Caridina Shrimp

🧠 Your Caridina Shrimp Guide

Whether you’re dipping your toes into the world of shrimp or you’ve been breeding beauties for years, this guide gives you everything you need to make the most of your Caridina experience — Shrimp Cove style. 🦐✨

🦐 What Are Caridina Shrimp? (And How Are They Different from Neocaridina?)

Caridina shrimp are the elegant, high-maintenance cousins of the more beginner-friendly Neocaridina (like Cherry shrimp). Known for their jaw-dropping colours, intricate patterns, and fascinating personalities, they’re a favourite among aquascapers and collectors alike.

💡 Key differences:

• 🧬 Caridina: Soft water, lower pH, more variety, more sensitive

• 💪 Neocaridina: Harder water, higher tolerance, better for beginners

• 🎨 Caridina offer an unmatched colour palette — think Galaxy Fishbone, Red Devil, and Blue Bolts.

💧 Ideal Tank Parameters for Caridina Shrimp

These shrimp like things just right — soft, clean, and stable. Here's what they need to thrive:

• 🌡️ Temperature: 20–24°C (68–75°F)

• ⚖️ pH: 5.5–6.8

• 🧂 GH (General Hardness): 4–6

• 🧪 KH (Carbonate Hardness): 0–1

• 💧 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids): 100–150 ppm

• 💦 Water Type: Remineralised RO water highly recommended

🔍 Pro tip: Use active shrimp substrates like ADA Amazonia to help maintain ideal pH and softness.

🐣 Tips for Beginners vs. Experienced Keepers

Starting out? No worries — here’s what you need:

• 🧴 Use RO water with a quality shrimp mineral

• 🦠 Let your tank cycle fully (shrimp hate instability)

• 🕊️ Start with hardier Caridina like Crystal Reds and work your way up

• 🐌 Add botanicals or Indian almond leaves for biofilm snacks

• ⏳ Be patient — stability beats speed

For the pros looking to push boundaries:

• 🧬 Experiment with advanced lines like HWA or TB Shrimp

• 🧪 Fine-tune TDS and GH for optimal breeding

• 🔄 Set up separate tanks for pure lines and cross-breeding

• 🥇 Focus on quality over quantity — and breed showstoppers

🌈 Popular Caridina Varieties and What Makes Them Special

• 🔴 Crystal Red / Crystal Black – Elegant classics with clean patterns

• 🧊 Blue Bolt / Blue Super Steel – Taiwan Bees with icy tones and gradient beauty

• 🐼 Panda / Red Wine King Kong – Taiwan Bee royalty with high contrast appeal

• 🐯 Fancy Tiger / Galaxy Tiger – Bold, striped stunners with genetic punch

• ❤️ Hornet – Rare, high-grade shrimp with high visual impact

• 🔥 Red Devil (Red Diamond) – Deep red luxury, pure class

• 🌌 Galaxy Fishbone – The pinnacle of pattern, bred for collectors

💎 Most of our stock comes from TB Shrimp and HWA genetics — two of the world’s top breeders. We only work with the best, so you get the best! We like the finer things in life here at Shrimp Cove!

🔄 How to Acclimate New Caridina Shrimp

Caridina don’t do well with sudden changes. Here’s the gold standard method:

• 🛁 Let them adjust to temp. around 20–30 mins to equalise temperature

• 🐢 Drip acclimate using airline tubing (1–2 drops per second)

• ⏳ Go slow — 1.5 to 4  hours is ideal

• 🪴 Gently net the shrimp and release them into their new home

📝 We include a step-by-step acclimation guide with every order to make it easy-peasy.

⭐ Why Choose Shrimp Cove?

We’re not just another shrimp shop — we’re the UK’s home of high-end shrimp. Here’s why aquarists across the country choose us:

• 👑 Rarest stock in the UK – Featuring TB Shrimp & HWA genetics- The Best

• 🧼 Health-checked and premium-quality – No shortcuts, ever

• 🧠 Expert support – Whether you're a beginner or a breeder

• 📦 Professional, secure packaging – Nationwide delivery with care

• 💬 Great customer service – Real humans, real help, real passion

• 🎁 Magic - We even throw in a little magic with every live order

🐚 Whether you’re building a breeding project or a showpiece tank, Shrimp Cove brings you the rarest, healthiest, and most beautiful Caridina shrimp in the UK — with a touch of personality.