Coral Banded Shrimp - Mated Pair

[sunny]

I have a mated pair of Coral Banded Shrimp. The larger of the two seems to have a blue-ish sac that can be seen on its underside. Are they eggs or baby shrimp? If they are, should I do something special?

 

[viper_930]

The blue color is seen on females, but they're not eggs. The eggs should be green, or clear in their later stages.

 

[sunny]

My husband thinks that the underside of the belly is green.

 

[reefiness]

you mean the blue is like right under the legs right?
the eggs are held under the tail where all the paddles are.

 

[sunny]

I have attached a photo. We really think it is eggs. We have seen her stick her small claws in the underside of her tail between the flippers and move them around.
Will she lay the eggs or give a live birth? Is there anything I shoud do with her? :cheer:

 

[reefiness]

ya if you see them moving around when she puts here little claws down there then i guess they are eggs. and they will hold the eggs under her tail until they are ready to hatch then she will relsease the free swiming fry which will become fish food and the remainder will be sucked into the filter.
also with the pair are they aggressive toward other inhabitants of the tank like other shrimp or small fish?
and can you see a physical difference between the 2 of them besides size because i would love to pair some off but i already have one and cant find an actual pair anywhere and they never have them on SWF

 

[sunny]

When I first put them in my tank, they almost immediately kicked my cleaner shrimp (AKA Red Stripe) out of his normal spot in the branch type live rock. Then they beat Red Stripe up pretty good, they clipped his feelers and amputated a leg. But, shrimp are amazing and everything grew back when he shed his extoskeleton. Since then, they have left him alone.
As far as their agression to fish, if fish get to close they swat at them. I have not seen them actually make contact with any of the fish. I bought the pair together. My husband thought I was crazy. They wanted $8 for 1 or the pair for $20. He didn't understand why a pair should cost $4 extra dollars. But they are really cool to watch and now this whole egg thing is really neat. The female is almost twice the size as the male. Sometimes I see the female collect the pelets and bring them to the male. She actually turns him around and they spit the pelets back and forth while hugging.
I really don't have any advice for you as far as how to mate a pair. Like I said, I purchased them already mated. Do you live in South Florida? If you do, I can give you the info on the store I bought them from.
Thank you for the info on the eggs. I am sad that they are destined to become fish food. Do you think if I put her in a tank without a filter, only a bubler, any of the fry will survive?