[randym]

I have a couple of 12 gallon cubes, planted, set up and running. Current occupants: 1 nerite in each, on algae duty.

The plan is to set them up as shrimp tanks. My tap water is pretty much perfect for cherry shrimp, but I'm having trouble deciding on what colors. Leaning toward blue for one of the tanks, but there are so many blue varieties.

Are there any that breed true? Culling is my least favorite part of shrimp keeping.

And those stunning red Bloody Mary shrimp...do they breed true? Google gives mixed reports.

 

[WaterLife]

I don't know myself about the blue Neos, but I have heard that the newer strain of Sea Sky (C-Sky) blue Neos are a very nice shade of blue and are supposed to breed truer than most blues. They are pretty pricey though, but worth it if you think about it.

Bloody Marys, I have heard mixed sides. Some good breeders say they don't breed very true, while some say they have well developed strains that breed very true. So I guess it depends who you get them from and how stable their strain is.
Then again, there is some misidentified Bloody Marys out there, which some are actually high quality RCS.

Some info on BM here
High Grade RCS or Bloody Mary Neos? Breed more true? Better looking? - Genetics and Selective Breeding - The Shrimp Spot
Some mention on BM and blues
Interesting info on Bloody Mary Shrimp - Genetics and Selective Breeding - The Shrimp Spot

I would recommend posting on The Shrimp Spot forum, there are a ton of shrimp keepers/breeders there that have a lot of experience breeding shrimp, so they would be of more help. I am curious to hear about the Blues myself.

For what it's worth, Neon Yellows/Golden Back Yellow Neos breed very true.
Pretty much any strain can be selective bred through generations to have them breed more true.

Just so you know though, culling will be necessary to a degree, otherwise the shrimp's color saturation will slowly (over generations) become lower quality. So you need to cull the not as colorful ones to keep your shrimp colors nice and solid.
You don't have to kill the culls, you could just relocated them to another tank (without other Neos) or just sell them or RAOK them, there are always plenty of people that want shrimp.

 

[randym]

Thank you, some good stuff there.

I do like the yellow ones. I have some in a planted bowl that seem quite hardy. But I have golden colored sand in my two new tanks, and I think the yellows look better with a black substrate.

Leaning toward trying the bloody marys and the sea sky blues...

 

[bsherwood]

I'm doing RC's in a planted 55
Blue velvets in a 29 planted
and cardinals (sulwasi) in a 55 planted.....these are not neo's and apparently thrive in harder water...which is what we have , I was setting this tank up for yellow neons but....they were free so I am adapting

 

[WaterLife]

I'm doing RC's in a planted 55
Blue velvets in a 29 planted
and cardinals (sulwasi) in a 55 planted.....these are not neo's and apparently thrive in harder water...which is what we have , I was setting this tank up for yellow neons but....they were free so I am adapting

Let me know how the Sulawesi Cardinals do.
They like a high pH of 8+, but higher temperatures (78*F+) and the right mineral levels are very important as well, so it's wise to keep KH, GH and TDS at desired levels. Even though they like alkaline water, Sulawesi are still sensitive shrimp.