Question about breeding RCS

Hey team.

I have a question about breeding RCS.

When I first started the hobby, I purchased 9 High Grade Painted RCS and 20 High Sakura Grade RCS from 2 separate sources. As I was new to the hobby and anticipated breeding the guys, I thought it wise to purchase separate colonies to strengthen my gene pool (and because who knows what the gene pool is of each colony).

I had expected that Sakuras would result in the overall grade of my colony degrading over time, but I am finding the opposite. While my next generations of Sakuras are looking more red than the originals, I can easily identify who their parents were. My Painted RCS all look about the same as the originals except for some that have turned more of an orange colour but their colours are still solid.

For those with experience, my question is: What can I expect for my colony's future? Will the Sakuras eventually cause my pool to degrade in quality?

Keep in mind that I will not kill or feed the lower grade shrimp as I do feel very attached to them all and have a sense of morality that will not allow me to do so; however, the extremely low grades I have no problem with separating from the others in a different tank.

I'll attach some photos for a better idea.
(I may need to edit the photos once I post- I tend to fail at this part)



So at the top is one of the orange-y ones with one of the other colony.
Second is a pregnant Sakura.
Third is one of the redder Painted RCS.
Fourth is one of my lower grade Sakuras.

I rarely have RCS below the grade in the last photo but I currently have one that is almost wild looking with very little red that I will nab when he comes out of hiding and place in a different tank.

EDIT: I noticed that if you copy the URL of each and paste it in a new tab you will be able to zoom in for a closer look

 

It can go 50/50 with the offsprings. You will get darker ones and lighter ones

 

every once in a while my blue rcs will throw off a red or yellow shrimp its funny how it works

 

So, more specifically, is there a way to breed redder RCS over time? I am very interested in breeding them. RCS are more of a practice run for when I get serious about breeding crystal shrimp. I want to be able to breed them in a specific direction. Play God, so to speak.

When I go in for Crystals I am planning on having 20 or so 2 gallon tanks and one large 20-30g. The 2gs will be to breed them in a specific fashion and the larger tank will be for the shrimp that I don't care to breed but want to make sure they have enjoyable lives.

Does anyone know where I might find specific information along these lines?

Thanks for your responses.

 

You'd pick out the brightest shrimp and breed them. Any that don't meet your "breeding standard" would go to the retirement home.

 

yep the best looking ones need to be removed to a different tank or the undesirables taken out

 

You'd pick out the brightest shrimp and breed them. Any that don't meet your "breeding standard" would go to the retirement home.

Hollie is correct you will get many shrimp that you'll want to remove/cull to get brighter shrimp.

I recently just took a genetics class and learned a lot about how things are dispersed throughout the genome (genetic makeup) of animals and humans resulting in different phenotypes (visual traits such as brighter shrimp). Some traits can become significantly more dominate and show well in offspring and then randomly down the family line the old trait will show up. Most fish/shrimp that are selectively breed for colors/traits usually have offspring without the desires traits.


Sorry for rambling there. Just thought it was cool that class actually taught me something lol and wanted to share.

 

Hollie is correct you will get many shrimp that you'll want to remove/cull to get brighter shrimp.

I recently just took a genetics class and learned a lot about how things are dispersed throughout the genome (genetic makeup) of animals and humans resulting in different phenotypes (visual traits such as brighter shrimp). Some traits can become significantly more dominate and show well in offspring and then randomly down the family line the old trait will show up. Most fish/shrimp that are selectively breed for colors/traits usually have offspring without the desires traits.


Sorry for rambling there. Just thought it was cool that class actually taught me something lol and wanted to share.

Not rambling at all. These are the answers I'm looking for.

I understand that the vast majority of newly hatched shrimp will be subpar quality-wise, which is why I have the plan to have 20 or so tanks. On a scale from 0-20, how close is this shrimp to the shrimp I want- okay, you go in x tank. 0 is "retirement" as hollie puts it. It would seem that you might want to be an ugly shrimp with my setup! It's the fancy guys that get the small homes.

My idea is that the higher numbered tanks should produce a higher percentage of quality shrimp than the lower numbered ones.

So, mathematically, a first generation colony in tank 18 can be assumed to have a 10% chance of producing a higher grade shrimp, a 5% chance of producing an equal grade and an 85% chance of producing a lower grade.

That being said, if I have bred the desired trait from lower numbered tanks up to tank 18 over several generations, it stands to reason that this tank would have more than a 10% chance to produce the desired trait of a higher quality because I have actively bred out undesirable traits.

Maybe?

 

Yes you are correct the percent would increase (idk how much) with time but keep in mind I'm almost positive there is a threshold at where it limits out at.

And wow 20 tanks just for shrimp that's dedication there!!!

 

I personally have 4 shrimp only tanks (red white snoballs blue and yellow )the culls get put in with the guppies or betta. Then get sold/given away. It could easily be done with 2 tanks just be aggressive on the culling

 

Yes you are correct the percent would increase (idk how much) with time but keep in mind I'm almost positive there is a threshold at where it limits out at.

And wow 20 tanks just for shrimp that's dedication there!!!

I might bring it down to 10.
God forbid I decide that I want to breed 2 different traits.

As for the percentages, I'm just spit-balling... the percentages above are assumed percentages based on no previous knowledge of how the stock would have been bred before I receive them.

While it's extremely unlikely that I would be able to anticipate a 99% chance of hatching a shrimp with the desired traits, eventually it would happen. It's like how all turtles that are hatched are turtles. There is a 99.9999999...% chance that a turtle egg will hatch a turtle. It might just take thousands of years of breeding shrimp (not sure if I can hold my focus for that long).

I realize now that I might sound... crazy...