when culling rilis

[ineke]

Just wanting to know about rilis- hopefully with all the girls ready to drop I will eventually have to cull out some so can anyone give me a heads up

Red rilis should have red head and tail and clear middle ,no red in middle like stripes and bars?

Red rili blue gene should have red head and tail and blue middle no stripes- like spiderman shrimp?

Blue velvet should just be blue with no other colour?

I can't recall seeing a grading for rilis but I am known to be wrong quite often!!!! Can anyone enlighten me please:encouragement:

[torface]

Spiderman shrimp are not blue gene red rilli, they are more blue. More like blue velvet with a little red or half blue half red like my Peter Parker. I like the red on my Spider Shrimp to be opaque.

Yours sincerely

Spiderman Shrimp Expert

:victorious:

[torface]

On a serious note though, I know you are keen to get good grades in all your shrimp but maybe you should consider building up your numbers before culling otherwise it will be slow going. You never know, the ones you dont like might end up punching out nicer ones down the line.

Other people might have another opinion but personally i will be building up good numbers before relegating shrimp to the cull tank.

[Squiggle]

I'm pretty sure you're on the mark there Ineke from what I've read, I think the Blue Velvet should be the same as the reds, blue head & tail & clear in the middle. Also the more contrast between the coloured sections & the clear section are the desired traits :encouragement:

[ineke]

Thanks Spiderman Shrimp Expert . So I am right in that there should be no striping on the body just the opaque blue or clear for the reds?

I put up a photo at one time of one of my shrimp that had tiger stripes on her body and thought that was nice but in fact she would be a cull? She is a big mama shrimp ready to burst at the moment! I need to start to sort out the males with stripes I think.

[torface]

I'm pretty sure you're on the mark there Ineke from what I've read' date=' I think the Blue Velvet should be the same as the reds, blue head & tail & clear in the middle. Also the more contrast between the coloured sections & the clear section are the desired traits :encouragement:[/quote']

Blue head and tail and clear in the middle would be blue rilli... and there's not many of those around...

Blue velvets are just all blue. Obviously the stronger the colour the better.

I'm not sure i've seen a grading for rillis either? But it sounds right about no spots or stripes in the middle clear part.

[KiwiBigD]

In regards to culling and culling Rilis it really depends on what you wish to develop. A good Rili should have a cleared defined area such as the head

red and the tail clear. Normally the coloured section is the head component. This used to be the general guidelines although these days we seem to

see Rilis with Head, Body, Tail and all being different. So if there is a particular trait you like why not develop it further? Its all really down to what

you like the most. And if you can stabilise it to producing that pattern everytime then great! It does take time but its well worth it.

[ineke]

thanks Squiggle as I mentioned above the tiger shrimp I likes so much is actually not a good example. I will keep her though as she looks to be a good breeder. It will be the boys that get to go into the big tank!!!!

[ineke]

Thanks BigD I do like the tiger stripe ones but I guess you then open up the problem of just getting Reds rather than rilis. That may be something for me to work on a bit down the track. I just wondered if there is a proper grading system for them yet.

[torface]

So I am right in that there should be no striping on the body just the opaque blue or clear for the reds?

Yes, in my opinion, correct. :)

[ineke]

Torface my culling will just be to put the males that have too much colour into my big tank to see how they develop. My breeding tanks are mainly small so don't want heaps of boys pestering the girls. I learnt my lesson about culling too quickly from my reds- one of the pale males I used to cycle a tank turned out to be quite a nice boy when he was about 4 months old so no quick flick for any yet! Just need to make sure the tanks don't get over loaded for their size:encouragement:

[torface]

Torface my culling will just be to put the males that have too much colour into my big tank to see how they develop. My breeding tanks are mainly small so don't want heaps of boys pestering the girls. I learnt my lesson about culling too quickly from my reds- one of the pale males I used to cycle a tank turned out to be quite a nice boy when he was about 4 months old so no quick flick for any yet! Just need to make sure the tanks don't get over loaded for their size:encouragement:

Yes good idea :)

I feel i might need to do this with my spider man shrimp soon too as I think in the lot i got, i got more boys than girls :(

[Squiggle]

Blue head and tail and clear in the middle would be blue rilli... and there's not many of those around...

Blue velvets are just all blue.

Thanks, I was under the impression that it was a Blue Velvet Rilli & not Blue Velvet Cherry & Blue Rilli, glad that's been cleared up :encouragement:

[OzShrimp]

On a serious note though' date=' I know you are keen to get good grades in all your shrimp but maybe you should consider building up your numbers before culling otherwise it will be slow going. You never know, the ones you dont like might end up punching out nicer ones down the line.

