Orange Sunkist Shrimp (Caridina cf. propinqua)

ImageI really love the batch of Orange Sunkist shrimp I recently purchased from Bob’s Tropical Plants. I was actually rather worried about their temperament and activity level when I first introduced them to the tank, but they have proven to be extremely robust and active shrimp. They have become much more vibrant over the last few weeks, and I wanted to show them off to other people who are looking into trying some new color varieties of shrimp.

ImageSo far, the only potential downside I have found with these shrimp is that they seem to need brackish water to reproduce. I’m not entirely convinced that this is the case, but so far I have not seen any berried shrimp to test this out. Many of the shrimp that are often listed as needing brackish water “need” brackish water in part due to the micro-organisms that they can feed on as newborns. I’ll be sure to update on their progress once I see some possible shrimplets developing.

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I have five of these shrimp in my micro lace java leaf tank. They are quite active and eat any food I add voraciously. The floating salvinia in the tank seems to be a favorite grazing area for some of them.

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These shrimp range in color from a bright orange to a clear and brown color, like the one above. The brownish shrimp blend in quite well!

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Especially with this tank being mostly dark colors and really embracing shadows and texture, having sudden bright flashes of color really pulls the tank together. And it helps show off the shrimp when they are in the visible portion of the front.

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Orange “Sunkist” Shrimp and Blueberry Shrimp – Bob’s Tropical Plants Order

I ordered two different species of shrimp and some HC Cube from Bob’s Tropical Plants a few weeks back. Everything arrived quickly and appeared quite healthy. Portions were generous, and overall I was quite pleased with the order! I took some pictures of the packaging they used and arrival of my new shrimpies to share.

Here was my order:

Everything was packed up quite nicely! Box was well insulated and had a heat pack under newspaper and foam to keep everything the right temperature.

5 Orange “Sunkist” Shrimp (Neocaridinia)

5 Blueberry Shrimp (Caridinia)

3 portions HC Cuba

5 Orange Sunkist

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These guys seemed a bit scared and sluggish after their journey. They clung tightly to the moss and were rather skittish. Everyone looked healthy, and all are still alive, well, and growing fast weeks later. Quite robust, and doing well in my 2.11 gallon Lace Java Fern Tank.

5 Blueberry Shrimp

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These guys were super active straight out of the bag. They swam around quickly and immediately began eating extra bits of food from the floating plants and moss bits I later added to their acclimation cup. I had super high hopes for these blueberry shrimp, but ultimately couldn’t find a good balance for them in their tank. Not sure if they were more sensitive than I was expecting or if my tank was just far more out of balance than I realized, but only two remain. They all arrived looking quite healthy and with beautiful colors that have not faded one bit though!

3 HC Cuba

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The HC Cuba mini-mats had tons of beautiful roots! I haven’t yet been able to successfully plant Dwarf baby-tears, so I don’t have much hope for their future. Hopefully I’ll do a tank based in HC Cuba in the future to really figure out how to handle this delicate plant.

I’ll update on the shrimp soon now that they’ve settled in. 🙂

Fish On My “To-Do” List

The more I got into freshwater fish and plants, the more species I learned of that would make really interesting and beautiful tank inhabitants. Here are some of the fish I haven’t yet had the opportunity to care for, along with some of their basic requirements. In no particular order:

Furcata Rainbow

aka Forktail Blue Eye Rainbow, (Pseudomugil furcatus )

Two male furcata rainbows

Two male furcata rainbows

 reach around 2″

prefer tanks densely planted with shady areas

pH 6.0 to 8.0, temp 75 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit

best kept in large groups

peaceful

Spotted Blue-Eye Rainbow

aka Gertrude’s Blue-Eye, (Pseudomugil gertrudae )

Gertrude’s Blue-Eye Rainbow, male

reach about 1.5″

like densely planted tanks with driftwood, floating plants to break up light

wide pH range, prefer around 6.0 to 7.0

temperature between 73 and 86 degree Fahrenheit

best kept in groups

Peacock Gudgeon

aka Peacock Goby, (Tateurndina ocellicauda )

Male Peacock Gudgeon

reach about 2.5″

15+ gallon tank

temperature 72 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit

pH of 6.5 to 7.8

prefer tanks with lots of cover

peaceful

Boesmani Rainbow

aka Boeseman’s Rainbowfish, (Melanotaenia boesemani )

Boesmani Rainbows

reach about 3″

30+ gallon tank

temperature of 72 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit

pH 6.5 to 8.0

prefer planted tanks with lots of swimming room

like being in groups

peaceful

Rainbow Darter

(Etheostoma caeruleum )

Rainbow Darter

reach about 2.5″

very sensitive to water conditions

North-American native fish!

prefer rocky substrates and water with a decent current

temperature 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit

African Butterflyfish

(Pantodon buchholzi )

African Butterfly Fish

reach around 4″

need 30″ gallons

75 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit

pH close to 7.0

floats just below water’s surface

aggressive