Caridina cf. cantonensis
Bee Shrimp have been kept in Japan by breeders for many years and are one of my favorite shrimp along with the Crystal Red Shrimp or "Red Bee" which were bred from the Bee Shrimp when a few red and white showed up in a breeders population. The Bee Shrimp is found naturally in the wild, but many seen in the hobby these days are of higher grades with dark black and brilliant white markings perfected through selective breeding. The ones I keep are considered to be S+ grade.
| Temperature | 68 to 75 degrees F. |
| PH | wide range 6.2 to 7.2 |
| Origin | wild form South East Asia |
| Breeding info | fairly easy to breed, young have no larval stage |
| Food | algae, bio-film, regular fish food pellet and flake |
| Size | 1 inch to 1.75 inches as a rule |
| Difficulty | Medium, water quality very important |
| Compatibility | Non-aggressive, should not be kept with any other Caridina sp. as they may cross breed |
The chart is a guideline only and these shrimp will be best kept at a PH of 6.4 to 6.5 as that is the PH they are accustomed to in my tanks. The Bee Shrimp will breed readily in your tank when the water is kept within the proper range and although these shrimp can survive in a fairly wide range of PH they will not be as healthy of live as long in higher PH nor will the survival rate of the young be as high.
Keeping these shrimp happy and healthy is as easy as keeping the water very clean and using a sponge filter or keeping a sponge pre filter over your canister or hang on the back filter is recommended to keep baby shrimp from being sucked into the filter. The young are not much more than 3 mm long at birth and easily sucked into your average filter. As with all Dwarf Shrimp it is recommended they be kept in a shrimp only tank as most fish will eat the young shrimp, yes even guppies and the shrimp will be much more active when not worried about being eaten.
My Bee Shrimp are in a 20 gallon long tank set up with Fluorite mixed with ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II to help keep the PH buffered around 6.4 to 6.5 with R/O water. I also use two filters in this tank, a HOB and a sponge filter. The intake on the HOB is covered with a sponge pre filter as well. There is some driftwood, Oak Leaves, and Moss in the tank as well there is more info on why I use leaves as well as moss in the article section. I have found these shrimp easy to keep and breed as long as water parameters are maintained.
My Bee Shrimp are tank raised by me and kept in excellent health and I do have some available for purchase from time to time. I prefer to sell only juvenile shrimp from 1/4 to 1/2 inch long because they ship and adapt to your tanks parameters better and live a longer life than if you are sent adults that you have no clue as to age. Your Bee Shrimp will live from 1 to 1.5 years on average so getting youngsters is a good idea. Please check my AZ Inverts Store for availability
