# Few shrimp questions



## Deano3 (20 Oct 2020)

Hi everyone hope you are all well i jist have a few questions about shrimp 

Forstly are cherry shrimp one of the lower grades ? I want a nice deep red colour but have a lot of cherries that colours arnt very good, so when colours get better do their names change to bloody mary shrimp etc ?

And if i get 10 of them or so should there colours come out much better when they breed ?

I read that bloody marys may actually be different as its there tissue that is the deep red not the shells.

Any info be great
Thanks dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## lilirose (20 Oct 2020)

"Cherry shrimp" is the common name for Neocaridina davidii. All of the different colour names are just colour variants of Neocaridina davidii- they're all the same and can interbreed. One of the first variants bred was red, which is why they were called Cherry shrimp.

Bloody Marys do have red flesh. They are still just a variant of Neocaridina davidii. Think of it like how a Great Dane and a chihuahua are both the same species and can interbreed. If you mix colours, they will interbreed, and the offspring will likely be wild type in colour (which is kind of clear with brownish patches).

Usually you will not improve the colour of your shrimp above what the parents look like, unless you are a breeder and cull every baby shrimp that isn't up to the highest standard. Most shrimp breeders don't use "cull" in the traditional sense of killing, they just move the culls to another tank. 

If you don't cull, over time the offspring will decrease in quality. In my experience it only takes about 3-4 months, under ideal conditions, to have 100 babies from six adult shrimp, and once 3-4 months have passed, you will be seeing some very poor quality and even wild type babies.


----------



## Sammy Islam (20 Oct 2020)

Deano3 said:


> Hi everyone hope you are all well i jist have a few questions about shrimp
> 
> Forstly are cherry shrimp one of the lower grades ? I want a nice deep red colour but have a lot of cherries that colours arnt very good, so when colours get better do their names change to bloody mary shrimp etc ?
> 
> ...


Basically what i was wondering, thought it would be good to introduce some really colourful ones as i started with 20ish and now have an unknown number probably 150+. Thinking to add some tangerine tigers too


----------



## lilirose (20 Oct 2020)

Adding new colourful ones won't improve the stock you already have. They will, of course, live a year or two as individuals, and bring colour to the tank as long as they survive.

I have not yet owned Tangerine Tigers, but those are Caridina serrata, and cannot interbreed with Neocaridina davidii.


----------



## Deano3 (20 Oct 2020)

lilirose said:


> "Cherry shrimp" is the common name for Neocaridina davidii. All of the different colour names are just colour variants of Neocaridina davidii- they're all the same and can interbreed. One of the first variants bred was red, which is why they were called Cherry shrimp.
> 
> Bloody Marys do have red flesh. They are still just a variant of Neocaridina davidii. Think of it like how a Great Dane and a chihuahua are both the same species and can interbreed. If you mix colours, they will interbreed, and the offspring will likely be wild type in colour (which is kind of clear with brownish patches).
> 
> ...


Thanks for that very helpful info , so they are all the same type of shrimp just different colourations. So do breeder's keep the mpst colourful few and remove the rest into a different tank ?

What you think is the best option getting a dozen colourful bloody marys etc or hight grade ones and hopefully the baby shrimp will have better colours than none high grade ones ?

I have a load of babys in other tank but colours arnt great and want bright red ones in here and also want them to breed.

Also still cant make mind up about nerites as dont want eggs in tank  may just stick with shrimp and hope dont get sucked into the EA skimmer/inlet.

Thanks dean 

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## Dr Mike Oxgreen (20 Oct 2020)

lilirose said:


> a Great Dane and a chihuahua are both the same species and can interbreed.


Only if a step ladder is involved, surely?

A step ladder is always involved. And don’t call me Shirley.


