March of the Hybrids!

With hybridization, the limit of shrimp varieties are ever expanding.  For example, there are numerous Tiger/Bee (TiBee) hybrids out there, as well as suspected TiBee/Taiwan Bee hybrids; even the famed Taiwan Bees (TB) themselves are believed by some to be the result of TiBee hybrids.  All of these shrimp are very attractive and unique in their coloration and patterns.

Such hybrids show how closely related all these shrimp species really are.  In fact, I once read that given nature's mysterious ways, it may be possible for Neocardina to cross with Caridina!

What do you think of hybrid shrimp?  Beautiful, or freaks of nature/deliberate crossbreeding?

Pinto Bee (Possible TB/Tiger/TiBee Hybrid)
Breeder: Astrid Weber

Blue Bee/Black Bee Hybrid
Breeder: Marian Bungeroth

White Tiger
Breeder: Monika (http://www.doxon.de/blog/)

New Video: CRS/BKK/WR

Some new photos:

New Shrimp!

I got some new Wine Reds, plus others, this week. All are doing well; now, the challenge is to successfully breed them!

Happy September!

I finally moved into my new apartment, but my tanks are still 2.5 hours away at my parents' house :( It's eerily quiet without the hum of the air pumps and bubbling of the filters; hopefully soon I'll get them down here. Here's a picture of where they'll be going, still gotta clean up -_- What do you think, two more racks..?!

Happy August!

Don't forget to stop by ShrimpNow for this month's desktop wallpaper, featuring a CRS from Alex Korakis of Greece (http://ravensart.wordpress.com/).

Here's a still image from the Benibachi Gallery Tokyo YouTube video. Look at the amount of substrate in the tanks! I wonder if they use a large amount to help maintain water parameters, especially for sensitive, high grade shrimp...click to view the full video!