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The Crystal Red Shrimp (CRS) is a variety of freshwater crustacean of
the genus Caridina. It is exactly the same species as Bee Shrimp; the
only difference is in color. Not only has it gained popularity in
Japan, it is greatly sought after by aquarium hobbyists around the
world.
In 1991, Mr. Hisayasu Suzuki of Japan started breeding normal bee
shrimps, which are banded with black stripes. He noticed a single red
bee shrimp in a batch of about a thousand shrimps and was fascinated by
it. This first red bee died but three generations later, he discovered
3 red bee shrimps among the thousands he had bred. After many cycles of
selective breeding from redder offspring, he finally arrived at the
true red bee. In 1996, he named it "Crystal Red" and has been awarded a
patent for this recessive red mutation of the normal bee shrimp. Since
then CRS has been further refined by the founder and other breeders to
produce specimens with larger white patches and intensified red.
Of the shrimp species, CRS is the most sensitive to fast changes of
water parameters due to a smaller gene pool. In fact, the entire
world's crystal red shrimps shared common ancestry from the original 3
bee shrimps. Hence, maintaining a proper environmental condition is
utmost importance for keeping and breeding – CLEAN (ammonia/nitrite
free) water, soft neutral to acidic pH (between 6.2-6.8), and
temperatures in the range of 22-28C.
CRS is a fairly small
shrimp, growing to about 2.5 cm in adulthood. Probably due to its size,
it is not a particularly great algae consumer; preferring soft mosses,
flake food and vegetable matter. However, it is very active but remains
quite peaceful towards other tank mates. The average lifespan is about
1.5 to 2 years but the gender is hard to differentiate, especially
during juvenile stage. Between the ages of 4.5 and 5 months with a size
of at least 2.2 cm, it is ready to reproduce in tank. As CRS can
crossbreed with normal bee shrimp as well as bumblebee shrimp and tiger
shrimp, which are also of the Caridina species, it is highly
recommended not to keep them in the same tank.
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