Crystal Red and Black Shrimp – Caridina cantonensis

• Name:  ‎Caridina cantonensis
• Temperature: 65-76 F
• Size: 1-1.5”
• pH: 5.5-7.2
• kH: 0-4
• gH: 4-6
• TDS: 130-300
• Care Level: 3/5

The crystal red and crystal black shrimp are some of the most beautiful shrimp for planted aquariums. While neocaridina shrimp tend to have translucent colors (aside from high grade cherry, black rose, and Bloody Mary shrimp), the Caridina shrimp have very strong, solid coloration (with a few exceptions).

The crystal red cherry shrimp is one of the most popular choices for nano planted tanks. However, these shrimps are very sensitive, so a nano tank needs to be at least 5 gallons to keep their parameters stable. Changes in gH, kH, or TDS from evaporation can be lethal in a very short time to these shrimps.

They also need an established, mature biofilm present in the tank, so this gives you plenty of time to plant it and set it up however you want to. Since these are a more expensive shrimp, most people do not house them in community tanks, but it is more than possible to house them with peaceful tank mates.

The main issue with community aquariums is that these shrimps often do not tolerate large water changes. Water changes that are more than 10 or 20% can shock them and kill them. In addition, nitrates are toxic to these shrimps at lower levels than fish, so it is difficult to keep nitrates down when you can only change 10% of the water at a time.

from – BYA