Can Anyone Sex These Tangerine Tigers Please?

[Poverestpedant]

I apologise for the appalling quality of the photos. But I wonder if someone could help?

I'd had 10 for a week, which were settling in nicely. Then unfortunately we had a mini heatwave in the UK (don't laugh, it's miserably cold again now). Despite using a fan to try and cool the tank it was up to 25C. My RCS, were fine. Unfortunately, I think as a result I'm down to 4 TT.

Just want to know if I still have a mix of sexes. IF anyone can spot both, I be grateful. Thanks.

 

[Coradee]

Giving this a bump up for you

 

[Rtessy]

Any chance you could get some side views? Like the one in the fourth picture (that one looks male to me btw). Also, those are some nice looking shrimp!

 

[Poverestpedant]

Thank you for the reply. I'll try, I've an idea they're all male, which would be very disappointing. I have no problems telling with RCS, but I can't see a rounded area on any of my 'survivors'.

They're lovely shrimp, but not cheap in the UK. Why do they struggle with higher temps than RCS? Do they become more vulnerable to disease or is it the lack of oxygen? I'm going to add an air pump with a mini bio filter (even though the Spec V has excessive capacity) to address the latter in the summer (if we get one!).

 

[Rtessy]

I'm not sure why they're vulnerable to higher temperatures, I just know that it seems all Caridina are. I think it increases risk of disease and speeds up their metabolism too much. How old are they? I always have much more trouble sexing my Caridina than Neos, and it takes longer for them develop for me to do so. And I'm sorry you lost them, I hope you still have a mix.

 

[Poverestpedant]

Thanks, I bought them online. I would assume they're only about 8 weeks old.

 

[Rtessy]

There's still a good chance you have a female, from what I've seen they all look male to me until about 3-4 months, then I start seeing females with more rounded carapaces.

 

[Poverestpedant]

Fingers crossed, thank you.

 

[Poverestpedant]

Hello all, I'm having another go as I have a better camera on my new phone! The shrimp are still a bit camera shy.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have an idea the TT with the RCS is male, I'm hoping the other greedy TT may be a female. I realise it may be too early to tell still.

 

[Poverestpedant]

So, since I last posted I'm afraid I lost another TT due to molting problems and am down to 3.

The plus side is I now have my first berried female! I'm trying not to get too excited but am hoping this will save my colony.

My first question is would a female ever carry unfertalised eggs? Consensus elsewhere seems to say not.

Also, do they carry eggs around 4weeks like RCS?

My last question is regarding the 2nd photo. This TT has a light patch behind what I think is the brain, but it doesn't look as clear as the saddle on a RCS, could it be the start of one? I can't get a better photo yet.

 

[Rtessy]

Great news! I have to warn you, first time parents may drop the eggs 1-3 times
If she keeps them for 5-7 days, I'd say there's a 99% chance they will hatch! The 1% is if sometime weird happens that forces her to molt, but the good news is that if you can find the most with the eggs, you can artificially hatch them.
And, that does look like it could be the beginning of a saddle.
I had a disaster with hydra a few months ago that wiped out all but two of my blue dreams, both female, but one was berried and now I'm back up to ~10, more than I started with.
Also, the dark area is the stomach, you can see it moving if you look closely enough (it's a bit gross, lol), but if you feed different foods, it changes color.
So sorry for your loss.
Fingers crossed that she keeps the eggs!

 

[Poverestpedant]

Thank you very much for the reply! I know what it's like as my RCS have dropped some clutches, it's been terrible watching them 'juggle' the eggs when they aren't secure in the pleopods.

The only reliable egg carriers I have are the Amanos in their pointless quest to breed.

I have hopes for this female as she's a decent size and the remaining dozen or so eggs are stashed nicely. She's carried for 3 days so fingers crossed again!

Hopefully your shrimp will recover their numbers too.

 

[Poverestpedant]

Even better I now have a second berried female. This one is absolutely loaded with eggs like my Amanos do. So I hope she is good at juggling. Guess I was **** lucky 2 females and an efficient male survived!

 

[Rtessy]

Awesome! Haha, I wish I had your luck. I really hope it goes well for you