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Increasing my red cherry gene pool?

Protopigeon

Protopigeon

Member
Joined
25 Jan 2016
Messages
73
Location
Loughborough
Hello folks

So I added my first 15-20 Red Cherries to my 60L cube a week ago. They seem happy and active so far.

My friend who donated them said he initially had bought 6 RCS a few years ago (and now has hundreds) so they all have the same 6 common ancestors, and it got me thinking...

Would it be a good idea to add a few more from another source to increase the gene pool? It seems a bit genetically narrow otherwise, and I'm unsure if that might have health implications further down the line if I don't.

Thanks in advance for any information you might have!
 
I've heard it's indeed wise to do this, for the reasons you stated. Ideally you could find someone else with a colony, and do a straight swap!

I.e 50 shrimp or so, not the whole colony.
 
Depends on how easy it is for you to do so. Don't think you'll have a problem unless he or you have been selective breeding them using the same small batch of males to get the 'best' genes. If you're just leaving them to breed like rabbits then they'll have quite a diverse gene pool anyway.
 
I just noticed that one of my females is berried :)

Interesting to see if I get any shrimplets - I believe it takes longer at lower temps and my nano isn't heated so it remains @ ~20C

Fingers crossed!
 
Protopigeon said:
Would it be a good idea to add a few more from another source to increase the gene pool? It seems a bit genetically narrow otherwise, and I'm unsure if that might have health implications further down the line if I don't.
Click to expand...

I started with 3 male red rili shrimp and 2 female cherries. And they bred like rabbits and are extremely resilient. I'd suggest you get some more from somewhere else and rilis are not a bad choice. You'll get some interesting outcomes down the line. I now have a mix of red cherries, red rilii shrimp and blue shrimp from that cross, and even purplish. Shrimp carry different genes. But don't cross yellow rili with red cherries because you might get plain brown ones.
 
sciencefiction said:
I started with 3 male red rili shrimp and 2 female cherries. And they bred like rabbits and are extremely resilient. I'd suggest you get some more from somewhere else and rilis are not a bad choice. You'll get some interesting outcomes down the line. I now have a mix of red cherries, red rilii shrimp and blue shrimp from that cross, and even purplish. Shrimp carry different genes. But don't cross yellow rili with red cherries because you might get plain brown ones.
Click to expand...

haven't heard of those others! definitely need to check it out now, would love blue shrimps at a small size :D
 
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