my amano shrimp have eggs :3

so I have some amano shrimp in my planted tank and the other day I noticed TWO of them were berried (carrying fertilized eggs) and I got so excited I rushed to the pet store 15 minutes before they closed to drop a bunch of money on the supplies to raise the eggs ..

compared to all the other common freshwater aquarium shrimp amanos are notoriously difficult to raise from eggs . this is cause the larvae need to be in brackish water (slightly salty water; in the wild this is the place where a river meets the sea) but once they develop they need to return to freshwater. the larvae also need highly oxygenated water but low flow, they primarily subsist on phytoplankton, and need a light over them 24/7. this stage lasts a little while until they develop their legs, at which point they need to be acclimated back to freshwater over the course of about a day. after that they’re mostly good and can be incorporated back into a freshwater tank. 

it’s a really finicky process but I think I would be more upset with myself if I didn’t try to do it at all as opposed to trying and failing. Amano shrimp have no parental instincts (in fact, they will eat their newly-hatched young if given the chance) so regardless of how it goes the shrimp i already have will still be fine. 

Right now the two shrimp will probably be carrying the eggs for another week or so (maybe more - don’t know how long I went without noticing them cause they’re sneaky) so I’m setting up a second tank, establishing a filter for it in my regular tank for the next few days. i think im gonna go to my local fish store and ask for some of their algae to expedite the process.. idk if they’ll give it to me I don’t see why not though. i have marine salt and a refractometer and a bunch more supplies on the way i am so excited . tbh

here’s a pic of one of them .. it’s hard to get a good detail shot w my phone camera but u can see her fanning the eggs :3 it promotes oxygen absorption they do it a lot while they carry. im also feeding them extra protein for the next couple weeks or however long it takes for the larvae to hatch .