Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

I have a small colony of "blue cherry" shrimp plus "blue bee" shrimp that I got around 6 weeks ago. The blue cherry shrimp I've noticed off and on dropped eggs; the blue bee shrimp I've had 3 out of 3 females berry up and carry their eggs. One female still has eggs; the others do not. A few days ago I noticed baby shrimp in that tank, I've seen 5 or 6 but probably several more. They are about the size of newly hatched cherry shrimp and have a slight reddish hue. Now, the blue cherries came from a breeder who had discovered them among red cherry shrimp babies and isolated the color. They should produce mostly blue shrimp. Given I haven't see a berried blue cherry shrimp, the babies should be blue bee babies, but I don't see any white markings. I guess time will tell.

The following picture is the best picture yet I've gotten of any baby shrimp, and it's still blurry. The gravel is around small pea sized. In other news ... I have seen at least 3 - 4 small berried Caridina Sulawesi females. One looks like her eggs are getting near hatching. This again, is the best picture of one of the berried females, but you can see at least she has eggs. One of my blue cherry shrimp females ... this one is a nice blue. I have one or two that are darker, a few that are lighter, and some almost clear. I'm hoping to be able to selectively breed them for a nice blue color. And finally, another "project" shrimp: Rili shrimp. This one berried up a few days ago, and I think I saw part of the process. She's one of my nicest Rilis and I hope she survives. I saw one egg was whitish in her yesterday and haven't seen her today, but the tank has a fair amount of plants.

It's hard to say what that baby shrimp is. The Paracaridina sp. ("blue bee") don't show any white stripes as juveniles...and most of the males don't show much of a stripe anyway, even as adults. So, it could be a Paracaridina sp., but it could also be one of your "blue cherries" if one of your females did not drop all of her eggs and kept a few that you may have missed.

Glad to see that the Caridina sulawesi is berried. Keep an eye for "special" colors and patterns in your offspring. These guys are so variable that I still find shrimp in my main colony (where your shrimp came from) that look as good, or even better sometimes, than the shrimp I have been selectively breeding for several generations for color...and off they go into my selective breeding tanks.

Those "blue cherries" are interesting. Please report back on them when you know more about how well that blue carries on to the next generation and if the adults you have consistently keep that color. Are the clear "blue cherries" you mentioned all male or are some clear, colorless females in your colony, too? You did not receive any shrimp that had any red on them, right? All blue cherries?

Mustafa wrote:Glad to see that the Caridina sulawesi is berried. Keep an eye for "special" colors and patterns in your offspring. These guys are so variable that I still find shrimp in my main colony (where your shrimp came from) that look as good, or even better sometimes, than the shrimp I have been selectively breeding for several generations for color...and off they go into my selective breeding tanks.

I will I do hope I can selectively breed them in the future, but hope to build up a nice colony first.

Mustafa wrote:Those "blue cherries" are interesting. Please report back on them when you know more about how well that blue carries on to the next generation and if the adults you have consistently keep that color. Are the clear "blue cherries" you mentioned all male or are some clear, colorless females in your colony, too? You did not receive any shrimp that had any red on them, right? All blue cherries?

None had/have any red on them. I got the blue cherries as juveniles, I think all were 1/2 inch or smaller. Some were already showing some blue. There is at least a couple of very light females with faint markings, as I've seen saddles on them. It is hard for me to tell male/female by the shape of their belly/body. There is one almost clear one that looks like a male, most of the others look like they are females. I think some of the blue ones have intensified with growth/age. According to the breeder I got them from, they should have mostly blue offspring with very few reds, although the intensity will vary. But as I know more from my own breeding experiences I will pass the info on.

Edit: Just after I wrote this I went to check on the shrimp, and found a berried blue cherry female! One of the lighter ones, and small (about 1/2") but berried normally. Hopefully all will go well.

knxtninverts wrote:
I will I do hope I can selectively breed them in the future, but hope to build up a nice colony first.

Yes, establishing the colony is the first priority, of course.

None had/have any red on them. I got the blue cherries as juveniles, I think all were 1/2 inch or smaller. Some were already showing some blue. There is at least a couple of very light females with faint markings, as I've seen saddles on them. It is hard for me to tell male/female by the shape of their belly/body. There is one almost clear one that looks like a male, most of the others look like they are females. I think some of the blue ones have intensified with growth/age. According to the breeder I got them from, they should have mostly blue offspring with very few reds, although the intensity will vary. But as I know more from my own breeding experiences I will pass the info on.

Edit: Just after I wrote this I went to check on the shrimp, and found a berried blue cherry female! One of the lighter ones, and small (about 1/2") but berried normally. Hopefully all will go well.

Thanks, that would be great. It would be perfect if you could start a new thread just for the "blue cherries" (I think we need to find a better name for these guys ).