How Many Eggs do Shrimp Lay On Average?

An aquarium is not limited to fish species. You can keep various beings on it. Shrimp is one of the most popular invertebrates to have in an aquarium.

There are multitudes of species of shrimp. Each with its characteristics and colors. These invertebrates bring in a whole new dimension to the aquarium. You can breed shrimps, they lay eggs and are good parents. The shrimps keep the eggs protected within their swimmeret legs. 

In this article, we will go through perplexities related to Shrimp eggs. So let us get on with it.

How Many Eggs do Shrimp Lay? 

The number of eggs that a Shrimp can lay depends upon the species. Different species lay a different number of eggs.

A female Red Cherry Shrimp can lay 20 to 30 eggs at a time, Ghost Shrimp can lay 10 to 85 eggs, and Amano Shrimp can lay 1000 to 3000 eggs.

So there is not a definite number of eggs that a Shrimp can lay. The number of eggs that a Shrimp can lay varies with the species.  

If you really want a slightly accurate answer to this question, you should first figure out the species of shrimp you are talking about.

At a time, however, a regular shrimp can lay 20 to 30 eggs which takes about 2 to 3 weeks to hatch.

Breeding process of Shrimp

The breeding process of the Shrimp is probably the simplest of all the species that you can keep in an aquarium. The female will lay eggs and carry them under its body. The shrimp that is carrying eggs is known as a berried shrimp. 

When the female is ready to reproduce, she will release sexual hormones into the water. The male will then locate her and implant his sperm into her. After this, the female will pass the eggs to the swimmeret legs or beneath her tail meanwhile, the eggs will be introduced to the sperms present in the tube. The eggs remain there until they are ready to hatch, being regularly fanned by the shrimp’s tail. Fanning aids in the oxygenation of the eggs, which require the same amount of oxygen as adult shrimp. They fan the eggs to keep them clean and prevent mold and germs from growing.

The eggs will then hatch after 3 weeks. After hatching you can observe small shrimplets moving around in the water column. 

How do Shrimp eggs appear? 

You must be curious to know about how the Shrimp eggs appear. Even though the Shrimps carry the eggs around with them, you will be able to see them as they have a transparent bodies.

They are round in shape and appear to be very tiny balls. The egg is green or yellow.

If the eggs have been carried for a longer period, then there will be small dark spots visible in the egg.

The dark spots come around during the 16th day. The eggs take three weeks or 21 days to hatch.

Where do the shrimp lay their eggs? 

The female shrimps lay eggs and the eggs remain the saddle until the mating occurs. They carry the eggs around until they find a male that can fertilize them.

Once they meet a male and the male releases sperm, the females move the eggs towards their belly. Meanwhile the eggs get fertilized by a tube containing the sperm. 

How to know if your shrimp is pregnant? 

It is easy to identify a Shrimp that is carrying its egg. The term pregnant is not ideal for them as they lay eggs and are not livebearers. Most shrimp have translucent bodies, it’s pretty simple to know if one is carrying eggs. 

When female shrimp start laying tiny circular yellowish or green eggs behind their tails, you can easily know if they are carrying eggs or not. Because shrimp has a transparent body, you can readily distinguish the eggs inside the female’s body and determine if she is pregnant or not.

How to know if the shrimp eggs are fertilized? 

The female shrimp will carry around the infertile eggs in its saddle waiting for a male to fertilize them. If they are in the saddle they are not fertilized.

When the males release sperm, the female will move the eggs towards the belly. It is during this that the eggs get fertilized through a tube that holds the sperm.

When the eggs are placed in the belly of the female fish, it means that the eggs are fertilized. 

Will Shrimp carry unfertilized eggs? 

In the case of infertile eggs, female shrimp do not waste their energy in carrying them and taking care of them. The females don’t carry around infertile eggs.

The female will carry around eggs in its saddle for some time while she waits for a male to fertilize them. If the mating fails, the female will leave or drop the eggs. The dropped infertile eggs can be seen floating in the water column. 

You can remove the infertile eggs that are floating in the water column. The fishes can eat the infertile eggs as well. 

Will shrimp drop fertilized eggs? 

It is highly unlikely for the female shrimp to drop the fertilized eggs. But it can happen sometimes. It usually occurs when the females are carrying eggs for the first time. So an inexperienced shrimp can fail to hold all of its eggs. They can lose hold of some of them. 

Females are also known to drop their eggs when they get stressed. Stress is usually occurred by fluctuations in the water parameters. So you must maintain the water parameters at all times, especially when the shrimp is carrying eggs if you want to see shrimplets in your aquarium.

How often can Shrimp lay eggs? 

A mature shrimp can lay eggs about every month. This frequent egg-laying only occurs with mature shrimp that are sexually active.

Every time the shrimps mate you can see 20 to 50 shrimplets each time the eggs hatch. The number of eggs can increase with every breeding as they get more experienced in it.

Do you need a separate tank to keep the egg-carrying shrimp? 

The need for a separate tank comes up with the type of fish you have in your tank. If the fish you have are aggressive, a separate tank for the egg-carrying female is needed. The fish can bother the shrimp, which can make the shrimp drop its egg. Then the egg will be eaten by the fish. Not just the eggs, the fishes can eat the shrimplets as well. 

Set up a small tank and get it ready with the right water conditions. Move the female to the tank and let the eggs hatch. The shrimp babies don’t face any threat from their parents.

Is it hard to breed a Shrimp? 

Though the breeding process of the shrimp is simple, it might be hard to breed a shrimp. Although, not all shrimps are hard to breed. The difficulty of breeding varies with the species.

The easiest shrimp to breed is the Red Cherry Shrimp. They are easy to breed, and even novices can breed them. On the other hand, shrimps like Amano Shrimps are hard to breed.

Shrimps are great invertebrates to keep in an aquarium. You won’t regret keeping them in a tank. When they mature, they will gift you with baby shrimps almost every month. The number of eggs they can lay differs with the species. Shrimps are the best parents. They take care of their eggs very well.

They carry the eggs around in their belly till they hatch and on top of that, they continuously fan them to provide oxygen to them. Although. some situations can make them drop their eggs. You can also breed them pretty easily, but the difficulty regarding breeding differs with species.