Question for the cherry shrimp breeders

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Thever

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Oct 18, 2008
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Location
Rockford, MI
Do males have color at all? I have 2 cherry's and one is no doubt an adult female. I attempted to get a mate, and I got one that was pretty colorless and smaller. As soon as it hit the tank- it turned red, not as red as the other, but mostly red.

I have a feeling she is young and not fully developed- I can imagine seeing a saddle, but not sure yet. Thanks!

Kevin
 
If you look closely at the males, they have red in them, but it's more of a translucent coloring/pattern then a dark solid-looking red like the females.
 
I took a pic of shrimp in question
the second pic is of the other + a algae eating shrimp hanging out
 

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Thanks, I havent seen them get....friendly. I just couldnt find any real good pics of males- the ones I saw were alot more transparent than what I have. So we'll see what happens
 
Upon further review, I took a good look at the shrimp in question, and now can see a saddle, it wasnt there as far as I could tell 2 days ago..but there it is. I stopped at the LFS earlier and was shrimp shy as I really dont want to buy another female...I did see one that looked quite colorless, but small. The last one I got kind of looked the same way, and got quite red once it hit my tank.
 
at 3 bucks a pop no more females.....I need a male so I dont need to buy anymore! why cant the males be blue or somethin:bowl:
 
$3 each? man, check around, you can get them for $1 each easily on the net.

Well adults on the net are $3 each and you know you'll get males and females.

1/4''-1/2'' you can get for $1-$1.25 each.

Both statements are true, but you get what you pay for. I've seen "red" cherry shrimp go for $0.50 each but guess what...there was almost NO RED on them and they were males and females. More red coverage will cost more but they sure look a lot better in my opinion and you won't have to introduce new blood to the colony for a long time, if ever. For the common RCS or one with a decent amount of red you'll be looking to pay $1 each online, and obviously more at the LFS.
 
I guess I'll pay a little more for the LFS, also I see what I'm getting. It looks like I've got 2 quality females, I'll go pick one w/ no color. It will be some one off albino female the way things have been going.
 
So....I got 2 more cherry's, another female....this one w/eggs, so Im sure to grow the population a bit. I tried for a male again....this one is more promising. The dirty trick they play at the LFS is a tank w/ no substrate..so they are all pretty pale, except the mature females. As soon as the new ones hit the tank...they turned a nice red. One of which is alot more transparent. The saga continues.

Some male is going to have quite a harem
 
Couple things -

You don't want to buy adults, you want juveniles. They transition into new waters, and ship, far better.

Very red cherry shrimp simply means old shrimp. Females get more red as they get older - very young ones can look like a male with a big of extra color. I have yet to see anyone show a discernable difference in the "redness", but that is just me.

My experience, as well as taught by some of the experts, including a talk I sat in on given by Mr. Eric Do. ;)
 
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