I have several saddled cherries in my shrimp only tank - and today I noticed that one is berried, and the another appears to no longer be saddled and isn't berried. I also noticed 1 yellow egg? lying alone on a leaf, and a clump of about 10 yellow eggs? attached to another leaf. Are these actually eggs, and why would they be lose?
Thanks.
Usually, when a female "drops" the eggs, it's one of three things:
1. Perhaps if she is a very, very young female (just reaching maturity), she might lose her eggs her first time for that reason. If this is the cause, it's nothing to worry about, as she continues to mature it won't happen.
2. Is there anything in the tank besides shrimp? If this is a mixed shrimp-fish tank, or a tank that mixes peaceful shrimp (RCS) with more aggressive shrimp (ghost shrimp, whisker shrimp) it could be that the RCS female was startled/attacked/harassed and dropped her eggs as a result of the stress.
3. Last possibility, and probably the most likely if neither #1 nor #2 applies, is there is something the female doesn't like in the water chemistry. If nitrate levels are creeping too high, or the pH is fluctuating, or for example if a water change was done with water temp significantly different from the tank water temp, any of these sorts of things could cause a female to drop her eggs.
That's what I can think of offhand. Hopefully it's helpful.