Black Cherry Shrimp

Zezmo · Post by **Zezmo** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:14 pm

Howdy Folks... This is my first post here on PetShrimp.com, though I have been coming to this site for general information for some time. I posted this question on the SFBAAPS forum. Someone there suggested bringing this up here.

The tank is 29g Planted. 2x 36w CF lighting. Substrate: CaribSea Cichlid sand mixed with tahitian Moon Sand. Water is Tap water ran through a micron and a carbon block filter. No additives. Params are: Ph 7.6, Kh:8 Gh:19 Actually I tested the Gh for the first time for this post...sure is high. Considering the Cichlid sand and that I use some Equilibrium at water change, that does not seem unrealistic that it is that high. Tank gets minimal fertilization in the form of a couple teaspoons of Flourish each week. 30-40%pwc every 2 weeks.

The inhabitants besides the Cherry shrimp are: 1m 3f Dwarf Gouramis, 1m 2f Honey Gouramis, 2 Cory Cats, 2 B-Nose Plecos, 6 Green Fire Tetras. Also MTS, Ramshorn Snails, PondSnails, and a Limpet.

I started my Cherry Shrimp (RCS) tank with 20 of them that I bought at a LFS for $1.99 each. These were all very bright red and mostly, if not all female. Concerned I might not have any Males, I got 5 males from another member of the SFBAAPS . These guys were Red, but not solid red like the ones I had already bought.

A few weeks, maybe a month after I started the tank the babies started appearing. Some red, some black (striped). As time has went on, I clearly have a population of Red Cherries, one of black (striped) ones, and there are a even a few golden brown ones. Has anyone else experienced this sort of color variation in their cherry shrimp?

Each of these pics has a bunch of black cherries in them. The Black ones hang out more in the open.

The red ones are more in the heavily planted areas.

Closeup of a Black Cherry. When I look at the main Gallery here at PetShrimp.com these look a lot like the babies of the "blue" shrimps.

This one is heavily berried. Some have pinkish eggs, some brown, some green... does egg color determine the babies color?

Here is a Golden Cherry. I wish my camera was better, this gal looks awsome in person.

Here are a couple of my Red Cherries. The shrimp color up, red or black at less than 1/4" in length.

Ever since I first saw the color diferences I have wondered if I should separate them by Color. Will these colors breed true? Are they just random to the population? Can I selectively breed for super black or super gold cherries? Isn't that how the cherries were created to begin with (selective breeding)?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:40 pm

I've not seen the black, but I have some golds. I think the gold come from crossing the Red Cherry with a wild type brown. I got a bad batch of shrimp off of ebay. Juvies that turned out to be a mix of browns and reds. I've been separating out the reds and seeing what comes of the ones that are not. I've seen greens and yellows, but no blacks so far.

I don't think they will breed true, but you may be 50%.

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 3:49 pm

Zezmo

I also had a Bad batch of RCS.
They look somewhat like the one's in your picture.

They do have little black marks on them.

If you , do not want alot of Hybred Shrimp.
I would start taking out the "non-red" Shrimp Now!

It will take awhile to clear out the "non-red" Shrimp.

John

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:06 pm

Welcome to the forum, Zezmo. I'd follow the advice that badflash and newjohn gave you. The hard part will be to remove the non-red males as it can be very hard to distinguish the "red" ones from the non-red. Your red cherries have been mixed with some wild type Neocaridina. It might not even have been Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (wild for of red cherries) but could have any number of Neocaridina species in existence. In other words you might have true hybrids at your hands (and you guys, too, badflash and newjohn!).

That is a very common problem as even shipments of red cherry shrimp from the far east come "contaminated" with various types of Neocaridina.

By the way...I would not call your shrimp black, as they are obviously not black. They are grayish/brownish at best.

THIS is a black shrimp (it's also a Neocaridina)

:

Zezmo · Post by **Zezmo** » Wed May 03, 2006 8:37 pm

Thanks for the feedback guys. Nice Black shrimp there Mustafa. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the ones I am showing are mostly clearish, with black spots/stripes.
If I start putting (sorting) them in different tanks based on color, will I end up with populations that breed true to those colors over time?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu May 04, 2006 2:00 am

My solution was to pick the interesting egg carrying females out and isolate them in their own tank. Reds I pull out into a red tank, yellows in another, greens in another and browns in still another. Males that show red spots go into the male tank, the rest stay in the mixing pot tank.

Anyone have some good ideas as to what to do with the culls?

demented_lullaby · Post by **demented_lullaby** » Fri May 05, 2006 12:03 am

I feed culls to my puffers....many other fish will probably eat them too.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:03 am

I can't do that. It would be like feeding puppies to pythons. I'll find someone who wats algae eaters but doesn't care about looks.

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:57 pm

I would try

Your Local Pet Store, Not, The big chain stores .
You may be able to get instore credit.
To help support your habit.

It has worked very well for myself.

The Shrimp Bug is starting to spread.

John

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:47 pm

zezmo

How are your RCS doing ?

Have you sorted out the "Wild Type"?
If so, are you trying to breed them ?

Demented_lullaby

I myself got rid of my culls,But, after reading about badflash's work,
and getting some that were GREEN.
I regret giving them away.

John