# My Blue Velvet Shrimp. Red headgear offspring!!



## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

blue velvet red rili?
i confused myself


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## thisisjun (Sep 20, 2012)

wow these look amazing!! I'm so jealous!!


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## blacksheep998 (Jan 16, 2011)

Oh wow! These guys are new to me and I LOVE them.


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

Great looking shrimp.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Now we need only white color and some stars :biggrin:

Nice looking babies.Will be interesting to see how we will count this like low grade or high grade shrimps


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## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> blue velvet red rili?
> i confused myself


Since blue rilis are derived from red rilis it's not surprising red shows up. Blue velvets are a higher grade of blue rili.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

I found the same thing Speedie. Most of the offspring in mine look like red rilis when they are first born, and they turn blue with the red dissolving as they start getting older. 

Not all of them have their red go even after they turn blue though, which makes me confused with what to do with the red gears. Which makes this statement, "Will be interesting to see how we will count this like low grade or high grade shrimps ." asking for an answer.

Maybe a possible abbreviation would be BVR? Blue Velvet Red? As not to get confused with other rilis? Perhaps there is a better suggestion?


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## Merth (Sep 9, 2012)

beautiful shrimp...and this may be a totally noob question but since the photography is so good...what is the plant they are on? I can't tell since it is so close is that a moss?


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Grade will be what we create it since these shrimp are fairly new to the hobby. I would say that the full blues would be the highest grades, since these were the ones we all started with. They'll still be Blue Velvets.... BVR seems easy enough to label so I'll go with that .

So far I'm liking the ones with the red spike on their head like the one pictured. My offspring are still young so I'm still waiting to see how they look like as full grown adults.


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## CPD (Feb 7, 2012)

Merth said:


> beautiful shrimp...and this may be a totally noob question but since the photography is so good...what is the plant they are on? I can't tell since it is so close is that a moss?


If I'm not mistaken it looks like fissidens fontanus


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks Merth. Yes, it is fissidens fontanis. Great plant for shrimp tanks.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Nice blue velvets. Would adding some blues to a colony of red rilis increase the chances of producing offspring with bluer midsections? I'd like to see if I could get more solid red heads/tails with the blue velvet mid section.

Something like this:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9458/hp65.jpg


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> Grade will be what we create it since these shrimp are fairly new to the hobby. I would say that the full blues would be the highest grades, since these were the ones we all started with. They'll still be Blue Velvets.... BVR seems easy enough to label so I'll go with that .
> 
> So far I'm liking the ones with the red spike on their head like the one pictured. My offspring are still young so I'm still waiting to see how they look like as full grown adults.


I'd agree with that idea. I have to admit the BVRs look pretty cool! I have some as adults, I'll see if I can get a pic of them for this thread.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Yeah, I know I suck at close up pics, but here's a couple of my BVRs. As you can see, the blue didn't show up very well in the photos.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Nice saddles Bryce! 



Monster Fish said:


> Nice blue velvets. Would adding some blues to a colony of red rilis increase the chances of producing offspring with bluer midsections? I'd like to see if I could get more solid red heads/tails with the blue velvet mid section.
> 
> Something like this:
> http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9458/hp65.jpg


The infamous Blue rili pic from Micha lol. I'm actually hoping some of these baby blue velvets will come out looking like that shrimp. We'll see. 

As far as crossing them, you'll just be working backwards in a sense because these shrimp were derived from Red rilis. I think if you refine the current line, you'll stand a better chance at retaining the blue.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Thanks Nick, I have them breeding pretty well now after a couple months and the initial shock of acclimation.

I would think if you want that type of coloration, you'd be better off breeding the BVRs for that pattern.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> The infamous Blue rili pic from Micha lol. I'm actually hoping some of these baby blue velvets will come out looking like that shrimp. We'll see.
> 
> As far as crossing them, you'll just be working backwards in a sense because these shrimp were derived from Red rilis. I think if you refine the current line, you'll stand a better chance at retaining the blue.





Soothing Shrimp said:


> Thanks Nick, I have them breeding pretty well now after a couple months and the initial shock of acclimation.
> 
> I would think if you want that type of coloration, you'd be better off breeding the BVRs for that pattern.


