Aquarium Lore: Crystal Red Shrimp

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Scientific Name:	C. cf. cantonensis
Other Names:	Red Bee Shrimp
Origin:	unknown, first discovered in Japan
Adult Size:	2.5cm
Social:	Good. see below
Lifespan:	2 years
Tank Level:	Bottom
Minimum Tank Size:	20 gallons (for breeding)
Diet:	Omnivore.
Breeding:	see below
Care:	Moderate- Hard- need to monitor nitrate levels and water quality
Ideal pH:	6.5-7.2
Temperature:	20-25C (68-77F)
Tank setup:	Ideally with plants
Sexing:	very hard to tell

Description:

The coloration of this shrimp makes it one of the most sought after shrimp in the market today, and some rare variety of this shrimp can carry a hefy price tag. This shrimp is actually a bee shrimp. But a Japanese ( I think his name is Hisayasu Suzuki) discovered a red variant and successfully cross bred the red varient to produce more crystal red shrimp.

Habitat/Care:

The crystal red shrimp is noted to be highly fussy about its environment, and requires very clean waters. Temperature is ideally around 68 -77 F, and the water is preferably soft and around the neutral ph range. Excessive nitrates can kill the shrimp relatively quickly, as do poor quality water. For this reason, fequently water changes are highly recommended.

Diet:

The Crystal Red Shrimp is a scavenger and an algae eater. It is highly recommended that they should feed an amount of food that the shrimp can finish within 2-3 hours as overfeeding is a known cause of death and can also cause water quality issues. Crystal Red Shrimps are unfussy eaters - they will eat whatever they find. Not feeding for one or two days is fine and will not harm this species at all.

Breeding:

Below is the exact quote from the planted tank on a successful breeder findings. To access the full article, please visit the references link below:

I’ve been keeping crystal red shrimp for nearly a year now. I started out with some low grade crystal reds from a couple US hobbyists and kept them in a 5 gallon tank. They seemed to do well but did not breed at all even though a few females did carry eggs for short periods of time. I eventually moved them all to a 20 gallon tank and had it heavily planted with DIY C02 and they breed readily and I ended up with quite a few offspring from each batch.