I was thinking about the relative merits of combining different lines of neos versus starting with a few high-quality shrimp from a good line and using them exclusively. For example, taking really good specimens from 3 different colonies of blue velvets and breeding from them versus the same number of shrimp from just the one good colony. I was wondering, what're people's experiences?

I'm guessing combining lines you get more culls if you combine lines, but perhaps more durable shrimp due to less inbreeding.  But  I could be dead wrong.

In your Blue Velvet example - if you were confident in the genes of each colony then i couldn't see a problem, however you would need to keep them as separate group and observe over a few Generations just in case you see less than desirable offspring.

however if it was newly bought nice shrimp i would take more care. you may get the nicest out of a batch, but the genetics in there may have less than desirable traits, which you wouldn't know until some breeding time has passed.

Great advice, thanks @Foxpuppet!

Hello @waffle

My opinion is if you can afford it then always go with a few great shrimp and breed from there. I started my PRL from a pair which was berried mind you. My BB's started from a trio. I find it has been better for my quality starting from a few good shrimp.

Only issues is if you lose a shrimp it really hurts.

 

Hello @waffle

My opinion is if you can afford it then always go with a few great shrimp and breed from there. I started my PRL from a pair which was berried mind you. My BB's started from a trio. I find it has been better for my quality starting from a few good shrimp.

Only issues is if you lose a shrimp it really hurts.

 

I Agree with disciple although in practice it's always hard to pass up good deals. If you buy a large batch of 20+ shrimp you may only actually get a few desirable ones in there and the mix of M&F means you might actually only get a few females good enough for breeding.

If you start with a more expensive but known quality pair or trio then your end result will actually be reached much sooner.

Thanks heaps, this is really helplful! At the moment I have gone for larger numbers because I'm so new and I wanted to actually -get- them breeding, but I'll see if I can find space for tanks dedicated for only top-notch pairs ?