Ah cool. Thanks for the suggestions.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Just for kicks, and because no one critisized my poor picture quality yet, I'll upload a pic of a berried blue velvet I have. Once again the camera didn't pick up the true blue (instead making it much lighter) , but I'm happy and my tank is rapidly becoming filled with babies.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

haha time for a new camera bro  

Very healthy lookin momma!


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

you are NOT kidding! I can't get very close to my subject because my camera will not focus that close! I have a M1033 HD Kodak, and have it on the closest setting. Problem is it won't focus nearer than around 6 inches or so.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Just get an iPhone5 lol.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Nick those r awesome. Any chance of selling them?


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

I thought the whole thing when these blue velvet's came out and you started selling them was that they bred fully blue true, and now they are basically reverting back to rili's?


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Even chocolates don't throw 100%.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

GeToChKn said:


> I thought the whole thing when these blue velvet's came out and you started selling them was that they bred fully blue true, and now they are basically reverting back to rili's?


At the beginning when I first started bringing these shrimp in, I did ask my supplier about them breeding "true". The response was that they did. Obviously there's a strong language barrier between English and Taiwanese so something may have been lost in translation there. 

I was skeptical at first too. It wasn't till now that I fully understand that these shrimp do breed true to a certain degree even if there was some miscommunication between me and my supplier (my fault), because most of their red babies revert back to blue as they get older. The ones that retain some red are rather good looking to me, but of course everyone will have their opinions on what they like and don't like. If anyone bought their blue velvets from me when I had them labeled as "breeds true" (which was only the case with my very first batch), and you're not happy with your blue velvets, you're more than welcome to PM me and I will handle things privately. 

I do apologize if anyone felt misled, because that was not my intention, otherwise I would not be posting this thread. 

Thank you for bringing that question up.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> At the beginning when I first started bringing these shrimp in, I did ask my supplier about them breeding "true". The response was that they did. Obviously there's a strong language barrier between English and Taiwanese so something may have been lost in translation there.
> 
> I was skeptical at first too. It wasn't till now that I fully understand that these shrimp do breed true to a certain degree even if there was some miscommunication between me and my supplier (my fault), because most of their red babies revert back to blue as they get older. The ones that retain some red are rather good looking to me, but of course everyone will have their opinions on what they like and don't like. If anyone bought their blue velvets from me when I had them labeled as "breeds true" (which was only the case with my very first batch), and you're not happy with your blue velvets, you're more than welcome to PM me and I will handle things privately.
> 
> ...


Part of the problem with these new morphs coming out so fast and then being pushed to market I think. Until they've bred for 5 years or so, you can't really know for sure. Neo's seem to be really weird in their colors too and what they produce. Rili's as well, seem rather unstable. Part of the reason I never got them. I don't mind culling the odd poorly colored shrimp but Rili's give lots of variation that makes that process harder.

Anyways, neat looking shrimp.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

It is what it is. As you said, All Neos in general don't breed 100% true, at least not in my experience. There will always be variation regardless of how "high grade" your parent stock are.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

I got the whole first batch you brought Nick! 

Most of them are totally blue, a couple have some red spots and a few are like a transparent blue bolt. Now that they are full grown I have a couple favorites of really awesome looking ones. I'll try to take pictures soon!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Post em up Carlos!


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

I got Some Blue's from Jeff about 3 weeks ago. as soon as I get the tank set up I will try to get some Pics up as well. I believe I have around 14 in the net breeder as I dont want to mix them in with my PFR cherries.

Curt


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> Post em up Carlos!


I couldn't get any one with red 

But I got the future babies here: 
















I have 2 berried females that I can spot.


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## cantsay39 (Jun 10, 2011)

blue pearl and blue velvet? closely related?


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Amazing!


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

cantsay39 said:


> blue pearl and blue velvet? closely related?


No, blue pearl used to be Neocaridina zhangjiajiensis and now are classified as Neocaridina palmata. Blue velvet are derived from blue rili which came from red rili which came from cherries which are Neocaridina heteropoda.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

The only one that stood still for the pic, I only have two like this tho.


















and my favorite:
"the almost blue bolt blue velvet"


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## aznrice247 (Feb 1, 2012)

I still needa get more from you Nick. I'll probably order some more soon before it gets super cold. I still have 2 left but they are both males. I'm so tempted to buy more because I see them at this LFS but they sell them for 12.99 each...


