If you cross to Neocaridina heteropoda variations they don't become sterile after all

[sewingalot]

Neocaridina heteropoda var. 'Yellow' + Neocaridina heteropoda var. 'Blue Pearl' = some cool looking shrimp and they are very fertile many generations later.

I really suck at pictures, but this shrimp is very purplish-red, has a bluish face and bright yellow piping at his tail (first set of pictures, same shrimp, auto settings):
















This one is bright white, with a clear, wild looking relative on the right:


And this is a nice brown




I'm thinking, I might need to set up a few tanks and start culling to see what develops color wise. Maybe they started the infertile rumor to keep up from creating our own color strain. I'm going to name mine variation 'alien'

[somewhatshocked]

Gorgeous proof that one doesn't always get the standard wild-type reversion when crossing.

[acitydweller]

Wasnt sure if you or the shrimp were hanging upside down in those photos

One can clearly see the blue/red coloring. I've never been a fan of the back stripe but it actually looks pretty cool on these little guys. I am currently keeping clear and wild shrimp in a tank to see what colors might spur out of the experiment.

What water parameters are you keeping these shrimp in? neutral ph?

[Geniusdudekiran]

Thos are very neat! I really, really, really need to set up a 2.5 gallon Neo mosh-pit tank and see what I can get out of it

Also, those aren't bad pictures. Some people post bad pictures. But those are not. See, bad pictures are out of focus, .3 MP flip-phone photos that leave you wondering if you are a blind man looking at a candy cane or a CRS

[xenxes]

Neocardina heteropoda var. 'Blue Pearl'

This is confusing... do you mean neocaridina cf. palmata "blue pearl"?

I remember reading people said neo. cf. palmata aka "Blue Pearl" or "Snow Ball" (used to be classified neo. cf. zhangjiajiensis) bred with neo. heteropoda led to sterility and weak shrimp.

If that's the case, way to prove them wrong!

[Nubster]

My melting pot tank is creating some different variations. So far I have chocolates, black, green, and pretty sure I saw a bluish neo. All starting with cherries and some wild coloration neos with a few yellow culls thrown in. I'm going to start pulling chocolates soon...


THere's better in the tank, just no pics...

[acitydweller]

woah, Nub, does your shrimp have green eyes!!!?!?!

[AquaPipes]

Originally Posted by Nubster

THere's better in the tank, just no pics...

Isn't that just the normal brown "wild" coloration?

[Nubster]

Well, sorta. I think that the wild coloration is not as solid, kinda like a cherry vs sakura vs painted. I think that with the wild ones, once they start filling you start getting into chocolates. The first pic, IMO, would be a low grade chocolate while this one would be just a "wild" coloration. I don't think there really is grading for the chocolates yet but I would think using the cherry guidelines would be about the same.

[sewingalot]

Originally Posted by somewhatshocked

Gorgeous proof that one doesn't always get the standard wild-type reversion when crossing.

I think it's pretty neat. When I get my 2 smaller tanks setup, I plan to start separating, adding in some yellows again and see what I end up with. One only has to see my yellows in person to see what I'm capable of producing.

Originally Posted by acitydweller

Wasnt sure if you or the shrimp were hanging upside down in those photos

Both. I like to stand on my head and take pictures. I really can't take photographs. LOL

One can clearly see the blue/red coloring. I've never been a fan of the back stripe but it actually looks pretty cool on these little guys. I am currently keeping clear and wild shrimp in a tank to see what colors might spur out of the experiment.

What water parameters are you keeping these shrimp in? neutral ph?

I think it's fun to see the colors. Many look like low grade cherries or blue pearls with red or yellow striping/dots, but recently, the cool colors have been popping out. If I could isolate a few of them, that would be awesome. The brown ones are a little cockroachy disturbing, though.

Parameters:
I rarely feed them, they feed off algae, occasionally flake food if there is a lot of babies.

75 - 76° F, not very accurate Tetra heater.

I rarely change the water, top off when I have to. So the TDS is currently 398.

It's tap water, so taken from the water report:

"Hardness levels range from 48 to 174 ppm, or 3 to 10 grains per gallon of water.
Water in the distribution system averages 7.3 pH units."

Lately, the water is on the soft side due to the copious amount of rain we've gotten this year.

Detailed report if you are interested:
http://www.amwater.com/files/WV_3300608_CCR.pdf

Originally Posted by Geniusdudekiran

Thos are very neat! I really, really, really need to set up a 2.5 gallon Neo mosh-pit tank and see what I can get out of it

Also, those aren't bad pictures. Some people post bad pictures. But those are not. See, bad pictures are out of focus, .3 MP flip-phone photos that leave you wondering if you are a blind man looking at a candy cane or a CRS

Good point on the flip phone. I have my share of those, mind you. You should totally do this, too. Set up the taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank.

Originally Posted by xenxes

This is confusing... do you mean neocaridina cf. palmata "blue pearl"?

I remember reading people said neo. cf. palmata aka "Blue Pearl" or "Snow Ball" (used to be classified neo. cf. zhangjiajiensis) bred with neo. heteropoda led to sterility and weak shrimp.

If that's the case, way to prove them wrong!

The were given to me as neo. heteropodas var. 'blue pearl', but I don't really keep up too much with the changing names of shrimp, so maybe? I've had them for years under this name. Here are some of the offspring that still have some of the characteristics of the original shrimp, but with red saddles/eggs:













And the men folk are yellowish bluish greenish clear:


Of course, there are some wild looking ones that remind me of my first low grade cherries:

Originally Posted by Nubster

My melting pot tank is creating some different variations. So far I have chocolates, black, green, and pretty sure I saw a bluish neo. All starting with cherries and some wild coloration neos with a few yellow culls thrown in. I'm going to start pulling chocolates soon...


THere's better in the tank, just no pics...

That's a great looking shrimp. I love the dark coloring with the white stripes in contrast!

[xenxes]

Ah, the red on those make me think it's a Rili-variant. So yeah heteropoda. Pearls typically have blue/white eggs. Rilis have yellow/green eggs...

Red eggs and saddle though? I don't know :/

They also have pink/red eyes!!! That's certainly unique! Or is that red eye from the camera lol?

[Jadenlea]

my pearls have yellow or brown eggs.

[sewingalot]

I can about 99.8% guarantee they are blue pearls and not rili. Rilis came around 2010 according to a few websites and I've had them much longer. I got them from a reputable source and he called them blue pearls and also owned them years before rilis were even talked about. I'm not positive about the egg colors having to be a set color. I've seen snow shrimp with yellow and green eggs online.

The red you are seeing is through hybridization with the yellows.

This is what they looked like before the crossing.

[xenxes]

Yes those are pearls. Will you be selling any hybrids? The Red eyes look awesome!

[sewingalot]

The only way I'd ever sell/trade is if they continued to breed true. Right now, I am doubting this will happen. But you never know. Good looking hybrids from accidental mixture, huh?