Crystal Red Shrimp

Caridina cantonensis

Also known as: CRS, Crystal shrimp, Bee shrimp, Caridina

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 shrimp that turned shrimp-keeping into a hobby of its own: a small, jewel-like invertebrate banded in crisp white and red, selectively bred from the wild bee shrimp into a range of grades whose patterning (and price) climbs from simple stripes to near-solid white 'crystal' bodies. Crystal red shrimp are beautiful and addictive, but they are an advanced animal, and the reason is water: they demand soft, acidic, stable conditions that most Australian tap water cannot provide untreated, so serious keeping usually means RO water, a remineralising salt, an active soil substrate, and careful attention to temperature and parameters. Get the water right and a colony in a mature, planted, copper-free nano tank is undemanding, breeding readily and grazing biofilm all day; get it wrong and they fade and fail. The natural next step for a keeper who has mastered cherry shrimp and wants the real challenge. Specifically, Caridina shrimp want a near-zero carbonate hardness (KH), around 0 to 1 dKH, which is why the active soil substrate matters: it pulls the KH and pH down. Keep the GH up for clean moults, but hold the KH at the very bottom of the range.

Tankmates

A soft-water shrimp with very different requirements from the common cherry shrimp, and the difference is the whole point: where cherry shrimp (Neocaridina) thrive in hard, alkaline water, the crystal red and its bee-shrimp relatives (Caridina) need soft, acidic water, usually achieved with RO water, a remineraliser, and an active buffering substrate. The two genera do not interbreed, but they want opposite water, so they are not kept together. Like all dwarf shrimp, crystal reds are peaceful, defenceless, and killed by copper, so they belong in a dedicated shrimp tank or with only the tiniest, gentlest fish (chili rasboras, ember tetras), which will still pick off babies. A stable, mature, planted tank with moss for the shrimplets is essential. Best kept as a single-grade colony to preserve 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 needs RO and remineralising)
• copper poisoning from medications or fertilisers
• colony decline from parameter swings or an immature tank
• loss of colour grade through mixing different lines

Sources: seriouslyfish.com, fishbase.org · Last updated: 2026-06-20