Caridina sp. Malanda

[kizshrimp]

Recently I was lucky to get some specimens of an undescribed species of Australian native Caridina from "Northboy" Bob. Thanks Bob for the opportunity. I don't think many people are keeping these at this point but I hope that will change as they settle into captivity over the hopeful coming generations. Anyone with these shrimp is most welcome to post their pics or experiences here if they wish.  

This Malanda species is quite a heavily pigmented shrimp with a tendency for some individuals to have orange-red colours and others blue-greens. It seems that large females are at the blue end but I have a smaller, saddled individual that is currently orange so the difference seems not to be strictly sexual. 

Bob sent down a couple of berried females and from these I have juvies in the tank. The're all quite orange. Sorry for the poor quality, it's a tight crop and the best I could get at the time. 

Here's a couple more where you can see a bit of the bluish colour on the females. A hint of the pale bands on the abdominal segments are also visible in these and the first shot. It's quite a lovely species of shrimp with some nice potential to colour up much more. 

[Callan]

Thanks for sharing and the pics are pretty good.

What conditions are you keeping these in Kizshrimp?

What are the size of the adult shrimp?

Are you having to do anything special such as foods, cultures, etc to help with survival of the shrimplets?

 

[fishmosy]

Hey Kiz,

Thanks for posting these pics. They are great. This has got me motivated to post up the pics, video and water parameters for these guys from their natural habitat.   I brought some back with me as well and currently have them in temporary housing until my rack is set up properly. So far they have been pretty hardy. 

[Grubs]

Noice!   Are the eggs big enough to hint at direct development in fresh water?

 

Faaa    Bob's been holding out on me.

 

[fishmosy]

Noice!   Are the eggs big enough to hint at direct development in fresh water?

 

Faaa    Bob's been holding out on me.

 

yes these appear to be direct developers given their egg size. Cannot confirm for certain YET as I've yet to see shrimplets. 

[kizshrimp]

Ben, I can't wait to see more from up there mate. Bring it on!! I know so little about these shrimp I'm keen for anything you can tell us. 

Yes they've been pretty hardy for me too... except the bit where I tanked them before there was an overflow strainer and about half ended up in the sump, what a dumbass! I salvaged most of them anyway. 

Direct developing no question Grubs, big babies too. Much bigger than Chameleons for example, more like CRS size. The adults are about 25mm I would guess but it's early days yet and I don't have lots to look at yet. 

Callan, they're at 6.4 and about 21 C, GH 4, Ca 20ppm and EC around mid 200s, that's equivalent to TDS at say 120ppm. Stock standard bee shrimp conditions for me. 

The adult shrimp aren't fussy like the zebras and take all the normal foods I've offered - including mulberry, dandelion and kale leaf, snow and crack, and a range of other good stuff including Mosura, Lowkey and Edita breed food. I've added spirulina powder and Genchem Biozyme a couple of times, maybe other powders too I can't remember. Reliably adding powdered foods to a tank with new shrimplets seems to work well for most species, direct developers at least. 

[Callan]

Fantastic info Kiz, thanks for sharing and I am looking forward to reading any updates from you. 

[Grubs]

Hell I want a dinner invite... what a spread!