Breeding RCS to Bloody Mary...keep color?

Hey all! New to shrimp and breeding, and my good quality reds have been prolific...ie new babies every couple of weeks to a month for four months. Which is awesome! I love the little red babies. I had some lower quality RCS in the tank, too, so I've been culling them out to other tanks (along with some other colors I got and mistakingly put in with the reds), and I'd like to buy some more good quality reds to mate with my females. My female breeders are so red you can't see through them at all. When I got them from an LFS, I was told they were regular cherries, not Bloody Mary's. A different LFS is getting some BMs in this week but because they are a bit different, ie their color is in the flesh too, he wasn't sure they would breed true (solid red babies) with the females I have.

So I'm asking...would they breed solid red together or should I look for high quality regular RCS? I want to get to the point that I can sell extra for a couple bucks. TIA!!!

Sorry the pics aren't good quality but you can see my females along with some that got culled (including a near black) hanging out with Jazz the mystery snail....

 

I'd keep going well the strain you've got! Males are always less colourful than female RCS,so you won't get the same saturation of colour I'm your boys. Intermixing two strains COULD maybe possibly work out well, but it could also ruin all the work you've done so far in culling.

If you're dead set of getting a new variety, start a second shrimp tank. Also, sell your culls! Not everyone is looking for the highest of high quality, so even boring culls can find buyers.

 

There are charts online that supposedly show which how the various strains were bred to get to the colors we see today. If the two strains you want to cross are not from the same line, I would expect them to not breed true.

 

I'm not dead set on making a new variety, just want to be able to say they are high grade CS. If I get to the point I'm overrun with culls, I'll sell them, too. Right now with four tanks I'm doing okay with the culls going to hang out with other various kinds including blue and yellow.

It's just the LFS getting the BMs is much closer to me than the other, so was hoping getting BMs closer to home would be okay. The one farther away gets theirs from a local breeder, and they have the ghosts I want to get. Thanks!

 

There are charts online that supposedly show which how the various strains were bred to get to the colors we see today. If the two strains you want to cross are not from the same line, I would expect them to not breed true.

I looked up some of those charts and I believe you are right. The RCS and Bloody Mary's are on different "lines," so I'll be looking for some good RCS's. Thank you!