Black Bee shrimp - K4

Beautiful black and white color variant of the Bee shrimp ...

This color morph of the Bee shrimp from South China can grow to a maximal body length of 3 cm and reach an age of around 2 years. The males stay slightly smaller than the females and do not get as plump.

The body color of the Black Bee shrimp is black-brown, interrupted by white horizontal bands. Shrimp of this class are also called 3-banded or 4-banded, depending on the number of bands, of course. The tail fan is frequently orange with some white dots.

The Black Bee, like most freshwater shrimp, is an omnivore and will eat just about any food. The species is very peaceful, other aquarium inhabitants have nothing to fear from them. You can easily keep them together with fish that do not predate on shrimp.

Black Bee shrimp do not have any special requirements regarding the aquarium decoration ... here you can use your imagination freely. The shrimp are happy with a little moss and driftwood ... and if there are some hiding-places like tubes or brown autumn leaves (oak or beech) in the tank, your Black Bees will have everything they need.

When Black Bee shrimp have adapted to their environment and when they are happy, the females will relase up to 30 fully developed shrimplets every 5 to 6 weeks. In well-planted tanks with lots of places to hide, some of the young shrimp will even grow up in the presence of fish.
Our practical experience is that this number of surviving shrimp offspring is only realistic under the most optimal conditions. Usually, the shrimp will get berried every two to three months or so, and not all offspring will reach adulthood. Overpopulated Bee shrimp tanks are thus not really a problem.


Our tip for keeping Black Bees!
Black Bee shrimp feel the happiest when the pH is between 6 and 7, a total hardness of 5 - 6° dGH (German hardness) and a carbonate hardness of 0 - 1° dKH (German hardness). The temperature should be between 20 and 23° C ... varied food (predominantly of vegetable origin, and frozen food fed sparingly) contributes to heathly, vital, happy shrimp.