Anyone keep NEOcaridina and Caridina together in same tank?

[ShrimpP]

Hi everyone. I'm new here. Been keeping fish for quite some time now, just now wanting to get into some shrimps.

I just want to keep 2 shrimp species together in the same tank and yet both be able to successfully breed.

 

Have not yet settled on the two species I want to keep, because it still depends on what is compatible and will successfully breed in my tank. I am thinking between yellow, orange (I know there are caridina and neo ones), and/or lighter blue (not really translucent, but not the dark blue ones). I think yellow for sure and it's a toss up for the 2nd species, just depends if they can breed as well. More interested in vibrant colors, not too interested in the mostly translucent or very dark colors

 

The tank temperature would be always around 75*F and pH at 7.3 (slightly alkaline), not sure about GH/KH, but from what I hear they should be relative to my pH level which would make the hardness moderate - moderate-hard

 

Based on my water parameters I know the Neos will breed and live fine. Is there a Caridina species that can live and breed successfully (don't drop berries and babies survive/low mortality rate, as well as can breed/live in freshwater) in the same tank?

 

I have looked at compatibility charts (as far as I know those are just based on specie interbreeding), but I want both species to not only live together, but breed (not interbreed) successfully in the same tank. Also another thing, I know some people will say this color can only be with this color (basic color of species), but if I am not mistaken I have seen other species of the same color (example, Orange Neo, but orange bee or tiger Caridina [not sure if correct, but is an example]

 

sorry to wind this out, but basically just looking to hear of anyone having both species breed successfully in the same tank? (if so, what "kind" of shrimp? I have heard some Neos/Caridinas require brackish to breed successfully, also what water parameters?) Or what two you think would work in my water parameters?

 

 

 

One more thing, I dose Seachem Flourish Comprehensive, Excel and Potassium in the same planted tank as well. I use Iron every once in awhile too. These are all safe for shrimp right? I dose only as recommended, usually less. I do not inject Co2. I know about meds already, just not 100% sure of plants ferts with shrimp.

[linda.m.amundsen.1]

I too, am new to shrimp. I started out with four amano shrimp for my 10 gallon low light tank. I am new to live plants also. I planted in December, snd started dosing ferts and excel in February. One of my shrimp disappeared shortly after. Not sure if it had anything to do with the excel or not.

I have read somewhere that someone experimented with this. They said their shrimp thrived much better after stopping the excel. Even better after sropping the ferts. And even better after switching to a sponge filter.

I too will be making a shrimp purchase in the next couple days. It sounds like our water quality is very similar. After doing a TON of reading I decided to get Tangerine Tigers (caridina) and Blue Velvets (neocaridina). They will be joining the amanos in my well established 10 gallon. I just purchased some cholla wood, elder cones, indian almond leaves, mineral balls and bee balls to add to the tank. When I get my shrimp, I am going to try dosing 1/2 of what I have been. I only dose the excel every other day and recently doubled my potassium in the tank becsuse my wisteria and ludwigia were getting pinholes in them.

Sorry I can't speak to the success as of yet. Hope I have helped in some way!

[RyeGuy411]

You can keep neo and Caridina in the same tank depending on the water parameters. You would need to settle in colors first though, since red yellow orange and blue can all be neo. But in Caridina (tigers) you can have blue, black, orange, yellow etc. so I guess pic the colors then the shrimp.

[woopderson]

I keep yellow neos and caridina babaulti together because they like the same parameters

[ShrimpP]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

I'm not too firmly set on colors really, main things to is to find out what two shrimp (Neo and caridina) colonies I can keep in my water parameters and have them Both successfully breed.

Once I can find what options of shrimp I can successfully keep, then I will pick what colors between them.

I ask this because I know technically people say any Neos and Caridinas can be kept together, which is true since they won't interbreed, but I have heard only one of the species would successfully breed in the same tank (depending on what water chemistry favors which species) and the other species would be unsuccessful (berries fall off or pretty much 100% mortality rate for the newborns). Also I haven't researched too much on all the different shrimp species, but have seen some that you might think were like the rest and would readily breed, but they require brackish, so just asking for more options from experienced/ more knowledgeable shrimp keepers.

