Caridina japonica
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| Caridina japonica De Man, 1892 |
Caridina japonica is a species of shrimp found in the Yamato River area of Japan as well as parts of Korea and Taiwan.
According to different sources, Caridina japonica was introduced into the world of aquaria by Takashi Amano in the early eighties. Takashi Amano is a well known photographer and aquarist. He would have been the first who noticed these shrimps' useful characteristic of eating algae and started using them in his show aquaria.
The most important characteristic of Caridina japonica is the translucent body covered with reddish brown points of ± 0.3 mm on their sides which may look like a broken line of reddish colour. The dorsal surface has a white stripe that runs from the head to the tail and the eyes are black.
Females are easily distinguished from males from the more elongated lower row of dots lining the body.
They are usually used in an aquarium because they feed primarily on algae, thus cleaning the aquarium if in large numbers.
It should be noted that if keeping these shrimp, copper based water additives or medicines should never be used.
[edit] Quick facts
- Common names: Amano shrimp, algae-eating shrimp, Yamato shrimp, Japonica, alga shrimp, Japanese swamp/marsh shrimp, Yamamoto shrimp, Yamato Numaebi
- Adult size: 5 cm
Optimal conditions:
- Temperature tolerance: 18 - 27°C, ideal 24°C
- pH: 6 - 7
- Water hardness: 6 - 10 dGh
- Feeding: algae, fish food (flakes, spirulina-based fish food)
[edit] See also
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[edit] External links
- The Japanese Suiso Aquarium Network - Everything About Caridina japonica
- www.caridinajaponica.de - German website about the Caridina japonica
- The Aquarium Wiki - An article about Caridina japonica and some pictures.
