# Sulawesi Shrimp



## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

Hi. Can anyone tell me anything about these Sulawesi Shrimp? I cant find any information on them on the internet. The only thing I have found are a few forum posts with barely any information and then a bunch of youtube videos. My LFS got in some of these guys but I dont want to buy them and end up finding out that they breed with my cherry shrimp. Any info would be appreciated


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## JohnPaul (Aug 28, 2006)

sampster5000 said:


> Hi. Can anyone tell me anything about these Sulawesi Shrimp? I cant find any information on them on the internet. The only thing I have found are a few forum posts with barely any information and then a bunch of youtube videos. My LFS got in some of these guys but I dont want to buy them and end up finding out that they breed with my cherry shrimp. Any info would be appreciated


They won't interbreed with Red Cherry or any other commonly seen shrimp in the hobby. However, they are much more difficult to care for than most shrimp hobbyists are used to seeing. They come from only a few isolated lakes in Sulawesi where the water conditions are quite "extreme" and the conditions are not easily replicated in a home aquarium. More specifically, their environment is:


pH 8.3 to 8.6
KH 5 to 6
GH 6 to 8
Conductivity 181 to 227
Nitrates zero
Temperatures very hot - mid to upper 80's °F
very, very minimal plant life -- biotope is mostly rocks

So basically, they need to go in a tank where you keep the temperature 84°F and higher, pH over 8.0, yet hardness relatively low (GH 6-8 ) and the water _absolutely_ clean.

In short, you can't just plop Cardinal (or any other Sulawesi) shrimp into a "normal" tropical tank that you might have. You need to set up an ultra high temp, high pH tank just for them. Red Cherry shrimp are pretty adaptable, but even still if you put RCS in a tank that was 85°F and pH over 8.0, I think your RCS would be toast. And if you try putting Cardinals in a tank that is 75°F and pH 7.0, your Cardinals are going to be toast.

End of the story: if you want Cardinals, you need to set up a special tank just for them that has the (somewhat extreme) water conditions they need.

Here is one info page on Cardinal shrimp, from someone who has successfully kept & bred them here in the states.

You can find many threads on the Sulawesi shrimps when you go to the forums of these three sites:
Arizona Inverts
Petshrimp
ShrimpNow

Cardinals are pretty amazing shrimp, and are considered the "easiest" of the Sulawesi species to keep. I hope you decide to set up a Sulawesi tank and get some! Please keep us posted.


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

Oh wow. Thanks for the info! I was wondering why I dont see them too often and now it makes more sense. These are some of the most colorful freshwater shrimp I've ever seen. The red looks like a fire shrimp that is saltwater. Thanks for the good pages. I'll bookmark them so I have somewhere to look always


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## plamski (Oct 27, 2009)

Here is some good info

http://www.socalaquascapers.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=104


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

Cool thanks guys! I've learned a lot about them now. My LFS, Fintique, had some black sulawesi shrimp but they had JUST been bought a few minutes before I came in. If I get some of these guys I think I'll put them with rabbit snails. Would be a cool set up!


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

there is a cardinal shrimp breeder on aquabid selling livestock now;





when i saw this video all i could think of was,
this shrimp must come from an orgiin with zero preditors,
just look how it advertises it's activity with those white mits on 
_unless it originally lives on a white substrate, in which case
you would only see a slow moving body, not it sifting for food._

can anyone identify the various live plants he's 
got growing in that 8ph/8kh/8gh/80f water?


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

I spotted some marsilea in the foreground and maybe blyxa japonica but dont quote me on that.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

wow that video is actually really nice! so many shrimp!!! very rocky as suggested up in the page and they look like the kind used for african cichlid tanks but with lots of plants!


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## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

I reaaallllyyy want this to be my next acquisition. I'm thinking a small, (<2.5 gal) tank, not sure what plants yet will grow in that high pH, but I'm gonna start planning some out. Start with, maybe 5-7 shrimp, and let them go from there. Pending the types of plants I can find that will grow in the shrimps crazy water conditions will dictate high/low light and CO2. I'm wondering what kind of substrate would be best too to help contribute to high water pH but low GH and KH.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

i would do a bigger tank, 5.5 gal  they seem to be a pretty good sized shrimp


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## TLe041 (Mar 20, 2010)

For substrate, you could use crushed coral.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Holy. He must have close to 200-300 of them in there.

Super cool tank.


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## countcoco (Dec 28, 2010)

The parameters are dependent upon what specific type of sulawesi shrimp you are interested in keeping. For instance, some thrive in essentially the same conditions as crs (although warmer temp). The general guidelines, pH 8.0+; gH 6-8; temp 80-86; tds 200-500 will work for most of the available species, although they are derived from cardinal shrimp parameters. 

Another important aspect of sulawesi shrimp care is to provide bright lighting and lots of hiding spots. Algae is the most important component of their diet, so you need to have a copious amount growing on the tank surfaces. Also, don't do lots of water changes; 10% weekly should suffice.


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