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## CharleeFoxtrot (Jan 29, 2004)

Of the ones I bought from you Nick,there are two with that neato red head. They also seem to be deeper blue than the others and I like the contrast


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

pejerrey said:


> The only one that stood still for the pic, I only have two like this tho.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Carlos,

What are your water params on these guys bro? They seem so unlike mine as far as color goes. They look almost clear, like snowballs. Also, what are you feeding them? Food plays an important role in regards to color of these clear shell shrimp variants. 

That last one looks almost like it's sick (bacterial infection?). How long has it been this color? If it's not sick, that's a bad @ss morph! :thumbsup:


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

+1 on the sick idea. Both ways! LOL


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> Carlos,
> 
> What are your water params on these guys bro? They seem so unlike mine as far as color goes. They look almost clear, like snowballs. Also, what are you feeding them? Food plays an important role in regards to color of these clear shell shrimp variants.
> 
> That last one looks almost like it's sick (bacterial infection?). How long has it been this color? If it's not sick, that's a bad @ss morph! :thumbsup:


TDS 187ish
Temp 72 now, around 70 most.
Ph 5.5-5-6
GH 6-7
KH? Just added coral so I got to check used to be 0-2
No3 0-5
Po4 almost zero 
No2 and nh4 zero
Weekly 5 gal wc with tap, prime and MMP. DI top offs.

I feed with the following foods one different every day: frenzy, hinomaru bento, shrimp ball, shrimp ball plus, beni gold, barley, ada bee, red bee ambitious, spinach, golden eye, color, grow, Quattro 2 and blanched spinach.

I just got jakes food, so I've only tried that twice.

That guy is been like that for a while, I don't see anyone else with cloudiness like that. It's a female and eats like a pig but seems a bit slower than other shrimp.

I have pictures from the velvets from months ago, they look the same. Take in account tho that this last pics are from a "microscope".

This one is from a few or next day after I got them:








I had to bring up a lot the color intensity in this pic and it's a Nikon d90. compare the substrate with the pics I posted from this microscope pics:









Still, it's very transparent, they've been all the time like this, should they be more solid?


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

Lovely!

And your fissidens is phenomenal!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Carlos - Your PH is too low for Neos bro. I keep my Neos in hard tap: ph 8.2, tds 340. Also temp range for neos are best at 74-78F.

Thanks SpecGrrl! That fissidens is growing under zero CO2 .


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## bostoneric (Sep 7, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> Thanks SpecGrrl! That fissidens is growing under zero CO2 .



somebody say fissidens hahaha


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

CharleeFoxtrot said:


> Of the ones I bought from you Nick,there are two with that neato red head. They also seem to be deeper blue than the others and I like the contrast


Glad to hear that you like them as well . 



bostoneric said:


> somebody say fissidens hahaha


haha I know you got a fissidens farm going. roud:


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> Carlos - Your PH is too low for Neos bro. I keep my Neos in hard tap: ph 8.2, tds 340. Also temp range for neos are best at 74-78F.
> 
> Thanks SpecGrrl! That fissidens is growing under zero CO2 .


Alright, I'll put them upstairs where is 74-76F, ph 7.2, tds 250+ and gh 10+, no co2, with the yellows unfortunately. should they get more solid blue there? 

Oh, and if the cloudy one is sick, should I dose the tank just in case? With what?


Thanks.


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## cantsay39 (Jun 10, 2011)

you might need to worry about the cross there <.<


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Carlos,

Your upstairs tank seems much more optimal for Neos. I'm sure color will come back as long as you're not feeding them stuff that may discolor them. I don't have any experience with most of the foods you're using so I would not know for certain if any of those pose this risk. 

As far as dosing for bacterial infection, I've only had experience with Melefix. I've never had anything severe enough that would need anything stronger, though I've heard of other members using Marycyn successfully. You may want to search around.


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

Here's my .02 as far as bv babies.

