Outnumbered

[35ppt]

Couple of weeks ago, I got a batch of new neos, sold to me as rilis.

Pretty sure I’ve got 11 males and 1 female. There’s just a few that might not be M.

The tank is a 3 gallon, and I was trying for a ‘simple’ scape. Which turns out to mean limited hiding spots for post-molt hiding. There’s stuff in there, I just don’t know how much they need/want. I will go ahead and add more ‘stuff’, to be safe.

I am really worried about my one female. I guess I need to pull out most of the males for her safety? But how many? Not that I really have anywhere to put them.

I had planned to add some TT that I have; will these males be an issue at molt time, aggression-wise?

I had been hoping to have lots of fun doing different experiments with selective breeding, so I guess that will be a looooong way off. Or does that even work with rilis?

i.e. are the patterns random ?

[jem_xxiii]

You should be fine, even with one female shrimp. It will always be a fiesta in your tank for the males if there is indeed 11 males to 1 female.

[Jadenlea]

I mean... if you think about it.... even if you have 50 /50 male to female ratio...and 100 shrimp in a tank,  there is still usually only one female that molted, so they always have all the males after the one female right?

 

but ya give her lots of hiding spots.  I always worry when I watch the breeding process and see them chasing the female to exhaustion

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

Hiding spots are recommended.  Even if just a clump of moss.

 

Lots of males get frenzied after a female molts.  Once a fem is tracked down and held, other males may try to fight to join in on mating.  The hiding spot limits how many males find her at one time.

 

The fem's exoskeleton has not hardened yet, and for some reason in all the excitement she can be confused for food.  (No idea why.)  Doesn't always happen, but sometimes it does.

 

[35ppt]

Put a mossy cholla log in last week, that should have tons of hiding spots.

Did the P.M. tank check last night. Everybody was shrimping about as usual. I guess maybe the shrimps have matured recently, as I think I may see some saddles.

The big female was on the filter uplift tube, kinda camo as there are splotches of algae on the tube, and she is a rili. I didn’t take a pic, since it is in the back of the tank. Now I wish I had. A.M. tank check was disheartening; the big female was upside down. Not a (obvious) molt issue. Params normal. So bummed, she had very interesting color patterns, too.

Checked the other tanks; found some TT shrimplets (my first!) that I had found, and lost, and now found again. Little guy posed for me on the sponge filter. Slight chance it is a RCS baby, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for TT this time.