Which statement is true? Neocaridina shrimp

[Cinnebuns]

Which statement is true?

A.  Neocaridina shrimp like cherry shrimp will eat eggs and fry. 

B.  Neocaridina shrimp like cherry shrimp will nanny eggs by cleaning off fungus and eating infertile eggs and will leave fry alone. 

I'm very confused right now. I got blue velvet shrimp to nanny my panda cory eggs. I have noticed a dramatic increase in the amount of fry I find which seems to indicate they are doing good. I've just now been told by a reputable source that not only do they eat fertile eggs but fry as well. Now, this was in a rainbowfish group and not a cory group but the statement claimed ALL fish eggs. 

Opinions?  Experiences?

[TheSwissAquarist]

b

[anitstuk]

100% B

[Guppysnail]

B is true. I use them to nanny eggs. I have been throwing my plants with panda eggs directly into my neocaridina shrimp tank. They hatch just fine and fry survive. I also use them in CPD hatch tanks and CPD stay non swimming wrigglers for a good bit. See several batches in my journal. All had shrimp tending them.  @Fish Folk and others use them as nanny’s as well.  I believe your source is confusing neocaridina with Amano. I’ve heard many folks say Amano will eat eggs and wiggler stage fry though I have never kept Amano shrimp so cannot verify that. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/24/2022 at 2:50 AM, Guppysnail said:

B is true. I use them to nanny eggs. I have been throwing my plants with panda eggs directly into my neocaridina shrimp tank. They hatch just fine and fry survive. I also use them in CPD hatch tanks and CPD stay non swimming wrigglers for a good bit. See several batches in my journal. All had shrimp tending them.  @Fish Folk and others use them as nanny’s as well.  I believe your source is confusing neocaridina with Amano. I’ve heard many folks say Amano will eat eggs and wiggler stage fry though I have never kept Amano shrimp so cannot verify that. 

Thats what I thought at first too but they specifically said cherry shrimp then went on to say "all inverts."  I fully agree with Amano and snails but not neos. Basically the whole group has this belief apparently and it's run by no other than Gary Lange so it was hard for me to ignore. My experience and every single response to this question says B tho lol

I have a feeling something got confused in translation and imma just go with that lol

[Guppysnail]

I see where you felt conflicted. All I can verify is what I have personally experienced. Many pet shops list Amano and ghost shrimp incorrectly, that I have seen often. I’ve also seen clerks net the wrong shrimp and posts of folks who bought neocaridina at a shop but received Amano and had no clue until they posted pictures here that what they had were Amano not neo. So perhaps there were some of those experiences. No matter how great the greats are they are still people and subject to mistakes based on their personal variations with experiences.  I could also guess that maybe placing neos in a sterile breeder box with no biofilm, no plants and no food maybe if faced with starvation they would eat live eggs 🤷‍♀️

editbto add…perhaps the eggs went fungus but no one seen the fungus just missing eggs or the fry passed unexpectedly and all that was seen were neos eating the dead. Most other larger inverts will eat eggs in my experience.  

Edited August 24, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/24/2022 at 3:03 AM, Guppysnail said:

 I could also guess that maybe placing neos in a sterile breeder box with no biofilm, no plants and no food maybe if faced with starvation they would eat live eggs

That's exactly what I suggested during the conversation haha. I bet that's exactly what it is tbh. 

 

Also to clarify, Gary Lange wasn't part of this specific conversation but the fact it's a belief being spread in his group gave me pause. It doesn't necessarily mean he himself believes this tho. 

[Guppysnail]

Thank you for your post. I was considering small scuds as live food for my new Scarlet badis. Now I’m doubting the wisdom of that? 🤔

[Cinnebuns]

@Guppysnail Just for a little school girl NERM moment. I didn't realize this group I've been in was run by Gary Lange and that he answered a question of mine until a week later. I had a little NERM moment to myself when I did realize it lol

[Shadow_Arbor]

From my experience, and like most things, it's not so simple as A or B. It depends on the egg size and strength. I've seen neos do both. Usually larger eggs they'll leave alone, but the really small ones might run into trouble. I've also seen them pull apart eggs while "cleaning" them. 

 

A similar instance, I've seen in my high volume neo tanks, neos rip (and tear until it is done - sorry I couldn't help myself with that reference) apart baby shrimp when being fed. I can only assume accidentally. So I'd say in general B but not always.

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/24/2022 at 3:52 AM, Shadow_Arbor said:

From my experience, and like most things, it's not so simple as A or B. It depends on the egg size and strength. I've seen neos do both. Usually larger eggs they'll leave alone, but the really small ones might run into trouble. I've also seen them pull apart eggs while "cleaning" them. 

 

A similar instance, I've seen in my high volume neo tanks, neos rip (and tear until it is done - sorry I couldn't help myself with that reference) apart baby shrimp when being fed. I can only assume accidentally. So I'd say in general B but not always.

I appreciate the full and complete answer tyvm!  It might also explain the difference between responses about cory eggs vs pseudomugil eggs since they are smaller. 

[Fish Folk]

Anecdotally… I use a single neo in my F. scheeli killi hatch-out containers. I’ve hatched out and raised over a hundred healthy fish without problems.

Initial setup, single neocaridina per jug…

Later, full colony of killis…

I have many, many more videos showing this same result. Most can be found at the top side of this forum journal:

 

[modified lung]

On 8/24/2022 at 1:03 AM, Guppysnail said:

 I could also guess that maybe placing neos in a sterile breeder box with no biofilm, no plants and no food maybe if faced with starvation they would eat live eggs 🤷‍♀️

I was going to say exactly this. Many breeders like to keep their setups meticulously clean and, when starving, animals will eat things they normally wouldn't.

In my own paranoia I've actually tested a lot of the invert/egg theories, although only with CPD and ricefish eggs. In tanks with and without shrimp and snails I only saw a difference in the amount of fungus eggs. I'm guessing it's because the dead eggs are being eaten. 

I'm confident to say neocardenia and whatever kind of ghost shrimp I have, and also scuds, don't normally eat live eggs. Same for ramshorn, bladder, Malaysian trumpet, and Japanese trapdoor snails. I don't do any meticulous cleaning in my breeding tanks so there's always plenty of other stuff for the shrimp and snails to snack on.

Whenever I found a snail leach or this small black/dark brown not-quite-leach looking thing I haven't tried to identify yet, I would find a lot fewer or no eggs. So I'm confident those do eat live eggs.

There's no way those shrimp or snails are catching live fry unless there's something wrong with that fry. About 10% or more of fry that hatch are deformed or not fully developed and won't survive long either way.

If a shrimp is ripping apart a live egg while cleaning it, that egg was probably weak and is either dying or will hatch a week offspring. Most healthy eggs are decently tough and elastic. But I'm making a big generalization there. I don't want to say that's always true all the time.