hi all, a question that have  always plagued me.

when a fertile female has moulted I observe the thank  in search of  dancing undesirable males  and remove them, leaving the ones I like ,to   mate with her,

what fascinates  me, is that some babies join in the frantic  dance while others dont, I have guessed that they were males and apply to them the same criteria  as to the adult proven males, am I right or may I have  been culling females too?

That sounds very logical, and makes some sense so I would think it is true that the dancing ones  would be the the males seeking out the females!

If you are culling because of quality of colour etc then it wouldn't matter though whether they are male or female as you would still want to cull females that are substandard anyway I would think?

Simon

I wouldn't recommend culling the babies before adulthood as shrimps can still improve in color before adulthood. This I learned by experience when I culled some undesirable juvies and then found out that they colored up well. If you want to learn more about shrimp color, I can recommend you this article: https://aquariumbreeder.com/how-to-enhance-shrimp-color/

Edit: Though male shrimps do kinda color up less than females, it is still advisable to cull them when they reach adulthood as it is quite hard differentiating males from females when they are still juveniles.

Edited March 28, 20206 yr by Ludwiggg17

thanks for your reply, , i guess  i should have made clear  i  am breeding  pinto caridinas, no sexual colour difference   and you can tell their color  and  pattern from birth,

 still i rephrase my  question:  are  the juveniles that go frantic  when a female has moulted, males?

sure but i apply  a more Severe selection pressure to males, leaving fewer males than females in the tank, thus a female does not have to be as good as a male to pass  the post