Launch of the Green Demon & review of 5 years of breeding work

Our breeding project, which currently forms the heart of Shrimpify.eu, began around five years ago: to crossbreed the striking orange eyes (OE) into all known color variants of the Neocaridina davidi. They have now become reality – many of them are now widespread in our scene and have even made it beyond the borders of Europe. By far the greatest challenge of this mammoth project was crossbreeding them into the Neocaridina Green Jade and the subsequent stabilization of the genetics. And now the time has finally come – our Neocaridina "Green Demon" are ready for its journey!

In this context, it's still worth taking a brief look back at the history of our award-winning champions. We've summarized the entire story for you.

First attempt (spring 2021):
In the first attempt, black OE males were introduced together with Dark Green Jade females at the beginning of 2021. Unfortunately, all the resulting young in the F1 and F2 generations were black, and the breeding group was temporarily discontinued at the end of the year.

Second attempt (winter 2021):
At the same time, work was also being done on a blue OE line, from which a few dark blue males were taken and bred with green females for a second attempt.

Second attempt (winter 2021):
At the same time, work was also being done on a blue OE line, from which a few dark blue males were taken and bred with green females for a second attempt.

The Glimmer of Hope (Spring/Summer 2022):
The fry from the second attempt were again not as hoped: blue, black, wild-colored, some slightly greenish. In the F2 generation, among hundreds of fry, I noticed a single green fry with orange eyes, only a few millimeters in size. I looked into the tank every day and practically trembled on days when I couldn't see the fry.

Backcross & Breakthrough (Autumn 2022):
The youngster in question developed into a male, and later, another one followed. These males were used to breed them again to Dark Green Jade females (without OE). The offspring could be considered a true breakthrough, as almost all of the birds in the F1 generation were already green. Consequently, from that moment on, it was possible to accurately predict how many birds in the next generation would also have the corresponding orange eyes!

Formation of a tribe (spring 2023):
A small strain was formed by mating green F1 carriers with each other and F1s with green OE males. Unfortunately, I was a bit unlucky this time and hardly found any females with OE. Therefore, the strain initially grew very slowly. Interestingly, there were also individuals with orange body coloration that reproduced steadily. Although not planned, this is how our orange Neocaridina with OE genetics was born!

First place at TGISC '23 (Autumn 2023):
One of the highlights of selective breeding was participation in the German International Shrimp Contest (TGISC). Although I had difficulty finding suitable specimens with good, even coloration (especially females), the line was rewarded with the top placement in Category 1 (Neocaridina All Colors).

Color stabilization of the line (spring 2024):
Although only green animals with orange eyes remained, the body color itself still needed to be stabilized. While this work isn't necessarily the greatest challenge in selective breeding, it is nevertheless a lengthy process, as it always takes several generations and cannot be accelerated. While some animals displayed a beautiful, rich dark green, a few also exhibited a bright, bright green, which we are still trying to stabilize. At the same time, we were honored to feature the line in Caridina Magazine (issue 01/24)!

Another top ranking at the TGISC '25 (Spring 2025):
After the line did not participate last year (2024), the results of the stabilization after 1.5 years of selection were to be presented at TGISC '25. Two sets were entered: individuals from the dark green line and individuals from the even younger bright green line. First place in Category 1 (Neocaridina Surface Colors) went to the dark green line, while the bright green line took third place (unfortunately, not all of the individuals are yet fully opaque in color). Looking back, this was a great success!

Our Green Demons are ready for the journey (summer 2025):
The time has finally come. The animals are ready for their journey, and a limited number of 30 animals are now available in the shop. Since prices are high at the start of sales, we offer different quality levels.

• Green Demon (solid dark green color)
  
• Green Demon “lowgrade” (selected animals with poor coloring)