Common Names: Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimp

Scientific Name: Caridina dennerli

Availability in the UK: Rare, but is getting more commonly available in the UK. Members have got them from Maidenhead Aquatics in Morden and Wildwoods in Enfield. Be prepared to pay a premium for this shrimp, due to their sensitivity and nice colours they can be expensive.

Overview: Sulawesi Shrimp are shrimp native to 6 freshwater lakes in Sulawesi, Indonesia. These are Lake Poso and the Malili system of Lake Towuti, Matano, Mahalona, Masapi and Lontoa. Several colourful species have become available in the trade since 2007 when they were discovered by collectors. Most species of shrimp found in Sulawesi were only found in 1 lake and with a preferred substrate type.

Cardinal Shrimp are native to Lake Matano and are found on a rocky substrate with out many plants. The water conditions of Lake Matano are a pH of 7.4 and a temperature of 27-29C, GH of 2 degrees and KH of 2 degrees.

Incompatible Shrimp: I have seen no reports of these shrimp hybridising with any other shrimp. Due to their preference of temperature and pH levels i would not recommend keeping them with shrimp that prefer their water colder and more acidic. This includes most non Sulawesi dwarf shrimp available in the hobby.

Feeding: Avoid overfeeding as this will affect water quality, otherwise feed them as you would any other dwarf shrim.p

Sexing: It is quite hard to sex young shrimp, as they become adults the females are slightly bigger than the males. The females may have what is called a Saddle. This can be hard to spot due to their dark colour.

Breeding: The breeding of these shrimp should be relativly easy as the shrimplets are fine in freshwater. They don't breed as quickly as other shrimp like Cherrys though.

Photos:

Thanks to Paulo Leal for the excellent photos he has let us use.