Taiwan Shrimps?

[Puffer]

Has anyone heard of taiwan shrimps? I was at Colourful and Richard was promoting them in a bagful, claiming them to be more effective than yamato shrimps. He even said they are a must for all planted tanks, as they are able to eradicate most types of algae, as all his tanks have proven. They look smaller in size as compared with yamatoes, and have different tinge of blue, green and seem darker. Richard also said that these shrimps will not cross-breed with others like cherry or crs. My regret that I was unable to take pics of these shrimps. Hope someone could shed more light about these shrimps? i.e. effectiveness in removing algae etc. Thanks.

[heeroyu16]

Hmm interesting as I search the web these came out

http://www.aquatic-store.com/en-us/dept_307.html
http://www.azgardens.com/shrimpfactory.php
http://foxaquatics.com/index.php?showtopic=30

Neocaridina denticulata sinensis, Taiwan pale blue shrimp is this it?
Ahh just found out that Neocaridina denticulata sinensis Var Red is the Cherry red

So the other one should be the Var Blue

[Quixotic]

Neocaridina denticulata sinensis, Taiwan pale blue shrimp is this it?
Ahh just found out that Neocaridina denticulata sinensis Var Red is the Cherry red

Uhm, common names mean nothing much actually. There can be hundreds of different species from Taiwan, and they can all be called Taiwan shrimps, no?

BTW, N. denticulata sinensis is an old name for Cherry shrimps. It is now considered the synonym for N. heteropoda. So Cherry shrimps would be N. heteropoda var. "red".

[Puffer]

Hey thanks. It's the scientific name that I should specify but sorry I can't and I didn't have the camera equipment with me when I visited the shop yesterday. I guess this should be it, Neocaridina denticulata sinensis sp. Anyone keeping them in their planted tanks?

[Shadow]

Yes, probably many people does. It is good to have shrimps in planted tank especially when you have moss, it help to clean up the moss from debris. However not all fishes are shrimps friendly

[Quixotic]

Hey thanks. It's the scientific name that I should specify but sorry I can't and I didn't have the camera equipment with me when I visited the shop yesterday. I guess this should be it, Neocaridina denticulata sinensis sp. Anyone keeping them in their planted tanks?

Hey, don't worry about this. I was just mentioning that as a general statement, because shrimps are extremely difficult to identify, even with pictures or live specimens, unless dissected under the microscope.

I think something is also lost in translation as well.

The blue coloured shrimps in the links provided by heeroyu16 may not be N. denticulata sinensis. For the matter of fact, I have lots of doubts on the scientific names of the shrimps in the links.

N. denticulata sinensis var. "red" is cherry shrimp. Cherry shrimps are common and a lot of aquarists have experience with them. However, they do not eradicate most types of algae (not BBA, BGA, GSA etc). So if these Taiwan shrimps are the wild (or other variants of) N. denticulata sinensis, I am not sure they will eradicate most types of algae, because basically, they are the same species as cherry shrimps (or the yellow shrimps).

(BTW, as N. denticulata sinensis is a synonym of N. heteropoda, it would be better to use N. heteropoda as the name).

So I am guessing that it may be some new shrimps on the market, or maybe not. However, if it is new, as mentioned above, the species is anyone's guess unless seen under the microscope.

But pictures will help stir up some interests and perhaps, new observations of the shrimps.

[heeroyu16]

Hey guys,
I visited Colourful yesterday to buy some moss, Richard introduced me to some new moss ( it looks like Christmas moss but not it.. it feels harder..)
He explained that the shrimps one pack has 100, and has a variety of Taiwan import shrimps, has blue , green and black shell shrimps.
But truthfully when i glanced at it, it all look like small Yamatos. but he claim they are more powerful then normal Yamatos.

[samhon]

I just came home from colourful

Richard was also recommending me the taiwan shrimps, however he said that it was out of stock at the moment, just wanted to find out if any hobbyist kept them and is able to post some pictures and comments as to their algae eating ability, ease of breeding them, keeping them etc?

