Sudden appearance of different colours of shrimp

[Nefersmum]

When I first set up my tank I put in five blue cherry shrimp. They've bred like rabbits - I've never seen anything like it!

A bit back I noticed we were showing some brown shrimp amongst the blue but assumed this was just the appearance of some kind of throwback to the shrimps original colour. Yesterday however I noticed a couple of bright red shrimp.


The brown shrimp I could understand as a return to the natural wild colouring but where on earth has the red come from?

 

[FishyMcfish]

Could a brown one have mated with a blue one and caused the red? Or maybe some of the blues had red genes in them as well but are just now starting to show? Idk, just speculating

 

[kansas]

I think FishyMcFish is right.

If you want to keep them blue, you'll need to remove the others. Some people like the different colors, but given enough time more and more of them will be brown.

 

[86 ssinit]

Yes brown is the wild color. There will always be brown ones. It’s best to cull them. I remove them into other tank where the shrimp aren’t the main thing. If you don’t cull the blue will disappear. The reds as stated are an offshoot of the blues. Again if you want just blue shrimp they too should be removed.

 

[Fishfur]

When I first set up my tank I put in five blue cherry shrimp. They've bred like rabbits - I've never seen anything like it!

A bit back I noticed we were showing some brown shrimp amongst the blue but assumed this was just the appearance of some kind of throwback to the shrimps original colour. Yesterday however I noticed a couple of bright red shrimp.


The brown shrimp I could understand as a return to the natural wild colouring but where on earth has the red come from?

Chocolate shrimp came from some of the blue strains and it’s not uncommon to get shrimp of different colours from their broods. If you want the blue to stay blue, you have to remove any that are not blue so they don’t breed with any blue ones but there is nothing wrong with them at all - they‘re not going to be of use to make more blue shrimp.

 

[SparkyJones]

If you want it to stay blue you have to remove the non-blue and if you want them to be strong blue you go to keep removing the weaker blues that appear and keep the genetics clean of the variations that appear.

Nothing wrong with the variant shrimps, just if you don't want their recessive genetics, or the dominant wild genetics taking over, they can't be allowed to breed back in with your blues. If you get browns you can keep them separate, or if you get reds or any other color you like you can keep them separate and breed others that appear to try and get those colors running true.. or cull, use as feeders, whatever you feel like doing.

The browns will toss off a blue here or there if you keep them in a separate colony from your blues.

 

[Nefersmum]

Chocolate shrimp came from some of the blue strains and it’s not uncommon to get shrimp of different colours from their broods. If you want the blue to stay blue, you have to remove any that are not blue so they don’t breed with any blue ones but there is nothing wrong with them at all - they‘re not going to be of use to make more blue shrimp.

I don't mind the different colours at all. I had planned to add in some different ones at some point. I was just surprised to see the red one. My shrimp are reproducing like crazy so I will

 

[kansas]

Some people like to keep diff colored shrimp. Over time, more and more will be brown but you'll also get odd ball colors.