keeping sulewesi shrimp

Hi All,i am looking to try and keep some sulewesi shrimp in my planted setup soon,can someone please tell me their requirments to keep them happy,regards john

Have you got a scientific name for the species? A lot of shrimp come from Sulewesi.

Hi John,
The most easy Sulawesi shrimp to keep seem to be the Cardinal shrimp and some claim to have bred F1 generations. Sometimes the females arrive pregnant from shipments so i dont know if the F1 stock are actually from mated captive stock, or from the imported females. I have yet to hear a geniune account of captive breeding so am still sceptical about their care in captivity. Most people claim that they require a high pH 7.5-8.0 and a high temp to match 28 degrees. I have also read that some people have had success in keeping them at lower pH levels and temp. The high pH and temp makes water quality issues more difficult as ammonia is extremely toxic at high pH and temp. I have tried to research the data of the Sulawesi lakes which has so far not given me much in terms of info on natural habitat. Avoid spongicola at all costs though as this species is dependent on a sponge found in the lake for survival (its feeds on micro-organisms only found in the sponge.)
So Cardinal shrimp are your best bet...but info on how to keep them is still pretty poor. Perhaps waiting a little longer may iron out the water quality issues and increase your chances of success when you do eventually get some. Also i might add that all sulawesi shrimp are wild caught and currently this is causing a massive reduction in their natural population as locals know they command a good price. Perhaps its worth waiting until F1 stock are available for sale? Hope this helps!

It is now belived that shrimps from the sulawesi region need a low kh+gh (2dgh) with a high ph (7.8-8.2) and medium temperature of around 25, despite the origional info stating that they need high gh,kh and temperatures.