[CHOO]

Few week ago looking for some shrimp and was left last packet, he told me that is going to temporary out of stock as inform by supplier.so I took it, subsequencely dropby and saw the same kind of shrimp I took, alway got stocks, so to my experience , you just see whether his word is true or maybe is a sale tactic

[samhon]

can post some pictures?

and are they really that effective in algae clearing?

many thanks

[CHOO]

I am sorry that time I am looking for other shrimp. will update you if I dropby and see the shrimp you mention. cheers..........

[Puffer]

Hmmm...I'm really curious to find out if these so-called 'Taiwan' shrimps are more effective than yamatoes in clearing out hair algae, as what Richard claims. Would appreciate any forumers here who have kept these shrimps and share their experience with us.

[dwgi32]

Hi bros,

I actually got a bag of the taiwan shrimps for Richard a few months back with my tank exploded with BBA and hair algae. The shrimps come in mainly 2 colours: the clear body type and the brown body commonly known as the horse shrimp (maybe got mixed up when packing).

Anyway, with regards to their algae eating capability, they really help to clear most types of algae except for BBA. However, i am not sure about the cross-breeding issue that Richard have claim.

As for whether it is more effective than yamatoes, i can't judge as i have not tried putting the same amount of each types and compared their performers. But, 1 bag of 100 pieces is definitely more effective and more economic than a few pieces of yamtoes.

Cheers

[samhon]

hi dwgi

thanks for the info.

Can we ask you a few questions as it seem like you are the only few who bought it.

1) mortality rate? high?

2) do they need cool temperature?

3) are they very adventurous, as in do they come out and not hide?

4) are they a better algae crew as compared to malayan

5) you seen any breeding? addition to your team? shrimplets?

6) in terms of apperance, do you prefer Malayan or Taiwan?

Sorry to bombard you with questions.

[bENjEE]

Could these shrimps be actually Malayan Shrimps marketed as "Taiwan Shrimps"? I don't know about you guys, I use to get it 1 for 10 cents around one year back and 100 for less then $10. So if price are around that range, it could just be it because if i'm not wrong they have different hues too. Not intense though. Just my 2 cents.

[ct13]

any update?? As i am currently facing hair algae.

[samhon]

hi,

I just came back from colourful and bought 100 taiwan shrimps, in all honesty, they looked really similar to my malayans.

I took some time to talk to Richard, he was saying Taiwan shrimps is really a mixture of 3 different kind of shrimps, namely


1) "tou ming" shrimps which translates to transparent shrimps,

2) a red variant of shrimps

3) a variant with a stripe down its back

On closer observations, what he said seem true, but then again as i am very new to this, they might just be malayan.

Then Richard showed me one of his planted tank which was filled with willow moss, fissden etc. In that tank, he claims to have around 200 Taiwan Shrimps and he threwin a algae wafer to lure the shrimps out, and true enough quite a few came out.

They were similar to the ones that i bought, but the colouration was much deeper, some were also blue/ green / black ( reminds me of Malayan).

He went on to further explain that in all his planted tanks, he has the Taiwan Shrimps, and he asked me to see if the tanks were plagued with algae. Well, tanks were really having minimum algae. But then again it could be due to other reasons.

Anyway i came home and dump the shrimps with my Malayans, so its really hard to take a picture and show all, cause in all honesty i cannot tell the difference

Anyone else can shed more light on this?

any update?? As i am currently facing hair algae.

hi ct,

Richard was also saying that the Taiwan shrimps are rather effective in tearing down the hair algae assuming yours is really the hair algae.

He went on further to show me how i can deal with hair algae. He told me he usually use a dropper or syringe and use it to suck in some anti-algae chemicals ( he was showing me his AZOO anti-algae bottle), and pump it directly at affected area. Hope it helps

God bless

[ct13]

Thank you so much bro Samhon,

I try not to risk my CRS for using chemical first, I think I will get some Taiwan Shrimp from Richard to try out whether it works.

What is the price for 100 packs? Does he sell in like 10 or 20 pieces?

Thanks!!

[samhon]

he sells them in packs of 100

price is around Malayan shrimps

but there was only 1 bag of 100 left, almost wanted to buy 2 yesterday
all the best for you brother!

oh btw if you go down today, could you do me a favour?
In the same tank where you would find the Taiwan shrimps packets, there are some packets of small fish which are really beautiful. Could you help me identify them? I was in a rush yesterday and didnt have a chance to linger a bit longer

Thanks and God bless