Neocaridina and Caridina Shrimp Care!
Stay tuned till the end of the blog (or just scroll now) for some vids, gifs and pics!
Need a new friend in your aquarium thats small and cleans up after itself, is fun to watch and can fit in microaquariums? Well, A caridina or neocaridina shrimp can easily fill that spot. They're easy to care for, active, friendly to other tank mates, clean up like the great bottom feeders they are, and are stunning to look at. Heres some info about caring for them:
Water parameters: Ph should be between 6.4-8.0, i like mine in the high 7s. Gh 4-8 and kh 2-5. For many inverts people underestimate the importance of Kh, i would keep yours in the high range, as do I, if you want to breed most shrimp and snails especially. Nitrites and nitrates as relatively low as you can, no copper anywhere, and temp should be in the high 60s to low 80s
Food: They will eat any waste at the bottom of your tank, ans algaes, however i also feed mine algae tablets and bottom feeder pellets, ive also seen them eat leftover flake food.
Habitat: They originate in the waters of Taiwan, and do well in most aquariums (preferabbly planted with enough hiding spaces) and can be in any tank 5+ gallons. They do best in groups, and in well established tanks, meaning tanks which have had time to grow various organisms like algaes, and finish setting the water
Breeding: If there are both male and female shrimp present in your tank, eventually they will end up breeding, HOWEVER, the most notable difference between caridinas and neocaridinas in the hobby, is that caridinas need brackish (slightly high salinity) to breed, while neocaridinas can breed easily in freshwater. The best way to encourage them to breed is to keep parameters constant, kh high, plenty of food to spare (be sure to watch nitrates though) and a comfortable amount of space and hides
Of course, each type of caridina/neocaridina shrimp has slightly different requirements, and there is more info you may need to know, so always do your proper research before purchasing any animals 😁