Question for the cherry shrimp breeders

[Thever]

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

[neilanh]

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.

[Thever]

I took a pic of shrimp in question
the second pic is of the other + a algae eating shrimp hanging out

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I think the first one is a male, and the secound one is a female. As far as I can tell from the pics.


Btw nice lookin' tank

[neilanh]

Right on, Male on the left, female on the right.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Nice I got it right Well anyways Thever good looking breeding them, breeding is always a fun experience.

[Thever]

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

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well it seems like you got a good colored male, maybe you'll have really good colored baby RCS

[Thever]

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.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I see. Well it seems like your getting some good shrimp

[Thever]

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

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

lol that would make it easier haha

[neilanh]

$3 each? man, check around, you can get them for $1 each easily on the net.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

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.

[bs6749]

Originally Posted by neilanh

$3 each? man, check around, you can get them for $1 each easily on the net.

Originally Posted by FishCrazyBenBOMB

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.

[Thever]

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.

[Drewbie]

I thought shrimp were asexual?

[Thever]

fraid not, seems most snails are though, the way they multiply-at least in my tank

[Thever]

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

[ingg]

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.