Neocaridina Sp. - Cherry, Blue Pearl, Yellow etc.

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• Intro
• Care

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In this article, I won't go into detail trying to describe the different all the different types of shrimp there is out there. There is much documentation already out there that already describes them by people who are more qualified than myself I will just skim through some of the ones that I have kept, but bulk of this article will be focused on my personal experience in shrimp keeping, together with some do's and don'ts which i have learned along the way.

If you want some good information and support about shrimp, let me suggest you check out a good forum such as www.shrimpnow.com.

Intro

Like many aquatic shrimpers out there, these were the ones that introduced me to pet shrimping. Prior to that, I would have never considered keeping shrimp as pets. But now that I think of it, why WOULDN'T anyone keep shrimp as pets. They are relatively low maintenance, they don't take up much space, they are relatively hardy, they don't make any noise. Perfect for say... a dining table centerpiece, or a waiting room conversation piece or (my personal fav) office desk accent. Not only do I enjoy just spacing out and staring at the shrimp after spending hours on the computer, but prior to putting out a 5 gal at the corner of my desk, NOBODY came into my office and said hi. Now at least a couple of people come in to check out the shrimp and chit chat. You should have seen what happened when i put a 29 gal nano reef in my office.... that one attracted so many people that i've decided that it has to go... can't get any work done!

Anyway.... I digress.....

The most commonly available Neocaridina species of shrimp to the average hobbyist are Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina Hetropoda, formerly Neocaridina Denticulata Sinensis). These are also found in yellow morphs and are sold as "Yellow Shrimp". Others breaking into the aquatic hobby scene are Neocaridina cf. Zhangjiajiensis. A common morph are sold as "Snowball Shrimp", these are relative plain looking shrimp with not very much color except their eggs. These little round orbs are white in color and resemble little snowballs, hence the name. A recent morph of N. Zhang-i-cannot-pronounce-name-isis is the "Blue Pearl" shrimp. These have a blue tint to their bodies and i find are a little more attractive than the plain snowballs.

Yellow Shrimp:

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Care

AQUISITION

Seems like nowadays everyone is selling them. Because they easily thrive in a wide range of water conditions, hobbyists are breeding them more successfully than ever. Just check out www.aquabid.com and you'll see what I mean. If you are into the pet shrimp hobby to make some cash, domestic Neocaridina is NOT the way to go. Although there is somewhat of a market for wild type, you are better off investing in Caridina species (or sulawesis...).

No matter, these guys still deserve respect in their own right. They are truly the"bread and butter" of the shrimp hobby. The fact they are easily available and are relatively hardy make them good "beginner" shrimp. If you are new to the pet shrimp hobby, I would highly recommend you get yourself some of these. The sting to the wallet will not be as painful should something go terribly wrong.

Blue Pearl Feeding Frenzy :

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ACCLIMATION

I always "hard" (i.e. just opening the bag and dumping them into their new home) acclimate more common shrimp such as Red Cherries and Amanos. I find that although hard acclimation has a higher mortality rate, but the ones that survive are hardier, healthier and more productive than those that were "soft / gradually" acclimated. I do this because I am intentionally breeding for hardiness.

However, I would highly suggest that any other hobbyist who just aim to "keep them alive" do "soft" acclimation. Either the drip or float method works equally well with the common domestic Neocaridina Species. (I'm not discussing Dripping or Floating here... do a google search and you'll get hundreds of articles).

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WATER PARAMETERS

Water parameters for these guys are generally quite available to most hobbyists across the U.S.

pH med-low 6's to low 8's
Temp 65 F to low 80's F
Medium Hardness

Cherry Feeding Frenzy:

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FEEDING

The good thing about domestic Neocaridina Sp. is that they are very accustomed to big box pet store pet food. Flake, pellets, algae disks are generally accepted. Although these guys can be voracious eaters, be careful that you do not over feed. If you feed them in the morning and you get home after work and there's still food left uneaten, then you have probably over fed them. Cut down the quantity accordingly.

Once in a while, i like to give them a treat of fresh / frozen veggies. Cucumber, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas and spinach leaves are just some of the treats that they get. If your veggies are too hard (like carrots) it helps to par-boil them in order to soften them up before feeding. I like to buy these veggies frozen if possible. This way i won't be under pressure to finish all the veggies before they go bad in the fridge. Frozen veggies are also pretty simple to prepare. The freezing process probably produces ice crystals which break down the cell walls of the veggies which helps with softening them up for feeding.

Their love for spinach would make Popeye proud:

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BREEDING

As I so often tell people ......LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!

Constantly changing temperature, pH, lighting and stuff just stresses them that much more. Neocaridina species of shrimp breed quite readily. As long as your keep the water parameters constant and within the range given above, they should eventually breed for you. Gestation is approximately 3-4 weeks depending on the temperature of the water. I find that higher temps generally mean a shorter gestation.

Sexing Neocaridina Sp. is generally pretty straight forward. The first thing to notice is that mature females have "saddles" forming on their backs behind their head. These are really their ovaries. Generally Ovaries = female .... right??...

Let's take a closer second look at the last picture above and see if we can identify probable females:

Another method to sex Neocaridina Sp is to look at the physical dimorphism between male and female, most of the time, the shape of their "bellies" should be able to allow you to tell male from female, but this only works with mature shrimp because young shrimp all look like males. This is similar to the way we sex Caridina Cantonensis. I won't repeat it here, so you can have a read HERE.

One strange thing that i have noticed, especially the Neocaridina Sp. of shrimp, is that the color of their eggs are not constant. I'm not sure why, but (for example) within the same batch of Red Cherry Shrimp, i've seen berried females with eggs that are yellow, dirty green, tan, brown, and dark brown. Not sure why this is so, nor have I yet found a suitable explanation as to why. The difference in color do not necessarily mean that one set of eggs are more fertilized than another; in fact eggs of all colors and shades have been successfully carried to term. The only thing to note however is that as eggs mature, they will get more and more translucent in color, to a point where you might have to look REALLY closely to see if the female is still carrying the eggs. Eggs that are ready to hatch are pretty much "see-through" but if you look closely you should be able to make out two little eyes within each egg.

Young Berried Blue Pearl:

These guys give birth to little shrimplets without going through a larval stage which makes things very much easier for everyone. You may want to crush up some food so that it may be more manageable for the tiny tiny shrimp. A large clump of java moss helps to grow some bacteria or trap small bits of food which the shrimplets can continually graze on.

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PLUG

On the urging of my friends, I started this website by putting together the original (and quite successful) B. Macrostoma pages. Since then it has grown by quite a bit. All this time I've provided all this info and lots of free e-mail support to anyone who needed help. The advertising on this page helps out a little to offset the cost of webhosting. So if you see something that you may be interested in listed within the Google Ads banners, then please don't hesitate to check it out.

I thank you all for your great interest in my articles and I hope to keep hearing from you guys, even if it is just dropping me a note to say hi. God Bless!

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