I think the shrimp should release the eggs withing 15 days, if I remember correctly?

 

I know many will get eaten but wouldn't a couple make it?

 

i only have one cleaner shrimp and every month or so it has eggs. they have both male and female parts. unfortunately, unless your shrimp are the only animals in there, the eggs are probably fish food.

 

none of mine have ever survived.

 

I would have seen them by now if this was the case. If you have fish or even crabs, say goodbye to shrimp babies.

I've tried to section off my tank before with a tank divider(has little holes in it so you use the same water), but eggs are much too small to not go through the holes.

In the shrimps sack,(below the abdomen) is where eggs are stored...

 

An article I printed a while back reads..."each shrimp[of two, in the experiment] molted and produced a clutch of eggs every 14 days. Occasionally, the molting & egg carrying cycle extended to 16 day...infrequently up to 20 days. the longer egg carrying cycle was following tank cleanings & WC's."

"Each shrimp molting cycle was about 7 days out of phase with the other[Idk if this is for all shrimp or just these specific two, in this experiment]. In other words, one shrimp would spawn about half way through the others carrying cycle"

"...about mid-way, through the 14-20 day period, eggs change fro a bright green to a light amber in color, resembling the color of the adult's underside"

Eventually the eggs will fill the area of the underbelly & form in four neat 'columns" to be extruded out of the adult's "swimmers" aka, pleopods, & will be released by the adult once eggs have turned to a slight silver-ish in color.

At this stage is when you want to get the eggs to be held in another tank.
Eggs will be released around 1 hr before lights out - 3 hours after dark. A flashlight can be used to direct the eggs to a Tupperware container to add to another tank.

While I have experienced these moments, I have not been successful at breeding shrimp. Here's more...(I didn't stay up late to get the eggs from the tank)

 

Cool, thanks for the good info. I might go get a small quarantine tank that just hangs in my DT. I'll try to get the eggs when they're released. I think it would be worth a try. He'll if it works I can quit my day job. Those things sell for $20.00 a piece at my Lfs

 

Wow, that's pretty cool. My LFS doesn't sell them for that much. Good for me to start with new shrimp, not so good for resale.

I think I'd like to try this too. I need to get some Cleaner shrimp again. Mine died, I think, haven't seen em in 3 weeks. The cuc must have gotten to them during a molt maybe?