Ok_Tumbleweed2182
9 Comments
  1. I believe this is a molt. The lack of flesh within the shell alongside the lifting of the carapace pretty much says so, unless this was old enough to get cleaned out entirely with little damage done to the molt itself (very very unlikely).

    Shrimp typically get berries right after a molt, and typically don’t molt again until around 28 days have passed, around a week after their eggs hatch. Its likely that this female either A.) Molted too early, or B.) Molted on time but ejected her eggs as they aren’t viable (not developing).

    I’m unsure as to what causes them to want to molt. I’ve read that it is hormonal, and keeps in a cycle of around 28 days (as mentioned above), so early molts are typically a result of throwing these hormones off balance. What throws these off balance, i’m also unsure. I would guess that it’s caused by general stressors (ex. water change), though for you it maybe be due to your loaches. No need to get rid of them or anything, the shrimp will get used to them. The fact that this female was still successfully able to molt is a very good sign though.

    With the possibility of the eggs simply not being viable and this molt being on time, then nothings really wrong on your part. That’s simply error with the shrimp.

    I will say, the eggs look whiteish which leads to to believe they’re molded. If that’s the case, then remove the molt alongside the eggs.

  2. I posted this same thing a month or so ago… I took it out on a feeding dish and using a toothpick carefully scraped out the eggs then dropped them into the tank and they hatched. Initially I put them into a feeding dish to hatch and noticed the newborns couldn’t swim out of the dish so I dumped the rest right into the gravel.

    This might not be necessary but I think it helps with osmosis if they’re more exposed to the water instead of all clumped together.

  3. What kind of loaches? I’m about to get a hillstream loach for my 55g

  4. Now that’s interesting

  5. I’ve never seen such a thing! Anderson1135 had a really interesting response, I’m just chiming in to thank you for sharing the crazy photos 🙂

  6. In the past I have seen keepers move the eggs to a breeder box and have them successfully hatch if you are keen on maybe seeing if you can hatch them.

  7. It happens. If the female is stressed or feels unsafe she can drop her eggs or in this case, Molt and drop them. If you did a recent water change or anything that may have triggered a molt, she may have molted prematurely and lost some eggs in the process.

  8. Yep, it’s possible. Build an incubator to save them. There are YouTube tutorials

  9. Try to save them on the off chance she melted early. Place in a net under running water…

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