Color changes after disturbing the tank. And "pods".

[shmohney]

I've had my shrimp for over two months now, and the majority have been a nice red color, even more so when they are feeding when I give them an occasional pellet of food. But I always notice a few that have almost no color - they look almost totally clear. I know that they are likely to just be that (lack of) color for the time being, but I wanted to watch them change, so I decided to start a new small tank and transfer 2-3 clear ones into it, and see if they later turn red. Two days ago I pulled out an algae-covered piece of coral, and some chaeto, from the old tank to move to the new tank to help get it ready. Boy, did that make the shrimp unhappy! Everybody got real pale and even two days later, only a few are bright red again. I'll feed them in a couple of days and note what happens to their color.

I received a hitch-hiking 'pod population along with my shrimp. I turn on one small light over the tank at night, in an otherwise dark room, just to watch them gather below it. It's interesting to watch the population swings. For a week or two, there may be only a couple of dozen swimming around where I can see them. Then one night, I'll look and there will be hundreds. Two days later, we're back to just a few. They're really tiny, and I've got late middle-aged eyes, but by doubling up on my reading glasses I can observe their behavior a little. The majority swim very smoothly and seem to ebb and flow towards and away from the light in waves, reminding me of a lava lamp. Occasionally I see a couple who swim very fast and jerkily, like popcorning shrimp. A third kind is usually observed on the tank glass. They're larger than the others, and move along the glass in a sinuous way, like tiny paramecia. And one day I observed a single critter that was red, much larger than all the others, and moving very fast. For a moment I even wondered if that was a shrimp larva, but I really think it was much too small. I've never seen that one again. I've read comments on this forum from at least one person who was disturbed by these organisms, but for me, they add to the interest of the tank as a whole.

Ten or twenty 'pods traveled with the chaeto to the new tank and seem to be doing well after two days. Since the water is only a few days old, I'm dubious about whether they'll survive or not. But it looks good so far.

My chaeto is growing so well, I may have to start another tank just to keep it from taking over the shrimp tank. I would have a hard time killing it, especially since I believe it harbors 'pods.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for sharing your experiences so far. I would not worry too much about the coloration of your shrimp. They'll all turn varying shades of red sooner or later as your tank becomes more established. Keep the updates coming!