Questions About Established Jar o' Shrimp

[boucherh]

Hi Everyone!

I've had my super shrimp almost a year now and I love them. I have a few questions though that I haven't been able to find addressed in the discussion board.

1) Why do some of my shrimp have dark colored mid-sections (it almost resembles a saddle) and other don't?

2) My jar has virtually no visible algae growth (I can see a tiny bit on the sand bed and once in a while a little bit of barely visible slime on the glass but that's it). Is this normal?

3) My shrimp seem to change colors. In the morning most of them seem to be bright red. However, sometimes in the afternoons they are almost clear. What does that mean?

Thank you!!!

[03amida]

Welcome! I can’t answer the questions about the algae or why the shrimp seem to have a routine from red to clear. I do know that the saddle is what the females have that the males don’t and is the only way to determine the sex.

[Varanus]

Its not unusual for there to be little algae growth, due to the low nutrients in the tank and how good the shrimp are at controlling algae. You can try leaving the top of the tank off for a while to encourage more algae growth.

Also, I'll caution that the "saddles" don't necessary indicate the sex of these shrimp, or at least I think I recall Mustafa saying that.

The shrimp do change colors at times, and there seems to be more than one reason. In general they will get pale if stressed/frightened (though some are naturally pale all the time) but other factors must be at play when only a few shrimp in a given tank turn pale.

[Mustafa]

Also, I'll caution that the "saddles" don't necessary indicate the sex of these shrimp, or at least I think I recall Mustafa saying that.

Usually, the dark/brown "saddle" does mean that you have a female. Some shrimp may develop white or yellowish "saddles" which seems to be not an indicator of gender.