Red Cherry Shrimp Help

[Rod Boughton]

I want to add a couple of red cherry shrimps to my tank, but i do not want to breed them.

I have a friend who has offered me some, and i would like to have two females because they are more colourful, but how would i be able to pick two that are not already pregnant, or, would i be better off with two males. your help would be much appreciated.

Rod

 

[GrayScale]

They all look the same right? . It's harder to tell the differences when they are younger but as they grow, the females are usually a little larger and a bit more colorful (against a dark substrate and background the colors are pretty much the same.) the males are usually slimmer in the mid section and the females will have a noticeably larger mid section. This is where the eggs are formed. Be sure to check the egg sac on a female before you toss it in your tank. It's a good possibility that it has produced eggs and when she gets transferred to your tank they will hatch. When you look at a female, you can actually see white, yellow or green eggs developing under the saddle.

Here is a pic of both, the female being larger with the "saddle" underneath noticeable and the male being slimmer.

http/www.theshrimpfarm.com/images3/cherry_red_shrimp_5.jpg

Keep in mind, products with copper in it are a no go with shrimp and other inverts. If you have a live planted tank, some trace fertilisers have copper in it but in such small amounts that it shouldn't harm them.