A few weeks ago I was doing some water changes on my tanks and since shrimp always get into the sump filter on the cull tank I usually just dump all the gunk and shrimp from there into a tub to be sorted out at a later date. Normally I just get more culls to put back in the cull tank or occasionally the odd red but this time around I got some interesting surprises. Namely a couple of very obviously blue cherry shrimp.

But also this morning when going through the last of the gunk water before putting it on my orchids I found these couple of red lined but faint blue bodied cherry shrimp. I actually think they are quite pretty but have my doubts if in a proper tank with adequate food and a heater if they will keep this distinct colouration or will they drop the blue and just look low grade red. For now I have them in a temp holding tank. But would they be worth persisting with as a breeding project if I had another tank to dedicate to them? Could they be the beginning of the elusive purple shrimp?

 I also found one that appears to have a blue/ black head with a dark red back and tail, but I couldn't get a clear photo of it in the holding tank.

The other odd ball out of the mix

 

Well that first blue one is beautiful.  Did you ever decide what to do?

I ended up putting any blues I find all in together, and eventually I will go through the blues and select what I like best out of the blues and go on from there.

I can't wait to see what happens!