Aura Blue

The Aura Blue, Caridina cantonensis (syn. Caridina serrata), originally comes from southern China. It is a highly bred form of the spotted shrimp and is certainly one of the most beautiful blue dwarf shrimp that exists. Characteristically, the body of the shrimp is decorated with countless dark blue speckles and some animals can also have delicate black stripes. The blue body color also changes over the course of the shrimp’s life and is most intense in adults. Due to its high crossbreeding potential with Bee Shrimp and Taiwan Bees, the Aura Blue is likely to be very exciting for breeding new color variants. Purely mated it is completely genetically stable.

Care in the aquarium

The Yellow King Kong is a slightly more demanding species that is particularly suitable for advanced shrimp keepers. Keeping this beautiful shrimp is possible in aquariums with a capacity of 10 liters or more, but since the water values ​​fluctuate significantly less with more volume, we recommend an aquarium that holds 20 liters or more. The Aura Blue requires clean, oxygen-rich, soft and lime-free water, which is why it is best kept on salted osmosis water, but is also potentially suitable for soft tap water. The Bee Shrimp Mineral GH+ is suitable as a mineral salt. We recommend active soil as a substrate, which sets and maintains the correct water parameters. It is also important that the temperature of the water does not exceed 26°C for long periods of time, even in summer. In order for this sociable dwarf shrimp to feel safe, it should be kept in a group of at least 10 animals and in a well-planted aquarium. The plants, but also roots, stone structures or shrimp tubes offer it protection and places of retreat. Since it reproduces very slowly, the Aura Blue is ideally kept in a pure shrimp aquarium, possibly with snails.

Feeding

As a classic leftover recycler, the Aura Blue feeds on biofilm and algae growth as well as detritus (dead plant material, carrion, leftover food). In the aquarium it can be fed with special types of shrimp food, leaves, algae powder and occasionally frozen food. Ideally, there are always brown autumn leaves in the aquarium, which represent optimal permanent food for the animals.

Sexual characteristics and breeding

Sex determination is usually not possible in young animals, but only in sexually mature animals. Juveniles and males have a narrower underside of the abdomen, while sexually mature females have a wider underside that covers the swimming legs like a “skirt”. This widening of the abdomen serves to protect the eggs, which the female carries and cares between her swimming legs until they hatch. As with most dwarf shrimp, female Aura Blue adults are slightly larger than males. The Aura Blue reproduces in fresh water and can be bred in an aquarium without any problems as long as the water parameters are right. However, this shrimp is significantly less productive than most other Caridina species. After a gestation period of around 4 to 6 weeks, the female releases around 10-20 fully developed shrimplets, which initially feed on microorganisms present in the aquarium and can be fed with dust food.