Caridina vs. Neocaridina Shrimp Breeding

[phreeflow]

I have Dark Green Shrimp (Caridina) and Yellow Shrimp (Neocaridina). My understanding was that neocaridina like the yellow shrimp or the common red cherry shrimp were easier to care for and breed like rabbits.

Oddly enough, my dark green caridinas are far outpacing the yellow shrimp in terms of production. They are being kept under the same conditions with just apple snails and MTS. They both berry fairly easily but the yellows keep dropping their eggs...what gives??

My greens, on the other hand, get huge broods of eggs and never seem to drop a single egg. I can't understand what's going on. The only difference I noticed was that my greens are a lot more reserved...they crawl more than swim, are more timid, and the females gently aerate their eggs.

The yellows also get large numbers of eggs but they crawl and swim around constantly and the females shake the eggs a lot more erratically.

As it stands, my greens are outproducing my yellows by quite a large margin. Anyone else notice such differences in their shrimp?

 

[pik01]

what are your water parameters, feeding schedule, and maintenance routine?

 

[phreeflow]

To be honest, I haven't checked water parameters in years. Been keeping fish of all sorts, fresh/salt/reef for decades so I just kind of know what not to do...I hope this makes sense. I'm just new to shrimp but even then I picked species that will do well in harder California water...otherwise, I'd get CRS.

I under stock, over filter, feed lightly, quarantine everything, and only select fish that can handle my California water. Except for breeding pairs of discus...they get RO water. Can't remember a sick fish in a long time.

In any case, both species are in the same tank, same temp, food, water, etc.

Basically, 75-78F, once a week water change, fed Hikari Crab pellets and spiriluna wafers 5 times a week...I skip a couple feedings in between. They are all doing great and multiplying...it's just that the yellows keep dropping some of their eggs. I can't understand it...especially when I expected neocaridinas to be more adaptable.

any thoughts?

 

[msjinkzd]

having your approximate water hardness would really help but i don't see anythign glaring. Sometimes when I am seeing a decline in breeding of one of my species, I try switchign up the diet more. If you are feeding more spirulina that crab cuisine, maybe increase teh protein in the diet. If you are feeding more cuisine than spirulina, maybe up the veg. I have never had a shrimp drop eggs but it typically seems to go hand in hand with some issue with water hardness or tank parameters.

 

[DarrylR]

Same thing happens with my wild types and cherries. The wild types out populated the cherries x10 :S.

 

[Wycco]

Same thing happens with my wild types and cherries. The wild types out populated the cherries x10 :S.

Wild type what? If they're wild type neos then that would explain why that is happening- they're breeding with the cherries which results in wild types.



If Caridina really do replicate quicker than Neocaridina can someone explain to me why they typically cost (depending on seller) 2 to 5 times more per shrimp?

 

[msjinkzd]

my experience with dark greens is that they are very slow growing and relatively slow to reproduce. Any of the dwarf shrimp will reproduce quite readily if conditions are correct. Its harder to match the conditions for alot of the caridina which is why they are more expensive.

 

[phreeflow]

having your approximate water hardness would really help but i don't see anythign glaring. Sometimes when I am seeing a decline in breeding of one of my species, I try switchign up the diet more. If you are feeding more spirulina that crab cuisine, maybe increase teh protein in the diet. If you are feeding more cuisine than spirulina, maybe up the veg. I have never had a shrimp drop eggs but it typically seems to go hand in hand with some issue with water hardness or tank parameters.

Interesting...that's good advice. I'll try switching their diet a bit and see how that changes things. Can't recall what the water hardness was but I do remember back when I kept african cichlids, I tested the water to see if it needed to be tweaked and it was already rock hard. I just added some coral chips to keep the water buffered.

Thanks

 

[phreeflow]

my experience with dark greens is that they are very slow growing and relatively slow to reproduce. Any of the dwarf shrimp will reproduce quite readily if conditions are correct. Its harder to match the conditions for alot of the caridina which is why they are more expensive.

This much is true...my dark greens take forever to get berried. Meaning, it seems they stay saddled for a long time before finally decide to mate and berry. Haven't really noticed the shrimplets growing that much slower than yellows.

 

[DarrylR]

Wild type what? If they're wild type neos then that would explain why that is happening- they're breeding with the cherries which results in wild types.



If Caridina really do replicate quicker than Neocaridina can someone explain to me why they typically cost (depending on seller) 2 to 5 times more per shrimp?

2 Separate tanks.