Super Crystal Black (DNZ)

The Super Crystal Black - abbreviated SCB - is a color variant of Caridina logemanni. It is a relatively new color form, which is characterized by its ideally flat, opaque black, which is optimally interrupted only by a few small white markings. The tail fan is usually orange with a few white spots. The Super Crystal Black is the black counterpart to the Super Crystal Red. The offspring still scatters quite a bit, you still have to select heavily with these animals.

The bee shrimp was only described as Caridina logemanni in 2014. It originates from southern China, where it lives in small streams in the jungle. There it has rather cool temperatures and very soft, extremely bacteria-poor water. The Super Crystal Black is a cultivated form from the aquaristics, but also in wild strains animals with a similar (but not so covering) pattern have been found.

If you want to keep the Super Crystal Black shrimp in the aquarium, you should also pay attention to cool, preferably clean and soft water. Medium hard to hard tap water may be suitable for keeping, but the animals will hardly reproduce here, and even if they do, the offspring will not grow up. As a soft water shrimp the Super Crystal Black needs a KH (carbonate hardness) close to zero. You can easily and quickly establish good conditions for them by using a hardening salt for bee shrimp together with osmosis water or demineralized water. Active Soil sets the water values for the Super Crystal Black optimally, but you can also keep them on neutral gravel.

A water change of 10 to 30% is advisable, because the Super Crystal Black needs clean water. The temperatures in the aquarium should not climb over 25 °C, in summer you may even have to cool the tank. A heater is not necessary.

As an omnivore the Super Crystal Black is easy to feed. One should pay attention to a predominantly vegetable food and supplement only two to three times per week with a suitable protein food . Very fond of grazing (and later eating) brown autumn leaves - a main food source of bee shrimp in natural biotope. Brown foliage does not have a bad influence on water values, but even has a positive effect on molting and on the general well-being of the shrimp.

If the environment and food is right, breeding Super Crystal Black is not difficult. After fertilization, the females attach 20 to 40 eggs under their abdomen and after three to four weeks of brood care release the young, which are immediately on their own. Since they are very sedentary at first, we recommend feeding them dust food to get them off to a good start and find balanced food right away. The Super Crystal Black as a relatively new color form still has to be selected very strongly, because not all young animals will show the special pattern.

With a maximum of three centimeters the Super Crystal Black shrimp is rather medium sized. The males do not grow as large as the female shrimp, nor do they grow as thick. The Super Crystal Black shrimp is a bee shrimp and as such is quite peaceful. You can put them together with other bee shrimp, but then they will lose the painstakingly bred out pattern in the following generations. With non-predatory snails and with peaceful small fishes the Super Crystal Black can be socialized very well - if the water values fit, which the animals need. The Super Crystal Black does not have as high reproduction rates as other shrimp, so a species tank is definitely a good recommendation.

Our food recommendation: NatureHolic's soft mainfeed softpads are designed for daily feeding. They contain all the nutrients shrimp need for shell development, egg formation and growth. During the production we pay attention to a gentle and environmentally friendly production, which preserves the vitamins and other valuable ingredients as much as possible.

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

Expert Tip: We recommend when keeping fish 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.