Yellow x Red Cherry

[Jess]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience crossing the yellow and red cherry varieties? Is it likely that a percentage of the babies will be red or yellow, or will they all revert to the clear 'wild type' form? Two days ago I woke up to find that one of my beautiful yellows had passed away, so now I only have two left. I have a suspicion that they may both be female (can't tell because neither are saddled right now) so I'm thinking of introducing a red male to see what happens.

[Baccus]

Not sure what breeding a red back to a yellow will produce but from the first offspring you should be able to select out the closest to yellow offspring and breed them back to your current yellows while removing any red (or other colours), this should enable you to eventually breed back to all yellow or even breed some new colours.

[khemo]

In my experience red x yellow will result in wild type offspring.

[Triggs]

You'd most likely get a mixture of all 3.

However, All of them will have watered down genetics. Even the most Yellow or Red's genetics would not be as strong as a line bred Red or Yellow. If that makes sense ?

You can breed back, and start a breeding program to increase the genetics to be more stable.

[Jess]

Thanks for the replies :)

What you're saying makes sense, and I think introducing a red will be worth it if there is any chance of yellowish offspring. Introducing new genetics might be good anyway, even if I lose some colour quality. Thanks!

[wayne6442]

I have done this cross a couple of times, and found that most of the little ones throw back to wild types the other red or yellow off spring are usually very watered down. Having said that I sometimes throw a red into my Orange Sun-kissed cherries and leave them in there for a couple of cycles. I do still find a number of clear/wild types in the off spring. I cull heavily and hope that a little new genetics has washed off to the orange genetic pool. Wayne

[Gbang]

Try not to do that as the line will not be pure. If you sell yellows or reds later on buyers might be very unhappy with your cherries producing inconsistent offspring

[Jess]

Hm, thanks. I hadn't thought of that Gbang. If I do get any crosses they will have to go in separate tank so I don't get them mixed up.

At this rate, though, I probably won't have to worry - I lost another of my yellows yesterday. All of the shrimp in the other tanks seem fine, but I've ordered a UV steriliser just in case it's some type of bacteria thing. I might just focus on keeping my current guys alive and healthy for now :)

[Triggs]

I personally think the best way to start breeding is to focus on the genes you already have and improve them rather than trying for someone drastically different.

Focus more on environment and genetics by eliminating and culling the ones you don't see fit.

I think more advanced breeding is for the people with plenty of experience looking for a new challenge who already have perfected their genetic lines.

I've seen your cherry reds they're already very good quality.