Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: jesnon on July 02, 2013, 10:47:45 AM
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OK so I'm now very confused!
I noticed recently that my 'male' RCS (very pale compared to the others) has developed a whiteish coloured 'saddle'... after looking this up this seems that actually he is a she and the saddle would be eggs. So now I'm a little suspicious that I actually only have 3 (or 4 if the missing shrimp is just hiding out) female shrimps since the other shrimps are much larger and a deep red colour compared to this little guy.
Also if my 'male' shrimp is actually a girl with a saddle and my other shrimps are all female how does that work? Are they simply eggs waiting to be fertilised that will disappear with no male?
Stupid questions I know I just don't really know the ins and outs of shrimps!
My tank is quite full and I thought had enough hiding places, but if my fourth shrimp has disappeared perhaps I need something else for my shrimp to hide in like a cave... I just need to find space for it! Perhaps it's time to kick out one of my last remaining fake plants.
I also noticed earlier (and yes I know you guys are going to moan for me bringing the topic back to poo!) that my biggest cherry red shrimp had a long strand of poo the length of her hanging off her. It's still there too. Is that normal!?
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I haven't had cherry shrimps very long. But everything I've read says the saddle is the ovaries filling up with eggs. They will get fertilised if there is a male to do it, and she'll keep the eggs between her swimmerets until they hatch, constantly fanning them. This is easy to see with my female amano as she's so big and see-through, and she's often out and about - she's so big she's more than a match for most of the fish in the tank. But I'm not sure what happens to the eggs without a male. Does she reabsorb them or shed them?
I've not seen the cherries poo but there are lots of tiny bits where the amano shrimps have been. Since they eat algae and veggies, if they've just had a big veggie meal then yes, long poo is quite possible.
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Hmm so it definitely sounds like my 'male is actually female - I'm very tempted to go and buy some... well actual males to fertilise her eggs! Though I would really like to get to the bottom of my disappearing shrimp before I get any more =/
Earlier I saw my newest endler Ace hassling a shrimp to steal her shrimp food, but she didn't seem too bothered about the ordeal. I then also saw the biggest shrimp and one of my other bright red shrimps 'fighting' over sitting on a leaf which I've never seen them do before.
I gave them peas not too long ago so that might explain the long poo. I might have to try giving them some courgette at some point too to see if I can do a headcount as I've heard they normally 'swarm' over food like that. Generally if I'm feeding my fish the shrimps don't seem too interested unless a bit of food drops in front of them.
I'm waiting for some repair guys to arrive to fix my washing machine but once they've gone I can do a waterchange and investigate. I'm now concerned my shrimp might have been caught in the tube if they'd somehow snuck between the pre-filter sponge and the filter intake... I see snails in there so I guess it's not impossible (though they're obviously much smaller!)