I'm now on my third or fourth batch of babies from my original 10 that I bough from Nick. Some of those babies have already had their own (depending on where they're at, the ones in my pond grew a lot faster). I was a little disappointed with the first batch after noticing all the red markings. I knew from the many posts about them that they were derived from red rili, but was hoping they would breed true, mostly because I'm lazy. I culled a bunch when I moved them from one tank to another and threw all the culls in my pond where I had assumed they'd all get eaten. Wrong. We moved our fish and plants inside into a 135g tank a couple weeks ago and found a bunch of ALL BLUE shrimp. So IME a lot of the markings have faded as well. I do have one that hitchhiked as a baby on some floaters and lives with a betta that has nice red headgear now as an adult. I've decided now not to cull for awhile and see what happens over time. If I start to get too much red in the adult population after a couple generations I'll start culling again or pull a few really nice blue ones and breed them separately.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

It's all high end food tho, mosura, Borneo wild, shirakura, Ada, benibachi.... I didn't know that I could feed them something that would clear their color! Good to know!

I'll see what I can do about not mixing up yellow and blue upstairs.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

rocksmom said:


> Here's my .02 as far as bv babies.
> 
> I'm now on my third or fourth batch of babies from my original 10 that I bough from Nick. Some of those babies have already had their own (depending on where they're at, the ones in my pond grew a lot faster). I was a little disappointed with the first batch after noticing all the red markings. I knew from the many posts about them that they were derived from red rili, but was hoping they would breed true, mostly because I'm lazy. I culled a bunch when I moved them from one tank to another and threw all the culls in my pond where I had assumed they'd all get eaten. Wrong. We moved our fish and plants inside into a 135g tank a couple weeks ago and found a bunch of ALL BLUE shrimp. So IME a lot of the markings have faded as well. I do have one that hitchhiked as a baby on some floaters and lives with a betta that has nice red headgear now as an adult. I've decided now not to cull for awhile and see what happens over time. If I start to get too much red in the adult population after a couple generations I'll start culling again or pull a few really nice blue ones and breed them separately.


Thank you for that valuable input Rocksmom. Keep us posted on your new generations. :thumbsup:



pejerrey said:


> It's all high end food tho, mosura, Borneo wild, shirakura, Ada, benibachi.... I didn't know that I could feed them something that would clear their color! Good to know!
> 
> I'll see what I can do about not mixing up yellow and blue upstairs.


Time for another tank my friend!! lol


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

pejerrey said:


> It's all high end food tho, mosura, Borneo wild, shirakura, Ada, benibachi.... I didn't know that I could feed them something that would clear their color! Good to know!
> 
> I'll see what I can do about not mixing up yellow and blue upstairs.


I've found that Jake's veggie complete makes mine crazy blue. They lighten up when they're just grazing on bio film or a couple of the samples I've received.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

I wish I had a shrimp pond too.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah, they will cross with the yellows, if I read your post above correct


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

speedie408 said:


> I wish I had a shrimp pond too.


It's not as cool as it sounds. I never saw them when they were in the pond. It started out as goldfish, then added plants, then some guppies and platies, and finally the shrimp. I didn't think they stood a chance in there, but I guess they pretty much lived in the roots of the hyacinth so were pretty well hidden. I was all giddy when I found them during the move inside. :hihi:


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

rocksmom said:


> It's not as cool as it sounds. I never saw them when they were in the pond. It started out as goldfish, then added plants, then some guppies and platies, and finally the shrimp. I didn't think they stood a chance in there, but I guess they pretty much lived in the roots of the hyacinth so were pretty well hidden. I was all giddy when I found them during the move inside. :hihi:


I think some farms in Asia actually farm their Neos in ponds. I don't have any proof of this but I would love to see some pictures or video .


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## cantsay39 (Jun 10, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> I wish I had a shrimp pond too.


yea and then all the critters, frogs and feed on your expensive snacks


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## Robotponys (Sep 7, 2011)

Wow, impressive shrimp! Personally, I like the varied breeding. More interesting than a tank full of identical shrimp.  Of course becoming too red defeats the purpose of getting blue shrimp.



bostoneric said:


> somebody say fissidens hahaha


Saw your fissidens thread. INSANE but so beautiful. I want a tank full of that too!


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i started out with red rili about a yr ago now and i have probably 75-85% blues now. i have lost almost all the reds. i do get what i call purple rili that have a thin red tint like the verry first cherrys that came out on the head and the bodys are not really blue but almost a light purple. i do get a couple every now and then that look like cherry shrimp too but for the most part do to no culling i get blues every time and maybe 1 out of every 50 is a red rilli or red head with blue body. i am also getting some that are blue and have what looks to be super dark maroon or black markings from time to time as well. i will try to post up pics soon. im tempted to get some of your blue velvets nick and see what happens if i toss them in with my blues


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

The beauty of keeping shrimp is that you can do whatever you please with them. Create your own line of whatever shrimp you want to call them . Who's to tell you what you can and can't do? Nobody.


