Bill I believe that they were originally cherry shrimp, bumble bee and a green/blue type (cant recall the name) that my wife kept. About 2 years ago she gave me some to add to my african dwarf frogs setup (which I have since given to her) and I let them do their thing. Over time they cross bred and just became a regular greyish looking but very hardy shrimp. Almost nothing can kill these little fellas no matter temperature drop, significant water change and so on. They just keep on breeding and surviving. Probably a great choice for when a kid first starts a small fish tank. Periodically you will see the odd shrimp with a dark blue, a brownish red and so on pop up in the population but they appeared to have gone back to their genetic roots because I didn't keep them in isolated populations. They are excellent scavengers.

Paul the habitat is heated via two sources - the ambient temp of the basement where it is located (tends to be cooler) and the 25watts T8 Sun-Glo light canopy that is on a 12/12 hrs automatic light cycle. Nothing else. When the light goes out the cooler temp of the basement tends to eventually drop the habitats temps down to about 66-68c and when the light is on it hovers around 72-75c. The humidty fluctuates as well with the temp change so in the dark the level of condensation around the island increases and when the light is on the condensation drops and evaporation occurs. I also hand spray to control the humidity depending on what I want going on any given time. A rain system wouldn't be suitable as I find that too much mist locks them in certain behavioral patterns where as a change in routine throughout the week and so on allows for them to change their habits. IE too much heat and humidity and they stay hidden more often to cool down in the damp moss, too cool and they come out to remain alittle more dry and warm. I hope I explained that properly.