Red Tiger shrimp

The Tiger shrimp originates from South China. It 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. In nature, they are found in small streams and flooded grassland and reedy areas near those streams. Color and pattern may vary slightly, depending on the locaton the shrimp were originally collected.

The basic body color is transparent to lightly milky, with characteristic "tiger stripes" on the sides. This color morph has red stripes. Sometimes, a few white pigments are strewn between the red stripes. Th eyes of the Red Tiger shrimp are black. The tail fan is usually transparent, often it has tiny spots.

The Red Tiger shrimp (Caridina mariae "Red"), 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.

Red Tiger 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 Tiger shrimp will have everything they need.

When Red Tiger 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. In the beginning, the tiger stripes are hard to see, but intensify in color when the shrimplets grow older.
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 Tiger shrimp tanks are thus not really a problem.


Our tip for keeping Red Tiger shrimp!
Red Tiger shrimp feel the happiest when the pH is between 6 and 7.5, a total hardness of 5 -12° dGH (German hardness) and a carbonate hardness of 0 - 8° dKH (German hardness). The temperature should be between 20 and 25° C ... varied food (predominantly of vegetable origin, and frozen food fed sparingly) contributes to heathly, vital, happy shrimp.

(   )  bred by us
(✔)  bred in Germany
(   )  bred internationally
(   )  collected from nature