True color of red cherry shrimp ???

"What is going on?"
When I saw that red cherry shrimp at the store, it was dark red. But when it's packed in plastic bag and checked out again inside your car..... it lost its color .... why? (Female Red Rili Shrimps are more resistant to this color changes).

Cherry shrimps can changed its color by changing arrangement of color pigments called chromophore under their exoskeleton similar to squid or cuttlefish. When shrimp dies, its color get change too.

Shrimp changed its color when exposed to external stress. When you stress them by removing from their habitat, they change color, a sort of like camouflage..

When you finally arrive home and put them in your nicely decorated aquarium with lots of hiding places, they will gradually gain their beautiful coloration. You can also enhance their color by setting up darker colored gravels or sands (black is best). Also feeding diet rich in beta carotene also enhances their coloration.

Setting up small shrimp aquarium

5.5 gallon Top Fin RCS tank with one guppy (LED light mod).

If you want to set up affordable shrimp tank, one of the best option is this TOP FIN brand 5.5 gallon starter kit ( often on sale for 19.99 at Petsmart). Its lighted hood is not durable or bright enough for planted tank... it only has very small incandescent lamp.... But it's so cheap!!! (This kit includes HOB filter, fish net, light hood and some foods)  I dropped the hood and bought several 5050SMD LED light strips to make LED lighting cover by hot gluing strips to the plexiglass plate.  To drive this LED light, you'll need a 12V power adapter.

You also need to get gravel or sand substrate. I love darker colored one, to contrast cherry shrimp color. To maximize small space in the tank, I added taiwan moss wall to the backside of the tank. Then I put about 20 shrimps at the beginning but they reproduced quickly so I removed all of adult females out. Still I have too many juvenile shrimps....

Moss wall backdrop in desktop tank.

What can I feed RCS?

You can feed almost any tropical freshwater fish food.

Naturally formed in aquarium: bacterial microfilms, brown or green algae

Store bought: flakes, sinking pellet, shrimp pellet, frozen or dried bloodworms, tubifex worms,              sinking algae tabs.

Human food: sliced zucchini, cucumber, unsalted seaweed (nori), blanched spinach (to sink these stuffs, I tied them to fishing bait weight (not made from lead).)

Free stuffs from nature: leaf litters, only browned leaf should be used. You have to let this stuff sink in the aquarium water for several days to remove as much tannin and allow to form microfilms. Do not use citrus tree leaves. Several leaves I tested in the order of shrimps' preference: strawberry > apple=guava >  loquat > maple leaves (not asian maple). Maple leaves last over a month in the tank but strawberry or apple leaves disappear within days (it could also cause water chemistry change... so be careful).

Whatever you feed, DO NOT OVERFEED!!!

RCS munching on a slice of cucumber (top) and zucchini (bottom)

Breeding Red cherry and Rili shirmps

When you make red cherry and Rili shrimps happy, they will make more of them. You would need both male and female shrimps to do this. Males are smaller, less colorful but much more active than females. Female has less curvature on their back, bigger and more colorful.
 After mating, female cherry shrimp will carry eggs under the belly for entire period. Swimmeret will aerate eggs during this period (cool!!). Tiny baby shrimps will come out when they are ready (about a month depend on water temperature).  They need hiding places if you have a community fish tank. Even small fish like neon tetra will hunt for baby shrimps. Best place for hiding is taiwan moss or java moss.

Berried females

Female with saddle on the back.

 You can tell when female is ready for breeding by looking for saddle on their back.