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## aznrice247 (Feb 1, 2012)

I just got one of those red head gear ones. I think its one of the coolest shrimps I've ever seen next to the pikachu neo and the joker face CRS.


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## phoenixkiller (May 13, 2012)

Oh wow. Love the colors, red headgear or not. I do have to agree that if they were segregated into grades, the pure blue ones would be considered high(er) grade. Although if you ended up with the patriotic rilis (Like in one of the pics in this thread), that would be a whole different story entirely  .

Nick, that seems like a very, very high quality camera, and I fear if I ask for it's price via PM, I would faint dead away with its astronomical price tag. Is there any camera, preferably in the $300.00 or less range that can take reasonable shots of these beauties?

Oh and you once said that Neos do not like low pH. I was trying to come up with a plan for keeping Neos and CRS together (See the journal in my sig if you've got the time bro), but I was a bit discouraged when you said Neos did not like low pH. If I put in 50% tap and 50% distilled (My tap's pH is around 8), would that make it around the 7 range? I dunno. 

Hope you can help me out here.

I'm sorry if I was seeming to thread-jack, that is not my intent. Just had a few things that needed straightening out.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

phoenix,

With your price range, you'd have to get an older camera body like the Canon 20D or 40D. Both are very capable of high quality shots. Even so, you'll still need a dedicated macro lense and a flash unit to achieve the same look. A cheap dedicated macro lens, is already $200, like this Tamron.
Flash unit with remote flash trigger is another $75. You're looking at minimum $575-$600.

Neos like higher ph but it don't mean they won't live/breed in lower ph. If I were you, I'd just set up 2 tanks if you plan on keeping both sp. and breeding them. If you're planning on keeping them just for the sake of keeping, go for it. just keep in mind that they will not thrive to their fullest potential if not given the correct water params for the specific sp.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

Or a $30 eBay USB microscope:









Less quality but still....










Sorry to hijack!


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## phoenixkiller (May 13, 2012)

pejerrey said:


> Or a $30 eBay USB microscope:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow! That's basically what I want, I just wanted ok pics that aren't blurry, so I can give people pics of what my shrimp actually look like.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

^^ haha $30 well spent Carlos. There you go phoenix! 

I just don't like the shallow DoF off that thing. Plus it lacks all the fun of holding a real camera in your hands. Some folks could care less, but nothing beats shooting fully manual on a DSLR .


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## phoenixkiller (May 13, 2012)

speedie408 said:


> phoenix,
> 
> With your price range, you'd have to get an older camera body like the Canon 20D or 40D. Both are very capable of high quality shots. Even so, you'll still need a dedicated macro lense and a flash unit to achieve the same look. A cheap dedicated macro lens, is already $200, like this Tamron.
> Flash unit with remote flash trigger is another $75. You're looking at minimum $575-$600.
> ...


Oh geez... $600? Lord save us... better start saving pennies now.

Aww. I guess that means I have to choose between neos and CRS. 

Are there any other shrimp that aren't like Sulawesi or something that can live in such a low pH, and thrive in it?


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Start saving buddy!  it's well worth the savings I tell you. 

You want low PH shrimp, get some Taiwan bees.  j/k Please make sure you know exactly what you're getting into before you buy expensive shrimp.


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## phoenixkiller (May 13, 2012)

Oh yes, believe me, I know. Heck, being able to keep Taiwan bees would be like becoming the President of the United States... at 13. It's more of a very, very far off dream of mine, one day in a decade or so I'll wake up determined to keep those beauties. Heck, I'm still debating getting even low grade CRS, much less the 100 dollar stuff. 

Up there on my dream list are Ghost King Kongs, the Blue Shadow Taiwan Bee, and the coveted Green Hulk shrimp.

Oh well. Only way to go is forward. But much time will pass until I can reach the milestone of Taiwan Bees and the like.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> ^^ haha $30 well spent Carlos. There you go phoenix!
> 
> I just don't like the shallow DoF off that thing. Plus it lacks all the fun of holding a real camera in your hands. Some folks could care less, but nothing beats shooting fully manual on a DSLR .


