[romster]

Hello all,


First of all I am a shrimp novice. I have a question regarding grading the shrimps my buddy wants to give me. He breeds shrimps and by some accident his Neocaridina mixed. Red Sakura grade with Bloody Mary grade. In shrimp keeping world, would you say they are completely worthless or do they take the grade of the lower grade of the parents, in this case Red Sakura grade. Thanks for your insight.

 

[Econde]

Sakura red and bloody Mary stem from two different color lineage. If they were to breed, there is a high chance for wild type(brown) colors to emerge from the shrimplettes.

 

[romster]

Ahaa, now I get it. I was not too far from truth yesterday when I was wondering and asking him, after a little research, why are his shrimps so nice and red when they are offspring of Sakura line= Red Cherry and Bloody Mary= Chocolate line when he had told me earlier that you may not mix different lineages. Now it all the pieces fit together. Although the shrimps he wants to give me are very nice a bright and dark red, you may never be sure of their offspring. Thank you

 

[Zoidburg]

Red + Red = More Red

The "mix" has already been done, I believe using PFR with BM and the line was called "Savage Red's". I do not know how much culling was necessary to keep the shrimp red and bright, only that culling was done.

When Savage left the hobby for some time, she split her colony up and sold them to different hobbyists. I do not know if her line prevails.

 

[Blue Ridge Reef]

I'm not of the belief that it's that simple. I don't fully disagree but I think there might be more x factors depending on genetics from the one time I tried this. It's only anecdotal evidence from one aquarium so take it as you will, but red + red didn't equal more red in my one trial of adding bloody marys to a long established cherry tank. My plan was to "redden" my rather average cherries. I did get some that were great but suddenly had to cull whereas before adding them they were all at least reddish shrimp. I'd never seen a rili, clear, brown or even jet black sport pop up in that tank before doing that. My hesitance to just break the tank down and catch them all out resulted in it becoming a 125 gallon cull tank to this day that I throw everything in that doesn't make some color cut. And I probably stare at shrimp in that one as much as any other, so I don't say that like it's a bad thing. I just think that outcrossing lines has a higher potential to surprise you.

 

[Zoidburg]

@Blue Ridge Reef it could very well depend on the grade of cherry shrimp and perhaps even line. Like I said though, I do not know how much culling was done to achieve the red line, so I don't know how many, if any, "wild type" may have appeared. You mentioned "average" cherry shrimp, which leads me to believe that they were not a high grade, and maybe that made a difference in your experience? Maybe not.