The Tangerine Tiger Shrimp is a popular choice for freshwater shrimp hobbyists because of their intriguing color patterns as well as being relatively easy to care for and breed. Tangerine Tiger Shrimp are hardy and versatile when it comes to water parameters, unlike many other Caridinas. Tangerine Tiger Shrimp are aggressive breeders, but will not breed with Neocaridinas, making them excellent tank companions if you are looking to try something new without affecting breeding outcomes of your Red Cherry Shrimp varieties. Tangerine Tiger Shrimp are very active as they scavenge the tank, cleaning up waste. They love to feed off of naturally occurring biofilm and algae, especially in a planted tank.

The Tangerine Tiger Shrimp is a naturally occurring species that hails from China. Tangerine Tiger Shrimp are light orange to yellow-orange in appearance with brown spotting on the top of their body and striping on the side of their body. Their coloring is somewhat translucent, but still very bright and consistent. Sexing Tangerine Tiger Shrimp can be somewhat difficult until the shrimp begin to mature. Female shrimp have slightly larger tails and display a “saddle” formation on the upper body, behind the head, where eggs are stored before fertilization. When female shrimp are “berried”, or have eggs ready for fertilization, the saddle shape will appear more prominent. Once the shrimp are fully-grown the males will be smaller than the females.

Tangerine Tiger Shrimp males are aggressive breeders, and while they won’t breed with Neocaridinas, they will try to breed with other Caridinas species. Once the shrimp reach maturity, and if there are males and females present, they should breed naturally and frequently. It is recommended to purchase 8-10 shrimp to ensure that there are enough male-female pairs for successful breeding. When female shrimp have eggs available for fertilization, they will molt and release pheromones that the male shrimp respond to with frenzy. Once the shrimp breed, the eggs will gestate for about 2 weeks. The shrimp fry will feed from the same food sources as their parents. Keep in mind that if you are keeping shrimp with other species of fish, or possibly aggressive shrimp species, this may affect reproduction. If the shrimp feel threatened or don’t have places in your tank to hide they may not breed.

Tangerine Tiger Shrimp are a great addition to any shrimp hobbyist’s aquarium, whether it is long established or just beginning. These shrimp are easy to care for and make a great match with many other species of fish and shrimp. If you want to enjoy an active shrimp that is gaining popularity, the Tangerine Tiger Shrimp is a great choice.

Our water parameters:

• pH – 5.8
• GH – 5
• KH – 0
• TDS – 140

Ideal water parameters:

• pH (5,5 – 6,8)
• GH (4 – 6)
• KH (0 – 1)
• TDS (100 – 190)

What to feed your shrimp?

• Shrimp King range offers the best results in our experience
• GlasGarten foods are great value for money
• OG shrimp food is a great local brand, good food
• We feed our shrimp a variety of different foods, a different type for each day
• A well balanced diet is essential to a healthy shrimp

Our mineralization process:

1. Age your reverse osmosis (RO) water for 2 – 3 days with an air stone
   • This will remove any additional evaporative odors
   • Add a de-chlorinator for safety
   • Aging the water will drop the pH of the RO water
2. Add GH+ minerals to the RO water 24 hours prior to a water change
   • Add minerals to achieve desired TDS (total dissolved solids)
   • TDS will differ slightly in different areas
   • Our measurements with Shrimp King GH+ are
     • TDS 100 – GH of 4
     • TDS 120 – GH of 5
     • TDS 140 – GH of 6
   • Our water is prepped between 100 – 120 to make sure the GH in the tank does not rise above 6.
3. Remove 10 – 15% of your water from your aquarium
4. Add newly prepped water as slow as possible back to the tank
   • The biggest shrimp killers are adjustments in water quality
   • Acclimate slowly, add water slowly
   • This will avoid quick changes in GH and pH

Our shrimp are sold at 1cm – 1,5cm in size. Age of the shrimp at this size is 3 – 4 months. We sell shrimp at this size for 2 reasons:

1. The younger shrimps acclimate better to new environments and also travel better over long distances.
2. They will live longer for you and grow up with your maintenance habits and aquarium keeping traits. Everyone does this a little different.