 

So far only species I have heard of success so far is like what woopderson mentioned, yellow neos and caridina babaulti (dark greens). The one I heard of were both kept in higher alkaline water (7.8-8) and they both bred, but the dark greens would take noticeably longer to berry, which is okay to me. So these two were are a consideration for me, but just seeing if there are more options. I am thinking with my closer to neutral pH, I might have more chance/options.

[dr0p]

You could try any of the various types of tigers. (Fancy, OEBT, BTOE, RBT). I keep OEBT-Orange Eye Blue Tigers with my Yellow Neo's without any issues at all. Both are breeding well,  colors are full, and they like nearly the same water specs. I keep the water on the cooler side to avoid infections in the tigers, but the Yellows don't seem to mind.

[woopderson]

Seconding what Dr0p said. You could also consider some tigers.Some people keep tigers in low ph, and others in the same as neos.

[Fishprinceofca]

Yep, same as drOp, though I keep my tigers with bloody marys. Both breeding well.

[Crazyfishlady]

I have neos and tangerine tigers together, ph is 7.6

[Ron]

I've got neos and PRL in my erio tank.  The substrate is akadama and I was hoping for the pH to be 6.5ish but ended up lower, lowest metered was pH 5.7.  Both are breeding but I did have some initial die off of the neos. 

[ShrimpP]

Woah time goes by fast. Figured I would just post on this thread rather than open a new one.

Well I haven't bought any Caridinas or Neo's yet, but I am planning to this week. I have been doing a bit of research and I think I want to get Neon Yellow/Golden backs for Neocaridinas. And for Caridina, I would like to get Blue Bolts.

 

From what everyone is saying it seems the majority of shrimp can adapt.

I notice some of you guys keep Blue Bolts, have you ever tried keeping them with Neos and/or in neutral or more alkaline water? I am not sure how the hardiness of Blue Bolts compare to Tigers.

I was considering OEBT, but they produce too many blondes and varying blue shades, so I decided to go with Blue Bolts to breed more true.

I am actually thinking of getting the high grade blue bolts, but am a little hesitant as I hear higher grades can be more fragile/ less hardy since most of the time they are usually inbred too much. Not sure how much less hardy/adaptable they would be.

 

dr0p, what pH do you keep your yellow Neos and OEBT in?
Just worried since the Blue Bolts are pricey to me and I don't want them to die (if they don't breed or breed slow, I am ok with that, just want them to live) because of my higher pH (very stable/steady at 7.4)

 

Reason I want to keep in the shrimp in the same tank is I already have 15 tanks (fish) running, scattered around the house and I really need to downsize. Also would be nice to see the two (colors) in the same tank (was also considering Mischlings for multiple colors).

 

I prefer not to do this, but I might run a separate tank for the Blue Bolts at their more preferred lower pH level, and gradually raise the pH over a few weeks so maybe then they could live in my regular 7.4 pH tanks. Who knows, I might be able to create a thriving Alkaline water Blue Bolt colony haha.

[woopderson]

I really can't say for certain how well the blue bolts will do in water with a high ph. They may survive, but no breeding will happen.

Someone bought some of my PRL which I keep in 6.0ph, and put them in 7.4 water. The shimp survived for quite some time (several months), but they never bred. The moment they were put in low ph they bred like maniacs.

I strongly recommend that if you want two species in a tank, you should keep ones that like similar parameters.

[ShrimpP]

Thanks for sharing that.

Off the top of your head do you know which Caridina would work around the 7.4 pH I have (besides the ones that require brackish water to breed like c. japonica, etc.)? I assume Tigers, but what others? I haven't researched enough on each ones specific water requirements yet.

[dr0p]

My yellow Neos and Tigers are in pretty solid 7.4 water. They do wonderfully. Keep the water fully oxygenated, have quality food, and ample spots to hide - they are thriving.

 

Since you want 2 colors, one of which is a nice blue color in the tank, you could look into Royal Blue Tigers. They have a gorgeous color and like the 7.4 PH, plus they breed true, meaning more Royal Blue, without Blondes. The Blue Bolts I have much prefer lower PH, they did very poorly in higher PH. Color was washed out and they die off rather quickly. Plus, they won't breed at all. On the off chance they did, they have the ability to throw any of the TB's, not just blue bolts unless they are the SUPER high dollar ones.     

