Selective breeding

[NeoKeeper]

Hi guys

 

I bought 10 'high grade' neocaridina blue velvet shrimp from eBay less than one month ago and they are starting to breed.  Two of the females are berried.

 

They looked absolutely amazing in the ad, but are not quite turning out the same for me.  In the ad they were a very deep blue all over, with maybe some even darker blue on the saddle - but the blue was all over the body and tail.  

 

Now, some of mine are close to what the ad looked like (maybe 30%) but the others are less so.  The carapace is patchy or spotty, some dark spots, some lighter spots (very visibly different).  Is this just the way it is when you buy neos?

 

Anyway, 2 of the females are berried... 1 looks better than the other.  Should I move the rougher looking one (pic attached) to a cull tank?  You can see what I mean by patchy.

 

Maybe this is something I have done??  Or maybe they need more time to colour up?

 

I am running on regular tap water, but the substrate is paleo sand (calcium carbonate) so there should be good minerals in the water.  Tank params:

 

Temp - 22-23 Deg. C
pH - 7.6 - 7.8
GH - 7-8
KH - 3-4
TDS - ~200ppm

 

Thanks

[rhoagland]

Those look to be lower grade blue dreams.  High grades would not be speckled like that. 

 

I would leave both berried ones alone and let them release their shrimplets in their tank.  It is likely that some of the offspring will be solid blue.