Peruvian floating shrimp - Palaemon spec

The Peruvian floating shr imp reaches us from South America. It probably belongs to the genus Palaemon and is therefore a large-armed shrimp. The females carry nevertheless very large eggs, this hover shrimp belongs to the specialized reproduction type and can reproduce in freshwater. With their fine stripe pattern and the tiny dark and white spots that dot these pretty shrimp, the otherwise transparent animals look decidedly elegant.

The Peruvian floating shrimp behaves similarly to Desmocaris trispinata. It floats serenely and elegantly through the aquarium, but it is somewhat less buoyant than the Nigerian Floating Shrimp. This Palaemon sp. is an absolute rarity: the beautiful shrimp were imported for the first time.

Peruvian hover shrimp remain quite small for a large-armed shrimp at about 2-3.5 cm body length. They have only very fine, thin claw arms, with which they should not be dangerous to fish. Because of the rarity of these great shrimps, we recommend keeping them in a species tank with an edge length of 60 cm or more. Since this large-armed shrimp is very peaceful, it can also be kept in a small group of 5-10 animals. Please structure the aquarium accordingly well with roots, stones and plants.

Snails will be eaten, post horn sn ails and well reproducing trumpet snails can be kept in the aquarium as a permanent source of live food of course. Do not keep with crabs, shrimp, predatory snails or predatory fish! 

The males can be easily distinguished from the females: They grow a bit larger, their claw arms are a bit stronger, and of course the males do not carry eggs under their abdomen nor do they have an egg spot on their neck. This can be easily seen in the females of the Peruvian Floating Shrimp thanks to the transparent coloration of the animals.

The Peruvian shrimp prefers animal food like most large arm shrimp. It gratefully accepts frozen or freeze-dried food such as small crayfish and mosquito larvae, but also live worms such as Grindal or Tubifex, live Artemia, protein food for shrimp (for example, the NatureHolic Protein Feed), raw unseasoned fish ... Brown foliage should nevertheless always be present in the shrimp aquarium, it is not only a permanent food supply, but also serves as a good hiding place.

The water for an aquarium with this Palaemon sp. should have a pH of 6.5 to 8, the carbonate hardness (KH) can range from 3-8, the total hardness (GH) between 6 and 15. We recommend a temperature of about 24-27 °C.

Our food recommendation: The soft granulate of the Natureholic MacroFeed consists of biologically balanced animal components that the large-armed shrimp would find in nature in this or a similar way. This supports  in a completely natural way the moulting, the development and a healthy growth of your fascinating large arm shrimps in the aquarium.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.