Chery Shrimp with Bristlenose eggs

[Kaizen088]

So this topic has come up on another great (aquaruim) forum that I am a member of, thought I'd see if anyone here has some more info on the subject.

I have recently got back into fish and breeding after a bit of an absence for a few years.

Back in the day I bred bristlenose catfish with many pairs/trios breeding all the time and I was always getting some eggs kicked out of some caves.

I'd put them in an egg tumbler and most survived, occasionally some eggs would get a hairy fungus grow on them(usually the unfertilised eggs) which if not removed from the clutch would send the other eggs next it fungusy as well.

So now there is shrimp available where they weren't available back then.

Some reputable people on the other forum said to throw a couple of shrimp in the egg tumbler with the eggs to keep them clean.

I got my first batch of eggs almost 2 weeks ago and the male had kicked about 12 eggs out of the cave. I put them in an egg tumbler with 2 medium sized Cherries. I watched them constantly each day as I was a little paranoid that the shrimp may eat the eggs. I noticed that there was one white, unfertilised egg within the clutch (I used to remove them with an airline to prevent problems). The shrimp went straight to work on the unfertilised egg and for the duration that the eggs were in there, that was the only egg they ate. I could see them feeding off/cleaning the healthy eggs but didnt lose any.

Both also shed while in the egg tumbler (not sure if that's relevant)

My question is has anyone here used shrimp for care of eggs in an egg tumbler and have they eaten healthy eggs as well as unfertilised ones. Any other info around this topic is also much appreciated.

Cheers

[Matmatmat]

I've not used a tumbler , but have used cherry shrimp to keep flowerhorn and goldfish eggs clean. Never noticed any healthy eggs get eaten..

[wayne6442]

Mate neve done it, But a very interesting point you have there,

[smicko]

hi mate. every egg I have ever tumbled has had cherries in with them. as you mentioned they eat any unfertilized eggs and keep the others clean which I found handy when I was breeding Africans and Americans.

cheers Mick

[honcho]

me too ive been diong it for ages.. only way to keep eggs clean of any fungus..or dead eggs.. they will definantely not eat good eggs..

i have found larger females to be best for this job as they seem to do better cleaning of eggs.. maybe due to eating more to produce there own eggs..

males tend to be lazy and my eggs usually get fungused up easy and die..

well thats my experience with it ...

hope that helps

[Kaizen088]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@honcho, does it matter if the females are berried or not?

I'm very skilled at sexing berried shrimp(lol), if they're not berried do I just look for a saddle or what?

Still new at keeping shrimp.

[staphjermz]

Wow that is interesting.i have bristlenoses as well but daddy looked after the eggs til they hatched

[mickeyG]

I've used red cherries with all my yellows,bn and l number eggs without any problems.

A couple of times I have thought they had attacked a good egg but when I've looked closer the eggs have always been non fertile.

I had to get my head around the fact cherries knew before me what eggs were the keepers..

[Kaizen088]

I've used red cherries with all my yellows' date='bn and l number eggs without any problems.

A couple of times I have thought they had attacked a good egg but when I've looked closer the eggs have always been non fertile.

I had to get my head around the fact cherries knew before me what eggs were the keepers..[/quote']

Yeah I think its a bit like maggots, they only eat dead flesh.

[honcho]

lol @ maggots.. yeah doesnt matter if they are berried or not.. just look for a couple good size ones and chuck them in..also saddle is usually a little diamond shaped yellow colouring just where the head and the body connect on top..

females also have a much bigger belly that is more rounded..

..also i just remembered that this is how i first got into shrimp.. because i needed some to tumble bristlenose eggs.id totally forgot

[mickeyG]

Same honcho, lost three batches of bn eggs before my mate told me to try it and gave me 20rcs

[fishmosy]

I always use RCS in my tumblers, certainly saves the hassle of trying to remove fungused eggs yourself.

[t3v0r0]

Wow that's interesting. I've got red cherrys in my tank and my bristlenose is about to have eggs.

I'll give this idea a go

[zohn]

Wow that's interesting. I've got red cherrys in my tank and my bristlenose is about to have eggs.

I'll give this idea a go

What's the status? RCS with bristlenose eggs worked for me.

[t3v0r0]

So my BNs had eggs over the weekend, and it so happens that my male kicked half the clutch out. (About 20 eggs) I've put these and 1 cherry red shrimp in the tumbler.

I'll post an update in the next day or two to see if any of the fertilized looking eggs get eaten.

[t3v0r0]

Update:

All the bristlenose eggs hatched successfully. Thankfully none was unfertilised.

The cherry red shrimp didn't touch any of the eggs during the whole hatching process

[Kaizen088]

Good to hear...