# Observations regarding cherry shrimp colour



## RoyalFizbin (Mar 7, 2006)

Every once in a while, i try to pick out the less colorful cherry shrimp in my shrimp tank. Instead of killing these inferior shrimp I put them into another tank with fish. These fish are the small variety, feeder guppies and various types of small tetras. The population of shrimp in the fish tank never gets really big as I'm sure many will eventually get eaten. There will be many that will survive though. These shrimp always seem to my most red shrimp. I put them in because they're not red but end up becoming very red after a while. I belive that the stress of constanly hiding from fish might be making them turn red. Anybody else notice this?


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## Superedwin (Jan 19, 2009)

Hmm i never heard of that before, if anything if a shrimp is more stress it loses colors in most cases. But i guess they became redder possibly because they were just adjusting to the tank or they just felt more secure( maybe more plants or food in there?)


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## RoyalFizbin (Mar 7, 2006)

There are more plants for sure but I almost never feed them any algee tabs. Any food they get will just be left over flake food that the fish didn't get. It might just be the food. I'm just feeding cheap staple flakes that are multi colored. You know the kind. Perhaps its the red flakes in the mix that are doing this.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

What color is the substrate in your shrimp tank? What color is the substrate in your "community tank"?


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## RoyalFizbin (Mar 7, 2006)

Same substrate, pool filter sand. White but dirty. About a year ago, the shrimp had a black sand substrate but I changed it because it made my water very hard. The gh/kh readings were off the charts. The cherry shrimp did well in it for several years though. The shrimp deffinitly looked nicer in a black substrate but I had plans to get some crystal red shrimp which I thought wouldn't like the hard water. I never got around to getting the crystal reds.


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## ingg (Jan 18, 2007)

Shrimp (cherries) get more red as they age, plain and simple. This could have something to do with it.

I've always been a bit dubious reading about "super red!!!!exclamation point" cherries, as I can't help but recall a presentation at Aquafest in 2007. The presentation had a phrase that said something like... if you are buying very red cherry shrimp, odds are you are just buying old shrimp. Of the thousands that have bred out in my tanks, the words of that presentation do seem to hold true.


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## sorab (Aug 21, 2006)

The cherry are reacting as wild cherry would, they don't know they are red; they intensify their colour in a fish tank in an attempt at camouflage.


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

What Sorab said is 100% correct.

In the wild, the shrimp would attempt to blend in with their soundings by turning a darker brown. Cherry Shrimp do not know they are red, so they try to adapt and become even more red.

I wrote about this on my blog here: Redder Red Cherry Shrimp


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

RoyalFizbin said:


> Every once in a while, i try to pick out the less colorful cherry shrimp in my shrimp tank. Instead of killing these inferior shrimp I put them into another tank with fish. These fish are the small variety, feeder guppies and various types of small tetras. The population of shrimp in the fish tank never gets really big as I'm sure many will eventually get eaten. There will be many that will survive though. These shrimp always seem to my most red shrimp. I put them in because they're not red but end up becoming very red after a while. I belive that the stress of constanly hiding from fish might be making them turn red. Anybody else notice this?


Yeah, I made that same observation over and over. There are many who swear it's the superior genetics, refined strains crossed in, refreshed blood and such. In reality, it's the environment that allows a few shrimp in a tank full of food to develop to their dark red color and adult size, while in a tank where they have reached their population equilibrium they will not mature that way due to lack of food.

I challenge everyone (including those selling super-duper red shrimp) to take a few of their lesser shrimp and put them into an established planted tank that doesn't have shrimp (or shrimp eating fish, lol). Wait 2 weeks, and you will see some surprises from your faded shrimp.

Yep, discussed that before: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/42439-cherry-shrimp-genetics.html :smile:


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## Vladdy (May 6, 2008)

I have play sand as my substrate. I used to have ghost shrimp. Those little guys are fun to watch. They eat everything that gets left over, even fish poo.


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## RoyalFizbin (Mar 7, 2006)

I think the next thing to do is to find some kind of fish i can put in my shrimp tank that is an active swimmer but will not eat shrimp at all.

I have a pleco in there right now but plecos are hardley threatning. I had a dwarf puffer in there for a few weeks to clear out a snail problem and it was working untill almost all the snails were gone and the puffer started eating shrimp.

Any sugestions on an active swiming fish that won't eat shrimp?


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