Breeding Golden Bee Shrimp (Caridina cantonensis)

Breeding the white-and-gold Golden Bee, a Caridina cantonensis line and basis for Snow White: sexing, conditioning, an acidic low-TDS setup, berried females and shrimplet care.

Overview

The Golden Bee is a white-to-gold line of the bee shrimp Caridina cantonensis. Wikipedia describes it as having a white shell and gold-toned flesh, and it is the base stock from which the denser Snow White is selected. It develops directly with no larval stage and shares the soft, acidic, low-TDS needs of other bee shrimp.

Sexing

Following the bee-shrimp pattern, females are larger with a deeper abdomen than males. A mature female rounds out under the tail; males are smaller and slimmer. The pale body can make a developing clutch hard to read, so judge by overall size and abdomen depth.

Conditioning

Keep a mixed-sex group on stable soft acidic water and feed sparingly with biofilm, algae and shrimp foods. The 24-25 C (75-77 F) range, reported by Wikipedia as best for bee-shrimp colour, also suits breeding; steady parameters are the main spawn trigger.

Breeding Setup

Minimum tank volume: 30 L for a stable colony
Temperature: 22-25 C (72-77 F)
pH: 5.8-6.8 (soft, acidic); GH 4-6 dGH; KH 0-2 dKH
Low TDS, roughly 100-180 (active soil substrate helps)
Sponge filter and dense moss for shrimplets
Very stable parameters; avoid swings

Spawning & Berried Females

On correct water the female carries the eggs beneath her abdomen. Wikipedia gives an expected hatch of about 28 days at 22 C (72 F) for bee shrimp, with the eggs hatching into tiny versions of the adults. Keep conditions stable while she is berried so she does not drop the clutch.

Shrimplet Care

Shrimplets are miniature adults that graze biofilm immediately, so a mature, biofilm-rich tank with dense moss supplies their first food and shelter. Exclude predatory fish. Select the densest, most opaque white juveniles to refine toward Snow White.

Common Challenges

As a bee shrimp, the Golden Bee is sensitive to unstable water and needs a tightly managed acidic, low-TDS tank. It interbreeds freely with other Caridina cantonensis morphs such as CRS and CBS, so isolate the line to keep the gold tone pure. Caridina cantonensis does not interbreed with the separate genus Neocaridina.