Crystal Black Shrimp

Caridina cantonensis

Also known as: CBS, Crystal Black, Black Bee shrimp

Water Parameters

• Temperature: 20–24°C
• pH: 5.8–7
• Hardness (GH): 18–107 ppm (1–6 dGH)

Values above are general hardness (GH). For carbonate hardness (KH), the buffer that keeps pH stable, see the water parameters guide.

Care Summary

The crystal black is the black-and-white version of the crystal red shrimp, the same bee shrimp (Caridina cantonensis) selectively bred down a black line instead of a red one, and graded the same way, from simple striped fish up to near-solid white-bodied specimens. Everything that makes the crystal red an advanced animal applies here: it demands soft, acidic, stable water that most Australian tap water cannot provide untreated, so serious keeping means RO water, a remineralising salt, an active soil substrate, and a mature, copper-free, planted nano tank. Hold the carbonate hardness (KH) near zero, around 0 to 1 dKH, which the active soil achieves, while keeping the general hardness (GH) up so the shrimp moult cleanly. Get the water right and a colony is undemanding and breeds steadily; get it wrong and it fades and fails.

Tankmates

The black-and-white counterpart of the crystal red, and a soft-water Caridina with the opposite needs to the hardy Neocaridina (cherry, blue dream). It wants soft, acidic, mineral-light water, usually RO water with a remineralising salt and an active buffering substrate, so it is not kept with Neocaridina despite the two not interbreeding, because they want opposite water. Like all dwarf shrimp it is defenceless and killed by copper, so keep it in a dedicated, mature, planted shrimp tank or with only the tiniest gentle fish such as chili rasboras and ember tetras, which will still take shrimplets. Keep a single grade and line to hold the colour.

Compatible with

• Chili Rasbora
• Ember Tetra
• Celestial Pearl Danio
• Otocinclus
• Nerite Snail

Avoid keeping with

• Betta
• Large Cichlids
• Loaches
• Dwarf Pufferfish
• Assassin Snail
• Guppy

Common Problems

• sensitivity to hard or unstable water, usually needing RO and remineralising
• copper poisoning from medications or fertilisers
• colony decline from parameter swings or an immature tank
• moulting failure if carbonate hardness is too high or general hardness too low
• predation by fish tankmates

Sources: seriouslyfish.com, shrimpscience.com · Last updated: 2026-10-05