Neocaridina "Black Sapphire" OE

Black Sapphire orange eyes (OE) are the result of crossing Neocaridina Black Rose OE with Blue Sapphire. As a result of this crossing, the juveniles are inky blue, but adults are usually so dark blue that they look black. The orange eyes form a great contrast to the dark body of the animals. In contrast to our Black Rose OE line, adult animals have little or no brown in their coloring.

How stable is this line? Our Black Sapphire orange eyes line is still quite young and is currently one of the more unstable lines. If the animals are mated with each other, 100% of the offspring have the orange eyes, about 70% of the animals are evenly opaque dark blue to black. The rest scatters in black and blue speckled colors. These are estimates.

Neocaridina with orange eyes? For about 2 years we have been offering offspring of our Neocaridina breeding lines with orange eyes (OE). The inheritance of the orange eyes is stable. From the outside, the orange eyes of the Neocaridina can be distinguished from the orange eyes of the tiger shrimp, as they have a dark spot in the middle, which may indicate residual pigment. We published a detailed report on these animals in the Caridina magazine (issue 2/2022). You can find more about this topic here .

Release size: Release animals have a minimum size of 0.8 cm, i.e. shortly before sexual maturity. If sexually mature animals are handed over, attention is paid to an even sex distribution.

General information on keeping and breeding: Like all dwarf shrimp of the Neocaridina genus, these animals are very adaptable and can usually be kept in tap water (18 - 26 °C) without any problems. In our facility, the tap water has the values: pH 7.6, gH 10; kH 9, conductivity 600uS, 22 °C. The animals feed on conventional fish food, algae growth, dead animal and plant material. They are therefore the best leftover-cleaners and contribute to the biological balance in the aquarium. The socialization with small and medium-sized aquarium fish can work, but it is advisable to offer sufficient hiding places such as moss and roots. Under optimal conditions, animals quickly grow into lively colonies.