Mixed Neocaridina

Neocaridina davidi originally comes from Asia and is found in Taiwan, China and Korea. Years of selection of the wild forms resulted in the highly cultivated forms as we know them today. Even today, regular selection of shrimp strains is important in order to maintain and improve the color quality of the shrimp. Animals that do not meet the desired breeding goal are selected. For example, Chocolate Sakura and Black Rose shrimp sometimes produce beautiful blue or red animals. Our Blue Velvet Shrimp can sometimes produce black or black-blue animals. Sometimes in individual animals the color is not strong enough or part of the color is simply missing (Rili phenomenon). We select these animals in a seperate aquarium and offer them as a “Neocaridina Mix”. So if you would rather have a colorful mix in your aquarium instead of a single-colored shrimp strain, then this mix is ​​just the thing for you.

Even though we try to catch animals in as many different colors as possible, it can happen that more animals of one color end up in the bag than others. This depends on availability. The color intensity can also vary greatly. We therefore ask for your understanding that individual animals cannot be selected when purchasing in the store. If you would like to have animals with certain colors or of a certain quality, we ask you to select them from our tanks with the respective breeding variants.

Note: The word “mix” refers to the variable color. You will receive one shrimp for each number of pieces you choose.

Care in the aquarium

The Neocaridina davidi is a robust and undemanding species that can be kept in an aquarium of 10 liters or more. It prefers clean and well-filtered water. Due to its ability to adapt to a wide range of water parameters, it is ideal for keeping in soft to hard tap water as well as in remineralized osmosis water. What is particularly important is that the temperature of the water does not exceed 26°C for long periods of time, even in summer. In order for this sociable dwarf shrimp to feel safe, it should be kept in a group of at least 10 animals and in a well-planted aquarium. The plants, but also roots, stone structures or shrimp tubes offer it protection and places of retreat. The Neocaridina shrimp can be socialized well with snails, but also with peaceful, small fish.

Feeding

As a classic leftover recycler, the Neocaridina shrimp feeds on biofilm and algae growth as well as detritus (dead plant material, carrion, leftover food). In the aquarium it can be fed with special types of shrimp food, leaves, algae powder and occasionally frozen food. Feed containing astaxanthin, but also nettle leaves, additionally support the color of the shrimp. Ideally, there are always brown autumn leaves in the aquarium, which represent ideal permanent food for the animals.

Sexual characteristics and breeding

Sex determination is usually not possible in young animals, but only in sexually mature animals. Juveniles and males have a narrower underside of the abdomen, while sexually mature females have a wider underside that covers the swimming legs like a “skirt”. This widening of the abdomen serves to protect the eggs, which the female carries and cares between her swimming legs until they hatch. Beforehand, the eggs are also clearly visible as a bright egg spot on the neck of females that are not opaquely colored. As with most dwarf shrimp, female Neocaridina adults are slightly larger than males and tend to be more intensely colored. All Neocaridina shrimp reproduce in fresh water and breeding in the aquarium is usually easy. After being berried for around 3 to 4 weeks, the female releases around 20-30 fully developed, transparent shrimplets, which initially feed on microorganisms present in the aquarium and can be fed with dust food.