Adding a colony of captivating Crystal Black Shrimp (CBS) to your freshwater aquarium can enhance its natural beauty and provide a fascinating experience. They are omnivores and thrive with high-quality shrimp pellets, blanched vegetables and algae.
Like their Red rare shrimp cousins, CBS can be sensitive to changes in water quality. Larger tanks are preferred and regular, small water changes are important to maintain stable water values.
No Entry
This unique, patterned variety is the result of selective breeding efforts to produce offspring that exhibit more vibrant colors and sharper patterns than the wild Caridina cantonensis species. A true masterpiece, the No Entry shrimp features a solid white head and tail with red “no entry” pattern across its back, making it one of the most distinctively beautiful varieties.
Like other freshwater aquarium shrimp, crystal blacks require specific water parameters and a well-cycled tank to thrive. Learn about their optimal pH levels, temperature ranges, and water hardness as well as how to create a thriving habitat that features hiding spots, plants, and substrate.
With their captivating appearance and fascinating behavior, freshwater shrimp have become a beloved addition to many tanks around the world. With their distinctive coloration, enchanting patterns, and beneficial impact on the ecosystem, incorporating these charismatic inverts into your aquarium is sure to elevate your aquatic hobby to a new level of elegance. Whether you’re a seasoned aquarist or an aquarium novice, exploring the mesmerizing world of crystal shrimp patterns is a must-do to expand your shrimp collection and experience their beauty for yourself.
Hinomaru
Hinomaru features a familiar but satisfying shounen plot backed by fantastic characters. Like many shounen, the story is propelled by one character’s determination to see their goals realized, and this approach is effective in hooking the reader. What separates Hinomaru from the pack, though, is its delicate balance of novelty and tradition.
Ushio Hinomaru is a stout, far below average height 16-year-old with long reddish black hair that in some panels appears to resemble fire and amber eyes. He has trained for sumo since elementary school and is able to polish his techniques while also enjoying the benefits of having a large body type. His goal is to make it to Ishigama High, whose sumo club is known for its powerhouse. However, he ends up at Odachi High and finds the sumo club is in its infancy with just one member: Tennoji Shido.
Despite his small size, Hinomaru’s energy and enthusiasm for the sport are contagious. He is able to inspire the members of the sumo club to work harder and recruit newcomers. Eventually, he even beats the current Mongolian yokozuna, Jin’o, in a September tournament, which lights a fire under the team and propels them into the top makuuchi division.
Mosura
The term Mosura is used in the shrimp keeping hobby for a special pattern of crystal red/black shrimps that has red stripes on it. This particular type of shrimp is quite rare and could fetch a high price on the shrimp market these days.
In Japanese culture Mosura is also a Goddess of Love. She is known as the protector of the infant islands and their two twin fairies (the Shobijin) who act as her priestesses. When a sensationalist showman from Rolisca abducts the twin fairies for commercial exploitation, Mosura rises up in retaliation.
Mothra has a wingspan of around 300 meters and flies at incredible speeds. Her non-directional bioluminescence can clear out stormclouds or produce mighty winds. She can also fire short bursts of silk from her thorax or Imago Stage and use it to stun her enemies.
In addition, she has tremendous strength and an armoured hide that can restrain Gojira itself. Like Battra, she was created by the alien Cosmos and served as their protector on Earth eons ago. However her attempts at weather control angered the spirit of Earth and created a rival for Mosura, the mighty Anti-Mosura. Despite this, Mosura continued her defensive work and was instrumental in driving King Ghidorah from the planet.
A-Grade
Crystal Black Shrimp (CBS) gained popularity alongside their closely related Crystal Red cousins in the early 2000s due to selective breeding efforts aimed at enhancing their color and pattern traits. Like CRS, CBS breed readily and can be kept in a variety of aquarium conditions. They can even be interbred with each other and with other shrimp species to create hybrids.
In grading CBS, the intensity, opacity, and coverage of white and red/black coloration are critical factors that determine their overall quality. Vibrant, deep colors indicate healthier shrimps and superior genetics. Incorrectly assessing CBS quality can be difficult since the subtle differences between top-tier and lower-quality specimens can easily get washed out by improper lighting or lack of clarity in an aquarium. It takes time and experience to develop a trained eye for accurately judging CBS quality.
As a rule, A-grade CBS exhibit well-defined bands of black and are considerably more opaque than B-grades. In particular, A-grade CBS possess a clearer, more distinct, and larger “saddle” formation in their back where eggs accumulate before fertilization. Other features of A-grade CBS include a single Hinomaru on the head or a double Hinomaru with a dash of white in between each red circle (also called a no-entry Hinomaru). They also feature a mosura heart pattern or a v-band in their tails.
SSS
Like their Crystal Red cousins, Black Shrimp can reach a maximum size of 1.5-2 inches. They are very hardy and easy to care for, requiring remineralized RO water and a well-stocked tank with hiding spots and floating plants. They are also excellent breeders and can produce a large number of offspring with desirable coloring and patterns.
When grading CBS, breeders look for a solid, opaque, and vivid coloration in the white segments. They should be clean and free of transparency splotches that reduce the overall grade of the shrimp.
For the red/black portions, breeders focus on an even and consistent hue. A high SSS grade exhibits a rich and intense red/black coloration, and the white segments should clearly separate from the red/black portions.
The color intensity of a CBS is determined by its genetics, diet, water conditions, and environment. A healthy aquarium setup is essential for the success of any shrimp species, and this is especially true for CBS. In order to attain the highest grades, it is necessary to maintain a stable pH level of around 6.0-6.8, a hardness of 4-6 gH, and a low Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level of 120-150 ppm.
