[cjstl]

So I have three BV's that survived out of an order of 12. Seven were DoA and two died soon after (seller refunded my money). They are currently in a heavily-planted 1G. They're doing well, but growing slowly. They've been in the tank for several months, and no breeding yet. I think it's because the tank isn't heated and water is about 68F. Two have visible saddles and I'm hoping the third is a male.

I was at a LFS a while back and splurged on a pair of carbon rilis. The male was well-proportioned, but the female is a little blotchy. She has a more random patterning and mix of brown and blue. They were in a 2.5G with a few male endlers, and the male disappeared. I haven't seen him in a few weeks, so I moved the plants around in search and found nothing.

So my question is, if I put the female carbon in with the BV's, what would the offspring look like (assuming my 3rd BV is a male)? I know BV's came from blue rilis, but I have heard that carbon rilis came from chocolates. From looking at pictures, it looks like there are a lot of mostly blue carbons out there, and I definitely wouldn't mind having some attractive crosses.

Also, does anyone have advice on a tiny nano heater that wouldn't raise the temp in a 1G too much? I have one of those Marina Betta heaters in a 4G vase, and the temp is always over 80. I'd like to make my nightstand tank more comfy for my shrimp without cooking them!

 

[agro]

Wilds/Some Carbons/Some BV/Some mixed.

Also endler most likely ate that shrimp. RIP.

 

[Monster Fish]

I mixed blue velvets with red/blue rilis a while back and I ended up with a mix of blue and red rilis with varying degrees of coverage of red on blue bodies. You'll probably end up with more carbons than blue velvets if you mix them though.

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

Monster Fish, that would be expected. The BV mutation was lost in the RR and BR.

This is an interesting question the OP poses, however since one comes from chocolates, and the other from RR. I'm going to say that it all depends on where the blue is located in the genes.

Most of the time in shrimp we are dealing not with punnet squares, but weird stuff like co-dominants, co-recessives, etc And to be honest, because that stuff is super complicated, not many people have done research on color genes in shrimp.

I say there is a good chance of blue offspring. If one blue is dominant over the other, or if the two blue genes co-combine you wouldn't know it. It would still be blue.

My suggestion at this point is, what have you got to lose? You are down to your last shrimp anyway, and if you don't do this they may die out.

If you *do* do this, you will learn something either way. I say go for it, and report back to us so we can learn from your experimentation.

If they do turn out well and you decide to sell any later on, please mark them as BV x Blue Carbon crosses so as not to unintentionally muck up gene pools for anyone.

 

[cjstl]

Appreciate the suggestions. I think I'll move her today and see what happens. Any ideas on a heater? I have a couple of those flat 7.5 watt Hydors, but I don't want to dig up the substrate and risk causing issues in that tank. I'd prefer something I could stick on the back wall. I actually have a few jungle vals that I'd like to move to a bigger tank, but haven't pulled them out for that very reason.

 

[Oceangirl]

No heater. You want it cool. Heat = bacterial infections. Trust me on this. Lost a whole colony to it.

 

[cjstl]

Really? Because I've never been able to get them to breed below 70F. The sweet spot seems to be 74 - 77. My yellows were always saddled, but never berried until I added a heater to their tank. Now the tank fluctuates between 74 and 76 and they seem quite happy. I'm watching a couple of little ones pick their way along the glass among a mine field of seed shrimp and daphnia right now

 

[agro]

Keep tank at 78 myself, no problem at all.

 

[GBRguy]

I keep my pfr tank at 74. I have about 60 small babies and 4 females berried again.

 

[Oceangirl]

I have terrible Time with higher temps in my Shrimp tanks. I lost my whole blue pearl tanks. Now I keep it very cool. Like fonz cool....