[/quote']

This was what i was wondering, cause i read of people having like 5 generations before tehy get what they want. Is it better to keep the half decent ones in an attempt that they will breed better ones through next gen?

-confused-

I to will have to get rid of some of mine but perhaps best to keep some though mine are red with blue gene.

[ineke]

I guess it's like BigD said it depends on what you are aiming for. My tanks are a bit small to have a lot of shrimp in so if I pick out the males that have a lot of colour where they should be clear and put them in another tank I still have them but can keep more of the "good" babies and see how they grow out. If my tanks were bigger I would let them go for a few generations and then start sorting them out. 2 of my tanks are 28 litre and 1 is 34 litre. My grow out tank is 100 litres and my Crystal tank is 60 litres so I will have to be careful with the smaller tanks but I'm not sure how many shrimp they can actually handle. They all have power filters and sponge filters but I haven't ever asked what ratio of shrimp to tank size should be.

[OzShrimp]

i used to have smaller tanks then i just brought a 4ftr for that reason :)

[BlueBolts]

IMO, the term "rill" is a coloured head & tail, with a distinct clear body ... Really depends on the level and stage the actual variant is ATM...say if I got a "purple" rill, which has scattered purple on it's head, tail & body, and a clear'ish body...I would proudly say that Ive got a purple rill, similar to carbon rilli's where internationally, they're still inconsistent in the true sense of the term "rilli". BUT if we discussed red rilli's, I presume the expectations these days would be red head & tail, with a distinct clear body...

the self grading then really starts here, as I don't think there's a TRUE grading standard. Through selective breeding, the aim is to get a deeper/thicker shell, coloured legs etc... whilst still maintaining a clear/clean body.

Carbon Rilli

Snow White Rilli

The "creation" of the Bluebolts Rilli

The Green Rilli

[torface]

I think shrimp have a small bio load so you can keep a surprising amount in a small tank :)

[ineke]

Great write up BB. It helps to have pictures:D and I agree it depends on which Rili we are grading. When my pink and purple Rilis turn up I won't care if they aren't up to scratch( yeah right I wish) . If I get good colour on a shrimp but it has a bit of colour where it should be opaque I wouldn't necessarily cull that shrimp but its good to have a guide for what any Rili really should be. :encouragement:

[ineke]

I think shrimp have a small bio load so you can keep a surprising amount in a small tank :)

I had probably 100 red cherries in my 34 litre tank and the filter coped well the problem was it was much taller than width and length so the actual floor space for the shrimp was not good. Also even shrimp need to be able to have a bit of space around them so they are not climbing over each other. I love my little cubes but I think I will eventually use them for any selective breeding program I might do and go for a bit bigger tank. I have an aqua one 61 which holds either 60 or 70 litres - I forget just now- and the floor space is excellent if I can afford to get some more tanks anytime soon that would be my choice of size. I also have a 100 litre tank which is a 30" inch tank but extra tall so while a good water capacity shrimp don't need that amount of depth. So to me the surface area makes a big difference to the number of shrimp rather than just the water capacity.

[ninja]

Ineke you could make a bigger surface area in that deep tank by making a mezzanine floor around the edges. Hang it off the top edge with stainless steel straps?

[Squiggle]

That's a great idea, very cool :encouragement:

[ineke]

Ineke you could make a bigger surface area in that deep tank by making a mezzanine floor around the edges. Hang it off the top edge with stainless steel straps?

Great minds think alike Ninja I have ordered some filter sponge and when it arrives I am going to tie some moss on to it and put it as mezzanine floor by wedging it between the glass - or hanging it if necessary - I thought the filter sponge could also help with bio load underneath plus it will allow water flow through it. I'm doing it in the big tank first to see how it works . I also have a hanging moss tunnel in the tank that the shrimp love and that uses up some of the bare space - I will put that in the smaller tank until I find something suitable to make a mezzanine in that one too. I might have some sponge left over as its 45*45

[OzShrimp]

I have always pictured having perspex steps along the back wall of my tank so it would be similar to

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then i would have mosses attached to tiles or whatever on the steps more light demanding the higher the step :)

[OzShrimp]

IMO' date=' the term "rill" is a coloured head & tail, with a distinct clear body ... Really depends on the level and stage the actual variant is ATM...say if I got a "purple" rill, which has scattered purple on it's head, tail & body, and a clear'ish body...I would proudly say that Ive got a purple rill, similar to carbon rilli's where internationally, they're still inconsistent in the true sense of the term "rilli". BUT if we discussed red rilli's, I presume the expectations these day[/quote']

So if our rilis are not completely solid unlike the parents should we retain them being high probability of it improving intheir offspring or would it only dillute the gene pool and better off to keep going with parents and just keep the best ones?