How to Sex Red-Cherry Shrimp

#1 runningback82

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 12:14 PM

I am planning on getting 5-6 red-cherry shrimp for a new 40 gallon tank. They will be with 5-6 amano shrimp, 5-6 otocinclus catfish (definitely shrimp safe), 5-6 white-clouds (also shrimp safe), and 1 betta (did fine with amano-shrimp). Does anyone know any easy ways to sex them? I will put up pictures of the new tank. Thanks!

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#2 SummitMicroFarm

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 12:36 PM

RB,

Sexing can be problematic...but is truly quite easy for all varieties when you get the "eye" for it. Red cherries are by far the easiest I have experienced to sex. When they reach adulthood at about 1/2" and are well conditioned, the females immediately start to produce yellow saddles. Mature adults are very easy to distinguish sex even when no saddles are present. The males look like "check" marks...while females are much more stoudt looking. Often looking like bulky "tanks" or catepillars...hard to explain but easy to see when you look at a few side by side. Notice the photo below. the female is the thicker, blockier, more stoudt CRS on the right, while the more sleak and trim on the left is the male.

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runningback82, on 24 July 2010 - 12:14 PM, said:

#3 ScottLand

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 12:36 PM

runningback82, on 24 July 2010 - 12:14 PM, said:

Sexing mature cherrys is very easy,the males are mostly clear,smaller,and skinnier than the females.The females are red(der) with a yellow saddle and they have an "under belly" and are bulkier/bigger .
The white clouds and betta will harrass the adults(they will hide) and eat the babys so be aware of them.

This post has been edited by ScottLand: 24 July 2010 - 12:39 PM

#4 Neonshrimp

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 12:58 PM

Nice job on explaining how to ID male/female Caridina shrimp (SummitMicroFarm) and Neocaridina shrimp (ScottLand) :tumup: .

These are some of the best ways to help tell the sexes apart. The only 100% sure way to tell if a shrimp is female is when she is berried :D

A little kindness goes a long way.

And raising shrimp will help you on the journey.

#5 runningback82

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 01:12 PM

Thanks for the answers! It sounds like you know from experience that the shrimp will get bothered. I have heard that they go well with bettas, and my betta did great with the amano shrimp. Maybe my betta is more mellow than yours. It could also be that the amano shrimp are too big for him to eat. I'll try it for a little while. If the shrimp get harrased, I will take them back to the store.

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#6 ScottLand

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 06:44 PM

runningback82, on 24 July 2010 - 01:12 PM, said:

your welcome!
The fish might not bother the cherrys but that has been my experience(I tryed it first before I setup my Invert only tank), plus shrimp are a natural food of any fish that lives where dwarf shrimp live(Bettas and White clouds do),unless the fish are strict vegetarians like Ottos.

This post has been edited by ScottLand: 24 July 2010 - 06:45 PM

#7 runningback82

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 07:22 PM

I will take that in consideration. Thank you! :tumup:

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#8 ScottLand

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Posted 24 July 2010 - 09:54 PM

Good Luck! :GoodLuck:

#9 purgatori27

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Posted 25 July 2010 - 06:22 PM

Here's an old pic I took a while back to use as a reference the next time someone wanted to know how to sex Cherry shrimp (ironic, huh?). Even though your question was nicely answered, I may as well post it here for others to reference in the future.

Cherry shrimp - adult male at top, adult female at bottom of the Anacharis stem.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/purgatori27/Shrimp%20Shots/100_3036.jpg

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#10 runningback82

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