----------



## Ghettofarmulous (20 Oct 2020)

Deano3 said:


> Also still cant make mind up about nerites as dont want eggs in tank




I have four nerites and they only seem to lay eggs on the glass below the substrate line. Doesn’t bother me. Worth the trade off for nice looking, helpful creatures


----------



## Nick potts (20 Oct 2020)

Deano3 said:


> Thanks for that very helpful info , so they are all the same type of shrimp just different colourations. So do breeder's keep the mpst colourful few and remove the rest into a different tank ?
> 
> What you think is the best option getting a dozen colourful bloody marys etc or hight grade ones and hopefully the baby shrimp will have better colours than none high grade ones ?
> 
> ...


Starting off with the best/most colourful shrimp you can is a good start.

What you have to remember is that once they start breeding they are going to produce offspring of various colours "grades", so to keep the deep red colouration you would need to start removing any shrimp that are not perfect, otherwise as mentioned above they will all start breeding and you will end up back with dull/brown shrimp.

So it's an ongoing process of breeding and removal from the breeding colony to keep the nice colours.


----------



## lilirose (20 Oct 2020)

Deano3 said:


> Thanks for that very helpful info , so they are all the same type of shrimp just different colourations. So do breeder's keep the mpst colourful few and remove the rest into a different tank ?
> 
> What you think is the best option getting a dozen colourful bloody marys etc or hight grade ones and hopefully the baby shrimp will have better colours than none high grade ones ?
> 
> ...




Yes, you need to separate the less colourful babies, this stops them from breeding with good ones and making more badly coloured ones. I know of one well known YouTuber who uses a big plastic tote as a cull tank.

Once again, adding good shrimp to lesser quality shrimp will not improve the genetics of the tank. The quality will always deteriorate over time unless you cull regularly.

I have eight nerites. I've only ever seen one of them lay eggs and I didn't find them ugly.

If you have shrimp and a filter that has a large enough inlet to suck them up (or their babies, which are very small) you should buy or make a filter inlet sponge rather than letting the shrimp take their chances. Trust me- if you have an opening that shrimp can fit into, shrimp will enter it, and depending on your filter it may not end well for the shrimp.


----------



## Deano3 (20 Oct 2020)

lilirose said:


> Yes, you need to separate the less colourful babies, this stops them from breeding with good ones and making more badly coloured ones. I know of one well known YouTuber who uses a big plastic tote as a cull tank.
> 
> Once again, adding good shrimp to lesser quality shrimp will not improve the genetics of the tank. The quality will always deteriorate over time unless you cull regularly.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that, how many shrimp you recommend to start off with in my EA aquascaper 900 ?

I will get some high grade ones and once they have babys how long until they breed ? So i know when to start trying to remove.

Also i may get some nerites next time at the shop.

Thanks  

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## lilirose (21 Oct 2020)

You should get as many shrimp as you can afford for an AS 900. They will breed like crazy if conditions are good, but you probably want a chance of spotting them occasionally.

Depending on the age of the shrimp you buy, you should see baby shrimp in six weeks maximum.

I wasn't aware you were setting up a tank that big- personally I'd just start with the best shrimp I can afford and let them breed as they wish rather than trying to cull, as chasing baby shrimp that are less than a centimeter long around a huge tank would be a nightmarish job (they start breeding at 1cm so you need to remove them before that). Or just get a dozen Amanos and you won't have to worry about how they breed.


----------



## EA James (16 Jan 2021)

lilirose said:


> Or just get a dozen Amanos and you won't have to worry about how they breed.


Just having a read through some of the threads as I'm looking into some shrimp for my EA1200 freshwater, will Amano's eat smaller shrimp? I have 8 Amano's in my tank and 5 are female and they're huge!! 
Cheers


----------



## Nick potts (16 Jan 2021)

EA James said:


> Just having a read through some of the threads as I'm looking into some shrimp for my EA1200 freshwater, will Amano's eat smaller shrimp? I have 8 Amano's in my tank and 5 are female and they're huge!!
> Cheers



They won't eat other shrimp, they can be bullies and steal food but that is all.


----------



## EA James (16 Jan 2021)

Nick potts said:


> They won't eat other shrimp, they can be bullies and steal food but that is all.


It's just clicked in my head what he meant, i think he meant get Amanos as they won't breed. I was thinking the Amanos might keep the shrimp population under control 🤦‍♂️


----------

