# Original Cherry Shrimp color



## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

I was feeding my fish in my 75 gallon tank, and one of my chery came out and was brown color, sort of like a fan shrimp. Now, normally, my culls are transparent with no red, or have some yellow, or etc, but never have they looked darker color like a fan shrimp, which i actually liked. Does anyone have pictures of what the Original Cherry Shrimp is supposed to look like. If it is supposed to have similar color to the fan shrimp, ie nice woody brown, then thats not bad at all, i like it!!!!


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

thats normal for a cherry shrimp.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

could be a chocolate one! They look dark brown (like milk chocolate actually) Cherries can actually change colors like a purple, dark wine, almost blue sometimes...some even get a racing stripe down the back.


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## Egonsgirl (Feb 28, 2012)

I have a few of them in my 30g community tank, and sometimes they are almost transparent, sometimes brownish, and yesterday they were they were bright cherry red.... they change!!!


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

They Changed?


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

specially when they are stressed they change


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I've certainly noticed that when they are being shipped they tend to fade badly. Reds might look almost white. If they are sick, they can change colour, especially noticeable on Snowballs, I think. But I had never heard they can simply change colour like a chameleon.

I know a new batch of Green neos I just got have a wide variation in the shade of green colour. Some pale, some very dark, others in between. Won't know for awhile if they'll even out once they feel at home or stay the way they are. Hope they don't lose the colour, as I've heard the green ones can fade. Have to wait and see.

I've also been told that if you breed one colour of Neo to another, you will get the wild colour form in the babies. Dull brown, easy to hide from predators, like the bamboo shrimp. 

And there was a guy at the Peel auction selling, I think he said they were the original wild form cherries. They were all brownish, but he'd gotten various coloured babies from them, so in theory you could select for colour in the babies and breed up a colour variant, just as was originally done with cherries. I kind of wish I'd got some now.. could have been fun trying to isolate a colour.


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## Dman (May 1, 2012)

camboy012406 said:


> specially when they are stressed they change


I had my cherries in my pond outside n it almost came to freezing befor I took them all out and when they all climitized, some showed a nice blue in them


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## aaronc (Jul 24, 2008)

Dman said:


> I had my cherries in my pond outside n it almost came to freezing befor I took them all out and when they all climitized, some showed a nice blue in them


I guess that's how they look like after all the sun tanning they did all summer


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

i honnestly woulndt mind buying some brown color cherry that are similar to the fan shrimps. I love fan shrimps, but just cant keep them, they always escape out eventually, as my tank is open... Also, i am never able to keep them happy as i am not successfull feeding them. Shame really, they look wonderfull.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

What do you feed your fan shrimp ? I've had mine for going on eight months now, and have lost only one, that did climb out of the tank and go for a long hike. 
Do you have a good current going for them to feed from ? Is there stuff for them to perch on while feeding ? I have an old sponge from my first sponge filter, it's a flat clover leaf shape. When I replaced it, I hung it on the side of the tank with a suction cup tied to some thread through the middle hole. 
The sponge is just in front of a Koralia nano pump, and they love to hang on it and feed in the current. I give them cultured green water, Phyto for corals..the marine stuff, and Golden pearls, in the 5-50 micron size, about 3x weekly. The rest of the time they feed off what's in there, infusoria etc. 30 G tank.. with other fish and snails and shrimp too.
They are growing, but I have seen no signs of breeding as yet, though the other shrimp do breed. I also have the dwarf species of fan shrimp and just recently got some vampires.. hopefully I have a pair, there are 3. If I see signs that 3 is too many for one tank I'll remove one to another tank.
I think the main thing is to provide enough food that's the right size for filter feeding, which is greenwater or the phyto liquid, and golden pearls, while not cheap, last a long time.
They also like to perch on wood in front of the outfall from the Aqua Clear 70, and I've seen them hang upside down off floating plants to feed as well. If they are spending most of their time on the bottom, they are hungry and need more of the right kind of food.


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## arktixan (Mar 30, 2010)

Dman said:


> I had my cherries in my pond outside n it almost came to freezing befor I took them all out and when they all climitized, some showed a nice blue in them


I would love to see some pictures of that!


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## Dman (May 1, 2012)

arktixan said:


> I would love to see some pictures of that!











Got a crappy photo saw a nice one running around again earlier, but my phone was dead, there's a few of them, kinda neat. Can't wait for next summer


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Hi Fishfur,

You have some success, and people in the past told me to crush food and use a needle in front of it...

So, how do you feed it exactly? The bamboo shrimp that is. I tried to use the Big Al's liquid bacteria that is used on new tanks to get them going, but i dont know if that worked. I would find the shrimp bottom feeding. Also, can you take a picture of the sponge setup you have done, to give me an idea on how to set it up. I would really like to get some giant fan shrimp again.

About the food you mentioned:
cultured green water, Phyto for corals..the marine stuff, and Golden pearls, in the 5-50 micron size

1) Green Water, how do you make it? Just put water in container, put a letuce, close the lid, and put it near the window?

