[Wolfenrook]

Common Name: Sri Lanka Dwarf Shrimp
Scientific Name: Caridina Simoni Simoni
Ease of keeping: Very Easy
Ease to breed: Very Easy
Size: 2.5-3cms, females reaching 3cms.
Temperature range: 20-30 degrees Celsius.
pH range: 6.5 to 7.8 but very tolerant.
Origin: Sri Lanka

Overview:-

These lovely little shrimp are both easy to keep and prolific when kept in captivity. They are tolerant of a wide range of pH and temperature conditions, but are believed to be most prolific when kept in softer, slightly acid, water.

They vary in colour from practically colourless, through to browns and blues, making them very variable in appearance.

Breeding these shrimp is very easy, been done entirely in fresh water. There is some debate however as to whether the young hatch as very small adults, or have a very brief zoe phase, the young are so tiny they are rarely seen until they have already grown quite a bit. Brood size can vary from about 20 to 30 young shrimp, with a cycle of around 3 weeks.

I often recommend these shrimp as suitable for beginners, however they can be difficult to find.

More information:-

You can find the full, original, profile for these shrimp here on UK Shrimp.

Images:-

2sCompany.jpg

3sACrowd.JPG

Images taken by me.

Ade

[freshfish]

What a lovely, lovely shrimp!

I've never even seen them available this side of The Pond- I'm going to have to keep an eye out for them!

Thanks for sharing this profile with us, Ade.

[Wolfenrook]

Thanks Laura, and yes they are a really lovely little shrimp. They're as hard to find in the UK as well, I actually had mine imported from a German breeder, where they are much more widely available (EU rules are really cool for shrimp keepers. ). I've got to get some more though, as I accidentally shipped the majority of my stock in with a batch of cf. babaultis (from above they are easy to confuse) and I only have about 2, out of around 60, left.

If you can find some though, please do give them a try. They wont hybridise with ANY shrimp currently known to the hobby, so can be kept with any of them without problems.

Ade

[Wraithio]

One problem not listed with these and, I know Ade will agree. If you have plants do not ever expect to see these shrimp. EVER

[Wolfenrook]

lol I did used to see mine a fair bit in their planted breeding tank, however yeah if your colony is under about 20 they can be quite shy, and you will never ever ever see them. Saying that, I only have 2 left in my daughter's mixed shrimp tank, and they are usually at the front out in the open.

You do however see them a LOT when the females have released their pheromones.... Dunno why I censored that, given the pics I decided to put on the profile....

Ade

[freshfish]

I feed my other dwarf shrimp various sinking wafers, and they usually all come running within minutes of dropping food in the tank- do these shrimp not do that?

[Wolfenrook]

Mine do, but I don't have ANY fish in with them. They can be shy when kept with fish, or in a tank with few hiding places.

Ade