Yeah, this is nothing compared to my D90 resolution. One day I will get a macro lens, but for now its good enough. I like hikes and at this time of the year, mushrooms, liquen, moss and other micro worlds are really fun to photograph.

Hey! finally got a bad pic from a velvet shrimplet! (the moss he's nibbling on is java moss, to give you perspective of his size)


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

phoenixkiller said:


> Oh geez... $600? Lord save us... better start saving pennies now.


Tell me about it I have been drooling over a nikon D-800 and a couple other models since I allready have Nikor lens, But at 3000+ I have yet to bite the bullet.

Curt


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## phoenixkiller (May 13, 2012)

Curt_914 said:


> Tell me about it I have been drooling over a nikon D-800 and a couple other models since I allready have Nikor lens, But at 3000+ I have yet to bite the bullet.
> 
> Curt


Until I have multiple good reasons to get a $1,000.00+ camera, I'm just gonna stick with what I've got.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

this is one that has popped up out of my blues. i got all my blues from my red rili. i ended up getting more blue and solid blues than red and whites 










i also get what i call my purple rili


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks for sharing guys!


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

speedie408 said:


> Carlos,
> That last one looks almost like it's sick (bacterial infection?). How long has it been this color? If it's not sick, that's a bad @ss morph! :thumbsup:


 You were right! 

Today she showed up with **damaged antennae** and walking very slow and clumsy. Pretty sad, I took her out.

I'll start treating with melafix ASAP. I started a paraguard treatment in the mean time. There is only one bv male that has some cloudiness in that tank and one yellow and one OEBT in the upstairs tank... I didn't know that a shrimp can survive with a bacterial infection for so long.

**I should've listen to you instead if my wishful thinking. I was waiting for that sign to convince myself.


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## Dayumdanny (Sep 9, 2012)

Just got some blue velvets. They look great


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

pejerrey said:


> You were right!
> 
> Today she showed up with **damaged antennae** and walking very slow and clumsy. Pretty sad, I took her out.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear man. Normally any type of cloudiness on shrimp with transparent shells mean bad news.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

So, I just thought I'd update. In time all my BVRs (blue velvet reds) have had their red fade away just leaving the blue.

It looks as if on some the fading mutation may take longer than others.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> So, I just thought I'd update. In time all my BVRs (blue velvet reds) have had their red fade away just leaving the blue.
> 
> It looks as if on some the fading mutation may take longer than others.


I've been witnessing the same with mine. Thanks for sharing your experience Bryce. 

Also, I wanted to ask those of you who are keeping Blue Velvets from me... Do you all notice that they tend to stay smaller than regular Neos?


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## Tanman19az (May 14, 2011)

When I had them, that's what I noticed. I thought it was because I was keeping them in softer water with my CRS


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Yes I have noticed that thy stay smaller also I noticed most of the ones I got where all males but 3

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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I've noticed that they're slightly smaller than the Supreme Reds. 

I've also noticed a really high mortality rate among shrimplets. I don't do any water changes whatsoever. Only with top offs with tap at 20TDS. 

One reason that I've thought about is the SS mesh over the canister filter (in which I turn on occasionally to get the detritus build up(I have only a thin layer of sand as substrate) into the filter) isn't fine enough for newborns and they still get sucked into the canister. 

Any help? 

Sorry to derail but regarding head gears:
I've noticed the red head gear in smaller juvie shrimp but not so much in sexually mature shrimp.


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## Tanman19az (May 14, 2011)

sbarbee54 said:


> Yes I have noticed that thy stay smaller also I noticed most of the ones I got where all males but 3
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


I've noticed this too! Speedie!!! Haha jk


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Tanner - I notice that softer water tends to turn them clear and they don't breed well either. They like harder water up to 350TDS.

Steve - Are the females berrying up for you? I get these guys at a young age so it's near impossible to sex them. 

Jeff - Maybe it's time to do water changes my friend . Get your TDS to the optimal range and try to keep it there by doing regular water changes. 

Best thing to do is to use a sponge filter on your inlet if you want to keep shrimplets from getting sucked into the filter.


