In the present model, the author offered a numerical treatment on dual solution of water-based nanofluid together with motile gyrotactic micro-organisms accompanied by tiny nanoparticles with radiation effects flowing on non-linearly shrinking/stretching sheet. Set of governing equations converted to non-linear coupled ordinary differential equations by similarity transformations and solved numerically using fifth-order Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method by shooting algorithm. Impact of physical parameters on velocity, temperature, concentration, and density of motile micro-organisms distribution was reported graphically and explained in details. The present results explore the enhancing effect of bioconvection Lewis number, bioconvection Peclet number, and micro-organisms concentration difference parameter resulting in a decline of dual density of motile micro-organisms profile, whereas temperature profile enhanced with a boost in thermal radiation parameter. Finally, the present investigation was compared among offered consequences in literature. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.