DIY Red Onyx/Chocolate OE Breeding group

With our Do-it-yourself (DIY) Red Onyx/Chocolate OE breeding group, you can create your own Red Onyx shrimp line with orange eyes.

The breeding group consists of:

• 4x Black Rose OE “Black Demon” males
• 6x Red Onyx/Chocolate females

Our comment: We assume that the Red Onyx lines currently circulating online are strongly selected black (Chocolate) Neocaridina lines. As we have received several requests for “Red Onyx” with orange eyes, we decided to include this breeding group in our shop. The females in this breeding group are extremely dark red and appear almost black under low light.

Size at sale: When selecting the shrimp, we ensure that all animals are already sexually mature. The males are selected to the best of our knowledge, however we cannot fully guarantee that one of the shrimp may not later turn out to be female. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the sex of the orange-eyed males. Males are approximately 1 cm in size, while females reach about 1.5 cm, allowing breeding to start immediately.

How the crossing works: Only 4 simple steps are required. We have described them here.

General information

Neocaridina with orange eyes? For about two years now, we have been offering offspring from our Neocaridina breeding lines with orange eyes (OE). The inheritance of the orange eyes is stable and they can also be crossed into other color varieties. Visually, the orange eyes of Neocaridina can be distinguished from those of Tiger shrimp because they have a dark spot in the center, which may indicate remaining pigment. A detailed report about these animals was published in Caridina Magazine (issue 2/2022). You can find more information about this topic here.

Keeping and breeding: Like all dwarf shrimp of the genus Neocaridina, these animals are very adaptable and can usually be kept without problems in tap water (18–26 °C). In our facility, the tap water parameters are: pH 7.6, gH 10, kH 9, conductivity 600 µS, 22 °C. The shrimp feed on common fish food, algae growth, as well as dead plant and animal material. This makes them excellent scavengers that contribute to the biological balance of the aquarium. Keeping them together with small to medium-sized aquarium fish can work, although sufficient hiding places such as moss and roots are recommended. Under optimal conditions, the animals quickly grow into lively colonies.