About this Blog
I started with shrimp in 2007 and rapidly became addicted to these beautiful animals. My friends observed the growing number of tanks with suspicion but also curiosity. How can one be so mad about some invertebrates which are mainly known through asian cooking recipes?
My first shrimp were ‘Blue Pearl’ (neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis var. blue) which I bought from a local dealer in Cologne. My wife had bought some cool blue tiger shrimp just a few weeks before: A very good breeding group and the offspring were sold easily. I separated my blue pearl shrimp in different tanks, because I had realized that some shrimp had red shaded tails. Perhaps it was possible to breed a red neocaridina? After six months I was frustrated about the poor results I had gotten and catching and seperating the shrimp so often had been quite time consuming. I quit this project – unhappy about my own overestimation.
My next shrimp where red tiger and I really loved them! I have had read about the problem that you cannot broaden the red stripes through selective breeding. That’s a fact. I therefore decided to crossbreed blue tiger and red tiger. A blue tiger shrimp with red stripes was what I wanted. The first alike looking shrimp with orange eye came up in the second generation (F2) and I am now trying to stabilize this phenotype.
I collected experience with more freshwater shrimp, mostly caridina types: black tiger shrimp (black diamond), crystal red, golden snow white, supertiger, sakura, tiger-CR-hybrides (called Tigerbienen in German), Blue Bee (paracaridina spec.), indian babaulti stripes.
It`s funny how shrimp-breeding can be easy and hard at the same time! Especially the caridina types need clear, soft water with a lower PH and KH and simultaneously lot’s of O2. Feeding shrimplets with special food is good and often necessary but generally spoken: not feeding adult shrimp too much is wise. And getting rid of planaria and hydra is a must! Especially planaria. I have watched them creep into a freshly molted shrimp and then start feeding on their brain, ovarian – and if she is carrying say goodbye to the eggs as well. Shortly after that the poor shrimp got fits and died.
The hype about shrimp and all the money in this business has changed the people dealing with them. That’s why I decided to give up most of my tanks and to not talk so openly about my projects, my successes and my defeats. I know some folks doing alike. And the guys talking first and foremost about breeding and crossbreeding shrimp now are not always the champs they want to be and – sometimes – they even give false tips. So be careful about what you read and what you believe – and always trust your gut feeling.
Enjoy reading,
Imke
Cologne, June 2009
