Breeding Orange Shrimp (Caridina Thambipillai) In The Aquarium

Location

This species was labeled as Caridina cf. propinqua until 2011 when its taxonomy was clarified. Its natural habitats are freshwater and brackish reservoirs and estuaries, swampy areas covered mangrove forests.

Body description

Colour of the body is transparent with orange carapace. There is small and red spots on the whole carapace. This species can change its colour and this is its normal form of adaptation. This colour can be brown or yellow and it depends on natural habitat, chemical composition of the water, water hardness and salinity water. This species molts in order to grow. Female is somewhat larger than male and she has a characteristic "saddle" behind her head.

Characteristics and temperament

This species prefers to live in group. Then it is less timid and shy. This is active shrimp - it looks for food and feeds all the time. It spends time among plants and on the substrate. It can escape from aquarium when it is stressed or it feels threatened, or we have bad water conditions.

Aquarium decoration

This species prefers clean water with a systematic partial water changes, without heavy metals, ammonia and nitrites. The water should be oxygen-rich with gentle flow. The aquarium should include soft and fine substrate, lot of plants, roots, branches, hiding-places among rocks and stones. We may keep this species in a general tank with small, non-aggressive fish (e.g. otos) and other dwarf shrimps.

Breeding

Reproduce this species isn't easy task because larval stage needs a separate aquarium with brackish water with the same water parameters as the general tank. We transfers fertilized female to this aquarium and we wait up to hatching all eggs. Then we remove her and we gradually salt the water with the larvae to specific gravity SG=1.008. The larvae fall on the bottom and they transform to adult form after 20-30 days. Then we don't need immediately to transfer young to the freshwater aquarium. This species can live in brackish water its life.