 

I'd start with the Neos for a bit and see how that goes before jumping into both. The Caridina are much more volatile from how my experience has been. 

 

However you end up doing things, I hope you enjoy your tank/s, as that is what is most important. =) 

[Lyana]

I just want to add that I was keeping neos with my blue bolts and other tbs and at first the neos bred like crazy but then stopped and the babies grew really slow. Then the adults started dying off so I moved them to their own tank.

The ph in my TB tank is around 6.2

[JamesHe]

Bee shrimp won't breed in the water with pH above 7.

 

Your best bet is Tiger with Neos.

[ShrimpP]

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

Dr0p, do you know any reputable sellers of the royal blue tigers. I know that SpeedieAquatics had them, but it seems he's been taking a break from shrimp breeding.

 

Lyana, do you have any shrimp for sale? I am located in western Washington, probably not far from you.

[dr0p]

I know of two places for Royal Blue Tigers at the moment.

One being one of our forum sponsors - Blue Crown Aquatic Trade.

The other being Flip Aquatics.

 

I personally got mine from Flip Aquatics and they are wonderful. Great guy to deal with also.

https://www.facebook.com/flipaquatics for pics of the RBT he supplies.

[woopderson]

Check out Caridina Babaulti/indian zebras shrimp/malawi/ and maybe paracaridina, they can also be kept in the same parameters.

Thanks for sharing that.

Off the top of your head do you know which Caridina would work around the 7.4 pH I have (besides the ones that require brackish water to breed like c. japonica, etc.)? I assume Tigers, but what others? I haven't researched enough on each ones specific water requirements yet.

[ShrimpP]

I don't see RBT on Blue Crowns website or FB page. The blue diamonds are Neos. Look very similar in pics, but big price difference.

Flip Aquatics I ran across their FB before. Is there any way to contact them? Email address or he have a forum account I can PM?

Long distance call for me, and I don't use FB, but I suppose I could create one.

 

If I get them, I just want to make sure they are the real deal royal blues. As far as I know, the royals were from cross breeding OEBT to BTOE many times until they started breeding true to a more nicer shade of blue (supposedly royal blue, but probably only depending how light hits it), so I just don't want to buy "regular" OEBT that were labeled "royal blue" because some may look the color, but not that of the strains that bred true.

 

I really appreciate the help Dr0p. I will probably post a WTB thread for Royal Blue Tigers and see if any are out there.

 

Matter of fact, woopderson and dr0p, you guys selling any shrimp I am interested in? RBT, BB or Neon Yellow Neos?  Maybe Pandas or Mischlings? haha just had to ask.

woopderson, do you know if the Thai micro crabs eat tiny shrimplets?

[Soothing Shrimp]

We had some post here that she saw her micro crab eat her shrimp alive.

[Lyana]

Thanks for the input everyone!

Dr0p, do you know any reputable sellers of the royal blue tigers. I know that SpeedieAquatics had them, but it seems he's been taking a break from shrimp breeding.

Lyana, do you have any shrimp for sale? I am located in western Washington, probably not far from you.

I live on the east side. The only ones I have for sale right now are the blue dream rili, they look like mixed grade carbon rilis And blue diamonds or chocolate shrimp lol, never know what you're going to get with them. But they breed like crazy.

[woopderson]

My yellow neos are not quite ready for sale just yet! Give it a few more more months and they will be. I also cannot ship to the US (if you're located there) as I am in Canada.

The thai micro crabs are scavengers and filter feeders. They are 100% shrimp safe! Note that they are nocturnal and like to hide. I only see mine once every few weeks, and even then it is only one at a time. Every once in a while feed a powdered food and they will be ok. The care is super easy.

[woopderson]

We had some post here that she saw her micro crab eat her shrimp alive.

Woah yikes! I will have to check that thread out.

[ShrimpP]

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Tried looking this up, but couldn't find any water parameter info on their breedings, but does anyone know if Tibee shrimp will breed in the higher pH like other Tiger shrimp will? Or does it take to the traits of Crystals/Taiwan Bees/Mischlings  and require lower pH for breeding? I am just curious if they can breed at my pH of 7.4 like other Tigers would be able to.