mosspearl

Thanks, moss.

Tough call...but you made the right choice. Poor little shrimpies.

It is. My latest passions are health related. I'm learning herbal medicine (western, ayurvedic, traditional Chinese), and saving up to learn craniosacral therapy. I've come to the conclusion that all passions end up being expensive and time consuming. LOL

It is. My latest passions are health related. I'm learning herbal medicine (western, ayurvedic, traditional Chinese), and saving up to learn craniosacral therapy. I've come to the conclusion that all passions end up being expensive and time consuming. LOL

It is. My latest passions are health related. I'm learning herbal medicine (western, ayurvedic, traditional Chinese), and saving up to learn craniosacral therapy. I've come to the conclusion that all passions end up being expensive and time consuming. LOL

Thanks! It's hard to balance passions. :-)

Increasing neo hardiness has always been my number one goal.  The breeding projects were icing on the cake. :-)

I don't blame you...it is confusing and you don't know what you'll get. But now that you're getting back into neos, you can work on those idiot-proof shrimp for me. 

Oh my goodness, look at all I missed. Hardly any neos? Who will I go to if I ever get any again? Who am I kidding? Until you breed completely idiot-proof shrimp, I should stay far, far away from them. Waiting to watch the web series and shrimping only in my mind.  

Oh my goodness, look at all I missed. Hardly any neos? Who will I go to if I ever get any again? Who am I kidding? Until you breed completely idiot-proof shrimp, I should stay far, far away from them. Waiting to watch the web series and shrimping only in my mind.  

Aw on both counts! Sorry about your shrimp losses. They suck no matter how few or many you lose.
 
And sorry to hear about your daughter. Those trips to the ER are no fun. Glad she's ready to get back to gymnastics so quickly.

Hoping things are going better now... :::fingers crossed:::

Several people have been writing me asking how my Nessies are different from high quality Jades.
 
First off, let me state, I think Jades are beautiful too!  There's room for more than one type of green neo, just like there's room for more than one blue neo. 
 
Jades seem to be created by an overlap of blue and yellow pigment on the shell.  This creates a nice lime green look.  They also have a higher percentage of culls, but that hopefully will be worked out over time- just as many strains will be.
 
Nessies are 95-99% true breeding.  The amount of green varies from hood to full body.  They have a true green pigment instead of a yellow/blue mix for pigment.  A majority also have a green tissue that varies in intensity. 
 
Both have pros and cons just like any other strain of shrimp.  Perhaps these pics of exceptional high grades side by side will give you a better understanding of the differences.  Click on pic for larger size.
 
The first is a Green Jade c) by Monique, the 2nd pic is my Nessie c) by Soothing Shrimp.

 
Both beautiful, right? Just different. 

Just got my daughter's bill for gymnastics this week.  My eyeballs about fell out.  Coaches fees, gymnastics fees, team fees, rhinestone team leo fees, registration fees for meets, etc. LOL  I made her a promise a while back though that I would do everything possible to make sure she goes as far as she likes in her sport.  So Tues, I'll be listing a very limited amount of Nessies for sale in the Market place to help pay her bill.
 
This is one of my exceptional breeders:

 
Not all look like that, of course.  Males tend to have less saturation of color, as well as some fems.  Here's some lower grades:

 
Nessie grades are really weird.  Nessie cherries can produce near painteds, and visa versa.  I've been working years on having all shrimp come out some grade of green without other colors thrown.  I've reached ~95-99% true. 
 
Some of these shrimp are also able to change color from green to blue and back depending on mood.  Light seems to trigger the green as well, similar to cardinal shrimp changing to red when the light is on.
 
My favorite grades are cherry grade Nessies and Fire grade.  When the light shines through these, the color is still thin enough that they look like stained glass or emeralds.  Seems many people prefer the dark hunter green sakura/painted look.  These can look black in low light, but in high light these are a very dark green well.  I have to admit, I do like the look of a regular colony of all grades though.  What a variety to look at!
 

 
However I am one person. heh  Not a large shrimp farm, so I can either keep this strain myself for the next 10 years or realize that other hobbyists are able to take these in directions I don't have time or space to do! :D

I've been requested to show some pics of my diminutus I have now.  I grabbed my camera phone and took a few snaps.  Crappy pics, but I'll try to get some better ones later.  PH plays a large factor in color for these.  When they arrived they were bluish.  Now in 7+ the adults have turned color.  The males are now tannish and the fems are blackish- this is in my 7+ ph.  I'm theorizing the blue color is due to low ph stressing them somewhat from black to blue, BUT having said that- they seem to breed well in both ph.  You'd think if they were stressed they'd stop breeding. So, who knows?  The juvies are blue right now, but I'm guessing it is because they have thin shells atm. 
 
This is mom when she arrived.  Unfortunately, she wasn't out and about so no pic right now of her color:

 
This is dad currently in ph 7+.  Note he is now tan.

 
These are a couple pics of the blue juvies:


Adults are as big as dwarf shrimp, and smaller than cpo.  The babies can be compared to newborn dwarf shrimp as well.  The blue color would be perfect in crystal params, I'm guessing.  I plan to test my theory soon.

For neos - what've I read most people say... lower temp = longer life span but longer gestation for berried girls. Hiigher temp= shorter life span, faster breeding/gestation.  Then again, too high can cause other health problems.
 
I have mine at 70 or 72 depending on the tank, just my choice

That list of water parameters is basically useless. As long as your tank is close to what is ideal and things stay stable the shrimp will be fine even slightly outside of the listed ranges. Temperatures are another basically useless number, as long as they are within 65-80 range you would be fine, but does effect breeding rates and lifespan.

I thought they were a different species (still neo though)? But I guess you're saying they share water preferences.
I'd love to see malawas on there. Cool little guys.

I see the max temp listed there as 73 for most.
Seems like hard to pinpoint a general consensus as to what the optimal temperature is. Its usually such a wide range from 68 to 80.

Great reference! 
 
Some suggestions- IMHO I would change Blue Rili to BBRR.
 
And since Snowball/BP are neos, it should be in the same params as cherries.

I know. My TDS always builds up like crazy. I need to do more water changes. I promised to get in the habit and then work got crazy again. I have a little more time to practice the habit before more shrimp arrive. Won some in a contest, so I will no longer be completely shrimpless. 

I know. My TDS always builds up like crazy. I need to do more water changes. I promised to get in the habit and then work got crazy again. I have a little more time to practice the habit before more shrimp arrive. Won some in a contest, so I will no longer be completely shrimpless. 

It says snowballs ph max is 6.8... mine are in ph 7.6 and breed like rabbits so... meh.. but it is a great starting point.
 
According to the chart, I have the perfect parms for tigers... now I just need to get some tigers... some REAL tigers.. not the 'here pay tiger prices for wild neos' tigers (I will get over that, I promise, ha ha)

Nice reference. Me and my 450 TDS are gonna go cry in a corner now.

Thank you, Desert... that was it!  
 
Eric, your page looks perfect now!