Im mainly a fish breeder so the topic of hybrids is very controversial, there are two groups , the purist who say all hybrids are abominations and should bd destroyed, and those who thing hybridization is fine within reason and safety of the fish. my question here is , is it the same here where someone keeping cherry reds and ghost in the same tank is gonna have a mob at the doorsteps or is it a little more relaxed where people appreciate them either way ?
A lot of shrimp keepers will not understand if a person is keeping different colored Neocaridinas together because they result in a decline in coloration when they cross different colors, eventually back to natural coloration (Brownish-clear). Caridinas shrimp on the other hand is cross breeding central. Caridinas shrimp crossed will result in offspring with interesting and often beautiful colors and patterns. The offspring in some cases can be very valuable. As a result of heavy cross breeding of many Caridinas shrimp, they have become genetically fragile and harder to keep and breed. Very different case than the Neocaridina shrimp.
Easy as this. Crossbreeding different Neocaridina colors, not recommended. You may end up with a lot of shrimp you may not have wanted. However adding new lines of the same Neos to a colony of the same type will strengthen genetics and immunity.
Crossbreeding Caridina is recommended to develop new color lines, patterns and variations. May weaken genetics, may strengthen genetics in some cases.
2 different worlds. That's why neos are considered beginner shrimp and caridinas are usually mediun to difficult.
My buddy has a tank of different colored neos and thats OK as long as he knows what will happen down the line. If he was doing it because he had no idea that it would dilute all his separate lines, he will be in for disappointment down the road.
The Shrimp keepers I have met so far seem pretty cool and I have not seen any cases of people jumping on somebody new to the hobby for any reason.