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## Tanman19az (May 14, 2011)

Well it's a moot point now since I sold them off. I went with your pumpkins instead.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah I have tons of babies they each have dropped 2 clutches as of yesterday


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

That's what I like to hear!


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## rrastro (Jun 14, 2012)

speedie408 said:


> Also, I wanted to ask those of you who are keeping Blue Velvets from me... Do you all notice that they tend to stay smaller than regular Neos?


Mine get to be the same size as the fire reds I have. It might take a little longer for them to get there, though.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Mine do stay somewhat smaller than the others, but I figure that's because it is a new var.

I also noticed the same thing with the TDS. Also best coloration is in higher ph. Mine have now adapted over generations to 8-8.3 and breed constantly. Others may have different experiences though.


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## Dany08fa (Jul 3, 2012)

I Bought 8 some from a lfs a frw weeks back. No idea on how the babies are gonna do but one of my females should throw my first batch pretty soon. Mine are in crs parameters.


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

I got mine from Jeff, Which were from speedie as I am told. To be honest I had almost Given up on seeing any baby's But when I was in the tank I found about 20, Shrimplets about 2mm long. I also have a couple with red headgear but a couple it has seemed to fade. I am trying to figure out a way to best show off there color as they are washed out in my tank. 

I was also going to do a tank swap out and move my blues to a 5.5 gallon but now that I have some babies I dont know what to do other then I need to get some sponge filters and get rid of my HOB's.

Curt


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

rrastro said:


> Mine get to be the same size as the fire reds I have. It might take a little longer for them to get there, though.


Your Fire Reds must be small. :tongue:



Soothing Shrimp said:


> Mine do stay somewhat smaller than the others, but I figure that's because it is a new var.
> 
> I also noticed the same thing with the TDS. Also best coloration is in higher ph. Mine have now adapted over generations to 8-8.3 and breed constantly. Others may have different experiences though.


:thumbsup::thumbsup:



Curt_914 said:


> I got mine from Jeff, Which were from speedie as I am told. To be honest I had almost Given up on seeing any baby's But when I was in the tank I found about 20, Shrimplets about 2mm long. I also have a couple with red headgear but a couple it has seemed to fade. I am trying to figure out a way to best show off there color as they are washed out in my tank.
> 
> I was also going to do a tank swap out and move my blues to a 5.5 gallon but now that I have some babies I dont know what to do other then I need to get some sponge filters and get rid of my HOB's.
> 
> Curt


I've used brown and black substrate on these guys and I think they're the most photogenic in black substrate due to their translucent shell. It's a better contrast when using flash photography. As for viewing purposes only, I think the brown substrate is better. 

I use one sponge filter per 10g of water. That's all you really need. HOBs are fine as long as you use a prefilter, but those tend to clog up rather quick. That's why I don't use HOBs.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Ditto on sponges for HOBs. Nothing more frustrating than seeing that hourglass shape on a sponge prefilter you just cleaned!

Air driven for me right now!


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## blue1delta (Jan 8, 2013)

I started with ten blue velvets in a 2.5g with no heater and a HOB with some purigen. I have had several berried females and seen shrimplets, but only a few have survived very long. I had a lot of red on those that faded as they got bigger. I recently moved two females and a male to my 17.4g to see if they have a better survival rate there. I am feeding them borneo wild grow. I have a sponge prefilter covered in pantyhose so I don't think that they're getting sucked in the filter. Why aren't more of my shrimplets surviving?

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=304770&highlight=


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

What are your water parameters?


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## blue1delta (Jan 8, 2013)

I wanted to update. The BV's I moved to the larger tank (17.4g) are breeding well. I have lots of babies. I have 3 males with lots of pink one is fully grown doesn't look like it will fade. No females have retained the red very long.


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## ProduceGuy (Mar 8, 2013)

speedie408 said:


> I've been witnessing the same with mine. Thanks for sharing your experience Bryce.
> 
> Also, I wanted to ask those of you who are keeping Blue Velvets from me... Do you all notice that they tend to stay smaller than regular Neos?



Yes, all mine are very tiny. Much smaller than my neo's.


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## brenzies (Aug 5, 2014)

Hi, im new here and looking for someone to sell me a few blue velvet shrimp for my tank, if you still keep them you cou please contact me
Tahkrgrl @ yahoo .com


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## danman16 (Aug 5, 2014)

Those are some beautiful shrimp!


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