Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

So I have 8 cherry reds, and one of them is a baby still. I was wondering how long does it take for them to get that deep red coloring? They all are light red, or spots here and there! . Does it mean that I have all males? I hope not! Thanks

It takes several months for the young shrimp to reach adulthood and reach full coloration.

Only one of the shrimp is a baby! All the rest are like Teens/adults.

This applies to "teens" too. Also, there are many factors to coloration. Some important ones are 1. well-being (unhappy and sick shrimp are pale) 2. food (some foods, such as spirulina, intensify colors.

Other than that...just do a search in this forum. A lot has been said on this topic in the past.

I believe the food play an important role. I did not feed my shrimp before, they were all feeding on the algae in the tank. When the baby shrimp grows up to about 3/4 inch, they are still pale. I am sure some pale shrmps are female for they are carrying "yellow saddle" in the necks.
After getting suggestion from here (thanks, Mustafa) I started to feed flake food to shrimp every other day. Now small baby shrimps start to show red color, even smaller than 1/2 inch.

Yes, normal flake food has enough color enhancers to bring out the colors in shrimp. No special color food or "invertebrate food" is needed at all.