Breeding Carbon Rili Shrimp (Neocaridina davidi)
Breeding the Carbon Rili pattern of Neocaridina davidi, with black head and tail and a clear midsection: sexing, conditioning, colony setup, berried females and shrimplet rearing with pattern culling.
Overview
The Carbon Rili, also called Black Rili, is a patterned Neocaridina davidi line with a black head and tail and a translucent midsection. It breeds with the same ease as other Neocaridina and develops directly, with no larval stage. The breeding goal is not just numbers but holding the two-tone Rili split, which is harder to fix than a solid colour.
Sexing
Females are larger, deeper-bodied and more strongly pigmented than males, with a wider tail for carrying eggs. A maturing female shows the ovary saddle behind the head. Males are smaller and more transparent overall.
Conditioning
Maintain both sexes in an established tank and offer a varied diet of biofilm, algae, blanched vegetables and occasional protein. Females become receptive right after molting, so stable conditions and steady feeding are the main spawning cues; do not overfeed.
Breeding Setup
- Minimum tank volume: 20 L for a colony
- Temperature: 20-26 C (68-79 F)
- pH: 6.5-7.8; GH 6-12 dGH; KH 2-8 dKH
- Sponge filter to keep shrimplets safe
- Moss, plants and caves for post-molt shelter
- Stable parameters to support continuous breeding
Spawning & Berried Females
After a post-molt mating the female carries 20-30 eggs under her abdomen and fans them with her pleopods. Per Wikipedia the clutch hatches in roughly 2-3 weeks. Keep parameters stable; a stressed female may abandon the eggs.
Shrimplet Care
Shrimplets emerge as tiny adults and graze biofilm from day one. They require dense moss cover and a fish-free tank. Pattern only becomes clear as they grow, so grading for clean Rili split is done on juveniles and young adults.
Common Challenges
Avoid copper-based medications. Rili patterning is unstable, so each generation throws solid-colour and reverted individuals; cull those that lose the clear midsection to keep the line true. Crossing with other Neocaridina morphs accelerates reversion to wild brown. Neocaridina davidi does not interbreed with Caridina cantonensis, a separate genus.