Bumblebee Shrimp... Id?

[dizzied]

You'll certainly have to forgive my impulsiveness, but I saw these shrimp and just thought "Mine!".

Pictures aren't the best, but could anyone give me an ID to them, as well as breeding information.

I've also noticed some were red, and some were black. Should I split them?

 

[eschaton]

They're clearly a Caridina variety, similar to Tiger shrimp and Crystal Reds, so don't put them in a tank with those varieties or else you'll get hybrids.

They appear closest to the "bee" shrimp variety of that genus, though with brown instead of black banding. My guess is they're the decedents of low-grade purebred shrimp with something wild thrown in.

 

[iSnail]

In general, bee/bumble bee shrimps prefer slightly softer and lower pH environment. They are a bit more delicate than amano and cherry shrimps.

 

[dizzied]

I ended up putting them aside in a 2.5g by themselves. Seems like there's at least one threat in all my other tanks.

The pictures don't show the colors too well. Half of them are red-banded, the others black-banded. I'll see if I can get better shots tomorrow. Do you know which breeding method these guys use? Mini-shrimp, larval, brackish larval?

 

[dizzied]

Nvm. I'm pretty sure I ended up with this:
http/www.freshwaterinverts.com/5032.html

Should I split up the colors though?

 

[iSnail]

The link you gave pretty much sums up the breeding and keeping of these shrimps. They give birth to mini versions of the adults i.e. fully formed.

As to whether to separate them.... I think your shrimps might have already hybridised. You can try and keep the red/white ones separate to maintain the line of breed.

 

[dizzied]

They might've. I might end up splitting them later, but I guess for now, breeding "high quality" shrimp isn't a goal of mine. Sure is nice though, to find another cheap shrimp aside from the usual cherries and amanos.

 

[Liam]

With the ones I have the colour varies from black, brown to rusty red with broken white bands, the babies throw up the same colour differences. I keep them with crystal reds and they have not crossbred. They dont breed fast like cherry shrimp and as said need soft slightly acidic water, they are more bossy than crystal red or cherries but get on fine with both in my tank. Nice little shrimp.