Dwarf shrimp of the genus Caridina, Neocaridina and many others.
Shrimp for aquarium can be divided into 3 groups: Fan shrimp, large arm shrimp and the dwarf shrimp we are talking about here. The history of dwarf shrimp in the aquarium goes back several years, when the well-known natural aquarist and aquascaper Takashi Amano used small shrimp in his strongly lit aquariums to keep algae growth in check.
It was soon noticed that the little "cleaners" were not only good algae eaters, but that there were very colorful species that displayed extremely interesting behavior . For this reason, dwarf shrimp began to be kept and bred in species aquariums.
Today, shrimp crawl in almost every aquarium. The many different color forms are becoming more and more popular, they are now kept almost all over the world by a wide variety of people. Because Takashi Amano discovered these animals for the aquarium, the Caridina japonica (multidentata) mainly used by him is called "Amano shrimp".
Today you can find beside natural colored shrimps also a lot of colorful dwarf shrimps, which can be kept and bred in the aquarium.
Here is a short overview of the different shrimp genera:
Shrimp of the genus Neocaridina
The genus "Neocaridina" is particularly colorful, it is now available in almost every color imaginable. This dwarf shrimp is easy to breed.it is often recommended to beginners, because these shrimp can cope with almost all water values and water temperatures in freshwater. Especially well colored Neocaridina shrimp are usually titled Sakura. Colored shrimp that are transparent in some places are called Rili.
Shrimps of the genus Caridina
The genus "Caridina" is the king class of dwarf shrimps. Some of them are a bit more difficult to breed than the Neocaridina species, Caridina shrimps are therefore a real challenge for every keeper. With good care, most species can be bred in the aquarium without problems.
Caridina shrimp include bee shrimp and tiger shrimp, taiwan shrimp and Caridina highbreds as well as the Amana shrimp and several others like the Babaulti shrimp from India and the Sulawesi shrimp. The genus Caridina is the largest among dwarf shrimp.
Shrimp of the genus Paracaridina
The genus Paracaridina is still relatively new among dwarf shrimp. Paracaridina live mostly in soft water and reproduce somewhat less than Neocaridina shrimp. Paracaridina shrimp usually remain somewhat smaller than many other species.
Keeping and care of dwarf shrimp
Dwarf shrimp can be kept from a tank volume of 10 liters, 20 liters are better. The aquarium should be equipped with some hiding places such as moss, roots or shrimp tubes. You can plant a shrimp aquarium with all kinds of aquatic plants and aquarium mosses, which we offer in our aquarium plant store. Shrimp love it when some fine feathery plants are available, as they like to climb in these fine plants.
The aquarium for dwarf shrimp should have a filter. If you want to breed, the aquarium filter should be such that shrimp offspring are not sucked in. Foam filters and air lift filters are perfectly suitable.
You can keep dwarf shrimp together with almost all other aquarium inhabitants that are not too big and too voracious. Especially the robust Neocaridina dwarf shrimps are well suited for keeping with fish in the aquarium.
Shrimps are omnivorous and absolutely peaceful. Shrimps are fed every 2-3 days in small amounts with special shrimp food. Since the little crawlers like to eat a varied diet, you should always offer some foliage or dried vegetables.