The most common Neocaridina Shrimps available in the aquarium hobby is the Red Cheery Shrimp. If your pet inverts do not appear as red as that what you may have been expecting, then you can check out this article at Aquarium Blueprints to see this may be happening.
Explanation #1
The first explanation as to why your Cherry Shrimps are not red is due to stress. If you add your pet inverts to your tank for the first time, then they will most likely be stressed out and lose this color.
To make them feel more comfortable, we suggest turning out the tank light, if you have it on, for at least 24 hours. Furthermore, we recommend that you slowly acclimate the shrimps to your tank water before you put them in the tank.
Another potential stressful scenario include the following:
- High water flow
- Major water change
- Aggressive tank mates
- Bad water quality
If you could eliminate these factors, then your Red Cherry Shrimps should eventually color up.
Explanation #2
Another reason that your shrimps don’t look as red as you would like may have to do with what you are putting inside your tank.
To accentuate the color of your pets, you should use a black or dark substrate.
The Red Cherries should also look great on dark green-colored plants. In our tank, we house our pet inverts with Java Ferns and Java Moss.
Last but not least, make sure you add a dark background to the back of the tank.
Explanation #3
You should also make sure that you are feeding your Cherry Shrimps. Although they can scavenge for food, they may not be able to get a healthy and balanced diet by doing so.
For our shrimp tank, we are currently feeding a combination of Bacter AE to do along with Shrimp King Complete. As a result, we see a lot of healthy red-colored shrimps.
Most common fish food should be fine as well.
Explanation #4
It is also important to note that the Neocaridina Shrimps you find in the wild most likely appear dull in coloration. This is because the redness of this species is actually a recessive gene that needs to be selectively breed in order to create Red Cherry Shrimps. Therefore, if your Red Cherries start to breed, then the offspring may not look as red as the parents.
Furthermore, there are also several types of Red Shrimps, including the following:
- Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp
- Fire Red Cherry Shrimp
- Painted Red Cherry Shrimp
- Bloody Mary Red Cherry Shrimp
- Kanoko Red Cherry Shrimp
These include different shades or red and/or patterns.
One way that you can make sure that future generations will be as red as the prior generations is to cull any dull-looking shrimps from your tank so that it won’t have a chance to breed and spread their undesired genes to the next-generation.
Furthermore, you can also add more Red Cherry Shrimps to the tank. By doing so, you will also help diversity the gene pool of your colony, which should help when it comes to breeding healthy baby shrimps.
Explanation #5
As we stated above, Neocaridina Shrimps aren’t naturally red in the wild. If you bought your Red Cherry Shrimps online, then there is a possibility that your pet inverts may not be as red as shown in photos and/or videos from the online store.
In this case, you can check to see if the seller has any return or refund policy.
