My Cherries and Yellows crossbreeding

[SanDiegoShrimps]

So I left my yellow shrimp and my cherry shrimp in the same tank due to lack of tanks as well as my inexperience when i started this shrimp hobby. I started of with two already berried yellow shrimp and some male and female cherries. A couple months later I saw that the yellows were berried again but I knew I didn't have any mature male yellows so I assumed that the male cherry mated with one of them. She didn't have as many eggs as before so I assumed she just got rid of them but apparently not. Now I have some yellow shrimp with red striped behinds. Should I leave them be and let this cross continue since they look pretty cool (in my opinion) or should I separate the two colors? Please leave any helpful information if you have any thanks!

 

Ps. I am fully aware of the Cardinal Sulawesi there, I found him at a LFS and since he was the last one, they gave him to me for like 3$. I don't believe I have him in the right environment but he's doing well since he stopped hiding and travels around the tank a lot and isn't as territorial as I have heard.

[chappy6107]

If you like it then keep them together.  If you ever decide to sell anything from this tank, just make sure that the buyer is aware of the mixed tank & interbreeding.

[pucksr]

So, I discussed this in a previous post. I am also not an "expert", but I do think I can explain relatively easily.

There are two ways that you can get different looking animals.
1) Point mutation
2) Selective breeding

The simplest example of a point mutation is bee shrimp. Most bee shrimp have black coloration. Wild shrimp seem to have all kinds of variation, but it is typically a black color. A single gene "flipped" in a domestic breeding program and produced red instead of black. This gene might have existed already or it might have been a wholly new gene. It doesn't really matter. The important thing is that this is a single gene. It follows the traditional dominant/recessive trait Punnett squares you learned in grade school.

Selective breeding is different. Cherry shrimp really have all of the colors already present in their shells. We are breeding them for stronger coloration and for that coloration to be more dominant in a particular area of the spectrum. Red/Brown is easiest and therefore first because that is the natural coloration. However, you can selectively breed out blue/yellow/green/etc by putting selective pressure on them for a long enough period of time. This is very similar to breeding a small dog breed or a large dog breed. 
What is really happening is that you may have a dozen different genes all selecting for the same thing. 10 genes might be working together to make that shell red. Some of the shrimp have 8 of the genes. Some have 4. Some have all 10. That is also why they tend to drift back to "not as red" if given a chance. 

Now, as far as mixing them in a tank.
When people mix bee shrimp in a tank, there is a bit of a concern about inherited genetics. However, generally "what you see is what you get" can be applied. At least after a few generations. In fact, several breeders will breed back in other strains to make their stock more hardy and then just cull out the ones that dont inherit the traits they want.

Cherry shrimp are different.
Imagine having a puppy farm. You have a dozen great danes and a dozen sheep dogs. You let them all mix for a generation.
Some of those puppies are going to look pretty neat. Some are going to look more like sheep dogs and some more like great danes.
However, after the 2nd generation, you are going to have one hell of a time getting a "great dane" that breeds true out of your farm. All of the puppies are going to be mutts. They are all going to breed in different sizes, coats, etc.

After about 3 generations? They are going to look like mutts. They are going to have so many different genes competing that offset each other. 2 genes for big body and 2 genes for small body. They will offset and you will just get a medium sized dog. Even if the dog does wind up being bigger or smaller, it will have a lot of extra genes floating around that push it hard away from breeding "true".
 

[Shrimple minded]

pucksr I would give more likes if I could.  Your explanation is excellent.

[Undershrimp]

I very much enjoyed it as well and it is very helpful, thank you. Because of this explanation using sheep dogs, I now desire a sheep shrimp. However odd that may be. I doubt this is possible  ...or is it?!