Description
Native to: Vietnam
Temp: Versatile 72 – 84 (76 ideal)
pH: versatile 6.9 – 7.6
This is still a fairly new shrimp to the aquarium hobby that although looks a lot like the common Amano Shrimp, it does not get Takashi Amano’s name. Amano Shrimp are known correctly as Caridina japonica. This shrimp being in the Caridina genus could in fact cross with the japonica but not likely with other smaller shrimps in the Neocaridina genus (shrimps like Red Cherrys, etc.) Leopard Shrimp are considered a larger shrimp, larger than Red Cherrys but the same size of Amano Shrimp.
Since this is a new shrimp to us, we are still experimenting with them, as well as taking data from the export farmers to offer our advice on raising them successfully. The Galaxy Tiger Shrimp is a very hearty shrimp that will do best in many different water conditions and thus far we have found them to do well in tanks that are cooler in temp, as low as 72 – 75 degrees so far. Yet, we’ve tried a few hundred in some Discus tanks that are pushing 83 or 84 that are also doing well, so this is great news. We have very hard water out here in AZ, and generally high pH, but our tanks and pools are so well-aged that the pH is close to neutral (7.0) if not a bit acidic, unless we do a partial water change, then the water we add is about 8.7. The Galaxy Tiger Shrimp are not affected by our water changes out here and have done wonderfully well!
The Tiger Shrimp is a magnificent algae eater like the Amano. In 2014, Amano Shrimp had been difficult to obtain from exporters and availability extremely limited, so with the Amano shortage, it was great to see a newbie shrimp in the same genus being offered.
Stocking about 1 Galaxy Tiger Shrimp per gallon is about perfect, but you could do a few more without any concern of adding to your bio-load since they are scavengers, they are hardly offering any waste to your tank. You can offer Leopard Shrimp some prepared Shrimp foods, but all in all they are an algae eater and scavenger. Allow them to forage and clean house! Enjoy.
Minimum quantity for “Freshwater Shrimp – Galaxy Tiger Shrimp” is 3