2 and 3) Phyto for corals??? Golden Pearls? Never hurd of it, what is it, where do i get it, and how do i use it? 

I am thinking i will put egg crate on the back of the aquarium where i think they escape from this time, if i can find some giant fan shrimp, they might not be able to jump out as easily, though i have to properly understand the feeding techniques first. Oh, and it will be a 75 g tank, so alot of room... but that means food has to be targeted maybe.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I culture a pure algae strain from culture discs I buy from Reef Crew - they are online. The one I get is Nannochloropsus, which will grow in either fresh or salt water. Once you get the first culture going, which takes less than two weeks, you can keep it going for months by taking half and reculturing. You can keep extra algae in the fridge for a week or two to make it last longer as well.

A disk is 20 bucks, plus tax and shipping, and I also use the special Guillard fertilizer they sell, which is 15 bucks a bottle, but the bottle lasts forever, you use less than 2 cc per culture, from a 500 ml bottle. Though you can use other fertilizers, I prefer to use the one made especially for growing algae. You need a strong source of light to grow it, at least 14-18 hours a day. I keep mine in the spare room where I have a light garden, and I leave the bottle right beside it, and the lights are on a timer.

You also need an air pump and stone, to aerate the culture water. If you don't have a light garden, one or two 23 W spiral Daylight [6500 K] bulbs would do, and you can get them at Home Depot. A simple clamp fixture would serve, or almost any lamp, just keep it as close to the bottle of culture as you can. The more light, the faster it grows. It is ready to feed when you can barely see your hand through the bottle. Put half in the fridge, reculture the other half. The instructions say to use sterile water.. but I use distilled instead because it's easier and I have a distiller. You can boil the water and cool it or use the microwave to sterilize it.. instructions come with it about this. I am not terribly picky about keeping it sterile, but I do try to keep it as clean as possible so it won't become contaminated with bacteria. You can sometimes have a culture crash on you, especially if you leave it running too long. So harvest often. If you keep some in the fridge, you might be able to reculture that.. and sometimes a crashed culture will come back if you give it more food and leave it with light and air stone running.

Phyto you can buy from most fish stores.. in the marine section. Kent makes one, there are other brands too. Just look for a label that says Phyto or Phytoplankton for feeding corals. You have to keep it in the fridge once you open it or it will go bad and use it up as soon as possible. So I buy the small bottle usually.

Golden Pearls are a type of commercial food originally developed for shrimp farming. The particles come in a number of sizes.. 5-50 micron is the smallest size. I get it from Sugarglider when he comes through town. He puts an ad in when he's due to arrive, roughly once a month. A package lasts a really long time. It tends to stay in the water column for a long time so the shrimp have more time to eat it. I turn off the filters when I feed any of these foods, for an hour.. but leave the circulation pump running to keep the food going around.

Egg crate would probably work to keep them in, or maybe window screen. I've been thinking of making window screen tops, as I know that shrimp will sometimes go for a walk. In their native habitat, they will move from one pond to another, though no one is exactly sure why. Might be population pressure, might be breeding issues, might be water quality.. I know the one I lost was my largest male, which makes me think it might be breeding related, but I don't really know.

I feed the Phyto by pouring a capful or two directly in front of the circulation pump, after I turn off the filter. The algae culture I suck up with a big 50 cc syringe.. you could use a turkey baster too, and I just squirt it in front of the pump or in front of the shrimp.. but they are always in front of the pump so it's much the same thing really. I give them between 100-200 cc of algae per feeding. But you could just as easily pour it in from a cup.. the syringe just makes it easier to aim.

Though they will catch small particles of crushed flake food in their fans, I don't see them eat it.. I think it just clogs up their fans. But the Pearls don't clog up, and they do appear to eat it.The Pearls are a golden colour powder, which I put on the water in pinch size amounts.. it will sink slowly and swirl around for awhile. Fish will eat it too, it's good fry food for baby fish as well.

I always aim the syringe or place the Pearls just in front of the shrimp, or just in front of the circulation pump I have running if the shrimp are there, which they usually are, but it will disperse very quickly, which is why the filter should be turned off for awhile.

I find that trying to feed them individually is too hard and so long as the filter is off, the food will go around and around 'til you turn the filter back on. They can eat most of it inside an hour.

Best of luck..they are very cool little dudes, I really, really like to watch them. Don't have a pic of the set up.. but I'll try to get one. I have to get a new computer though.. this one is dying and won't let me download pics, or anything else, from an external drive. It's just worn out, and I should have a new one within a few weeks time.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

hi fishfur,

Thanks for sharing. But it really seems expensive and difficult for me. Cant i just get green water from putting letuce in a jar and puting it next to the window? Also, is there a common food i can buy from a local pet store or from John or Aquafins as a supplement. I really want to try the fan shrimp again, but it seems so complex.


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