Ghost shrimp molt bofore hatch

[pan]

Hi,

I have 4 ghost shrimps but 2 died, then I bought another 12. Two of them are carrying egg. One died in two days, another still alive. But seems she stopped hatch; she molted and left the eggs in the old shell! I know ghost shrimp should not molt again before hatch.

Can someone advice on this?

 

[Fishfur]

If these are the palaemonetes Ghost shrimp, they don't hatch live babies. Their eggs float to the surface after release, hatch there, then morph into shrimplets a few days later, depending on temperatures.

I have never seen a Ghost shrimp leave eggs behind after a moult, but they can drop them early from stress. Are you sure it was not in fact a dead shrimp ?

Female shrimp typically send out mating pheromones after they moult. Then mate soon after that, and eggs appear.

Eggs take a few weeks to mature, then are released. Normally Ghost shrimp don't have much trouble with eggs, but they do like hard water and alkaline pH. Water that's acidic would not suit them at all, nor would soft water.

Water that is too hard can make moulting very difficult for shrimp, but that's not too common a problem.