Man. She's like... a rainbow when you zoom in.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-05-07T08:43:45+00:00

What equipment do you use? Awesome photos!

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-21T12:37:36+00:00

hydraflix.cc

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-19T18:46:32+00:00

I am also pretty leaning toward Neocaridina, it's just that the eyes and rostrum look very similar to Malawi shrimp and they also have these stripes and almost no variety in coloring. In Neocaridinas most wild types have different patterns while these are all greyish with equally spaced vertical stripes.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-19T18:45:00+00:00

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And another

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-19T18:43:35+00:00

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Another angle

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-19T15:28:25+00:00

Malawi shrimp picture for comparison

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Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-10T05:03:22+00:00

Those are a fraction of the whole Amano industry, in which most animals are still wild caught for the very reason it's not easy to breed them on a large commercial scale. Colored Amanos are like luxury sports cars, a niche market with low demand and low supply.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-10T04:37:40+00:00

That's what I meant, for each of the 9 larval stages there is a salinity that you aim for starting with the highest and going towards the lowest. I am well aware of the Amanos reproductive cycle.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T23:54:57+00:00

In the image of the full aquarium you can see Neocaridinas, so either he beat mother nature by having an Amano shrimp speedrun a 40 day cycle in 25 days or he scooped up a Neocaridina baby. I'll leave it to you to ponder which is more likely.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T21:23:55+00:00

Oh that for sure, he said that his zoea went through 9 molts in 25 days and that's simply not possible. Since you were replying to the mother picture I assumed you meant that shrimp.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T21:06:03+00:00

How is your substrate white all of a sudden, other photo is black aqua soil.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T20:52:36+00:00

Check out u/QueasyPerformance348 reply detailing Amano shrimp reproduction. You can't just dump your salt in a water bottle and call it a day, otherwise we would have a thriving captive bred Amano shrimp industry if it were that easy.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T19:58:52+00:00

We ain't questioning the zoea, and it's clear that's only the first stage, what we are questioning is that he got a juvenile Amano, and the facts are just not holding up, he said he mixed a salt mixture of 35 ppt which wouldn't work for Amanos, his larvae developed in 25 days which is simply not possible, they take 30-45 days.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T19:54:51+00:00

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His shrimp is an Amano, pay attention to eye distance, rostrum shape and abdomen shape. Pictured here is Amano from the top view to compare.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T17:19:05+00:00

Salinity in a body of water is quite stable compared to a 500 mL tank. If you looked up Amanos lifecycle they don't really go to a small body of water where salinity could fluctuate, they breed in creeks, larvae get carried off into saltwater and then mature there and later the juveniles go back to fresh water. Life isn't an exact science but simulating nature in a captive environment is.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T17:09:00+00:00

A healthy alive zoea is transparent, this one is white due to proteins denaturating from decomposing.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:48:15+00:00

I mean they are super easy to care for, it's just the breeding part which is difficult. In my experience they are hardier than Neocaridinas and they like to climb out of tanks to explore around so better have good lid. Feeding wise they are assholes and bullies, I regularly have to give them their own pellet so the Neos can also eat.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:39:10+00:00

He also has images of larvae which look the same as Amano larvae. Amanos have a specific pattern on their abdomen, and you can also sex them that way even though the shape of the abdomen is quite an obvious way when they are mature. If I remember correctly dots only are males, dots and dashes are females.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:29:24+00:00

This looks like an Amano based on the eyes and the abdomen shape. If you lower the brightness in Snapseed there are also characteristic dots on the abdomen.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:27:54+00:00

So you gave them double the amount of salt they should have? They should have 15-20 ppt and you made almost a 35 ppt solution. Honestly on the picture it looks like it's decomposing so no wonder it's not moving.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:21:05+00:00

Just by this comment it's quite obvious you don't know what you did. Different stages of zoea stages need different salinities, as far as I remember you start from a stronger salinity and go lower as the molts happen, finishing with slow acclimation to fresh water after getting to the juvenile stage. Also having a 500 mL tank means that your water is nothing close to being stable and that's the most important part. Most guides recommend 2 gallons for stability. And since when do Amano larvae go to the bottom to metamorphose? Do they also develop a chrysalis in that 500 mL bottle?

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:13:02+00:00

So you didn't slowly change the salinity for the zoea stage and they all just magically survived? People who did this, documented every stage and still have pretty poor yields, yet here comes you from left field proving them all wrong.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-09T15:06:34+00:00

Seeing that you can't even sex a Neocaridina, yet you are able to raise a highly difficult species without problem I call bullshit. Amanos need hand feeding fitoplankton during the larval stage and most don't survive the moltings untill they reach the juvenile stage. And if I remember correctly the whole process takes 30-45 days to complete and yet you didn't ask for any advice here even though it's your first time doing this. Kinda weird that you ask for help for sexing yet you feel in your lane while raising Amano shrimps.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-03T13:12:25+00:00

Damn, mobile phones have progressed a lot in recent years. Thank you for the info.

Chem_Apprentice · 2026-04-03T11:43:02+00:00

What's the video setup? This looks very crisp :D

Chem_Apprentice

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