Are the yellow eggs on my red cherry shrimp the infertile on or are the green ones infertile?

Question

I have some red cherry shrimp and some have green eggs in their carriage and some have yellow eggs in their carriage. I was wondering which ones were fertile and which were not because I saw one of the shrimp with the yellow eggs dropping 3 eggs into the substrate and I think it is because she has too many to carry. The whole under-carriage is slap full with no room for even a hair to squeeze in between the eggs. So, is it possible she just had three too many and that is why she dropped those three or did she drop them because she knew they wouldn't hatch. Also, will those three eggs pollute my water and cause my ammonia readings to spike. If you don't know what I am talking about it means you probably don't raise shrimp.

Answer 1

Going to have to agree with nosoop4u246 (again lol). The yellow eggs for sure aren't infertile because i had a dead berried female in which i extracted the yellow eggs and a few of them have hatched. as far white being rotting eggs, i think Darryl is referring to the moldy fuzz that grows on the eggs when they are rotting.

In any case i believe that any eggs that you see in her swimerrettes should be fertilized, if they aren't then you shouldn't see eggs there. The infertile eggs would be in that yellow saddle you see behind the shrimp's head.

Before my berried female died i did notice that she dropped a few eggs. I believe this is caused by either stress or if the female is a first time mother. Should be fine as long as she doesn't drop all the eggs and/or dies. The shrimps themselves have a very small bioload so the 3 eggs shouldn't cause your ammonia to spike. As long as your tank is sufficient with plants and is large enough (in terms of volume) the eggs shouldn't even do anything noticeable to your ammonia.

Pretty much i'm just repeating everything nosoop4u246 in my own words.

Answer 2

as far asI know the green eggs are fertile maybe the yellow ones are developing      could be that she was carrying too many eggs?

Answer 3

Peach, green, and the orange/yellow color are all fertile-- different shrimp, even of the same species, will produce different colored eggs.  I have had several females with yellow eggs that have hatched, and been successfully raised, as well as green eggs.  Here, you can even see the yellow eggs hatching: http://www.planetinverts.com/red_cherry_...

It is very possible that she allowed infertile or fungusing eggs to drop off, though if she was startled by a fish, she could have darted and lost a few.  I wouldn't be too worried.  Three eggs will not create any problems in a tank unless there are only a few ounces of water.

Answer 4

Green are fertile.

Yellow infertile.

White rotting.

The other shrimp will eat the dropped eggs.

("'\(o.o)/"')