Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp Care in 7 Easy Steps

In the shrimp world, Master Taiwan Bee shrimp is at the top of the list of popular shrimp among shrimp lovers. These shrimp are so exquisite that shrimp lovers find it hard to choose between Black King Kong, Blue Bolt, or Taiwan Bee red wine shrimp. Before keeping Master Taiwan Bee shrimp as pets, the novice should get a detailed care guide with easy steps.

Undoubtedly, keeping shrimp is a difficult task to do since these tiny creatures are sensitive to changes. In this article, I’ve penned a foolproof care guide for Master Taiwan Bee shrimp in 7 easy steps. 

So, you shouldn’t miss this article to know details about the habitation set-up, water parameters, feeding guide, breeding care, molting care, and other issues of Taiwan Bee shrimp.  

Overview of Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp

Before choosing Master Taiwan bee shrimp, you should remember that these shrimp are highly demanding. You must take the responsibility to fulfill their demands and conditions to ensure they thrive in captivity. 

Let’s take a look at the overview of Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp below. 

Scientific Name	Caridina cantonensis
Common Name	Taiwan Bee Shrimp
Origin	Taiwan and China
Temperament	Docile and peaceful
Diet	Omnivores
Size	2.5-3 cm
Minimum Tank Capacity	10 gallon
Optimal Temperature	21-26 degrees Celcius (70-78 degrees Fahrenheit)
Care Level	Intermediate
Lifespan	1-2 years

Step 1: Proper Habitation Setup 

How Do You Set Up A Tank For Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp?

Follow the following simple ways of habitation set-up for your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp. Let’s start with choosing a suitable tank.

Choosing A 10 Gallon Size Tank

You might wonder how much space these small Master Taiwan Bee shrimp may require in captivity. After all, these shrimp can grow up to only 1 inch. So, a 5-gallon tank is a minimal requirement for keeping a colony of 2-5 shrimp.

Although Master Taiwan bee shrimp can survive in a 5-gallon tank, the experts suggest choosing a 10-gallon-sized tank.

You might know that shrimp can readily get stressed due to poor water quality. In cases of a small tank, the water quality can come off soon. If you keep your shrimp in a large tank, the large amount of water can stabilize the water parameters. There’ll be fewer ammonium build-ups than in the smaller tank.

Moreover, you need to add aquarium plants, hiding places, and required devices to the tank. So, the optimal size for keeping 2-5 Master Taiwan bee shrimp is a 10-gallon tank.

Keeping A Good Quality Active Substrate

The next thing to do in this habitation set-up is to add the right type of substrate. Keeping an active substrate help maintain the water chemistry by regulating the pH. It’ll prevent the tank water from getting too alkaline since an active substrate lowers the pH.

Such is because several beneficial bacteria can grow over the substrate. These bacteria diminish the build-ups of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc. As a result, the pH level of your bee shrimp tank may remain in the optimal range.

Besides, the substrate will help biofilm grow in the tank. It’ll add a naturalistic vibe to your Master Taiwan bee shrimp tank. 

In addition, there will be a growth of microorganisms over the substrate. Along with the provided diet, your Master Taiwan bee shrimp can consume these microorganisms. Besides, the substrate works as a good gripping surface for your bee shrimp.

You can also decide to create a bare-bottom Taiwan bee shrimp tank. In such a case, you may face less hassle of cleaning the shrimp aquarium. Instead of the substrate, you can keep natural lava rocks. If you want a good substrate for Master Taiwan Bee shrimp, I’ll recommend ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia, Akadama, and Aqueon Plant and Shrimp Aqua Substrate.

Keep A Good Filtration System

Like any shrimp, these beautifully striking Master Taiwan bee shrimp produce heavy body waste. Such waste products produce ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the tank. On the other hand, the Taiwan bee shrimp have zero tolerance for these nitrogenous products.

Hence, a good filtration system is required to remove the trace of these toxic elements in bee shrimp. Otherwise, your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp may end up in premature death. 

Keeping a filter will save your bee shrimp from ammonia burn. Besides, the filtration system will add oxygenation to the tank of your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp.

In addition, you should remain concerned about your shrimp not getting sucked up by the filter. If you want a recommendation, I’ll suggest buying AquaClear Fish Tank Filter. 

Adjust A Heater

The temperature demand for Master Taiwan Bee shrimp ranges from 70-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping the optimal temperature range is a precondition to keep your pet shrimp healthy.

When the temperature goes low in the shrimp tank, the metabolism rate and growth rate start decreasing. Besides, temperature plays a significant role in the breeding success of bee shrimp. 

Not to mention, all kinds of shrimp are sensitive to sudden changes in temperature. Temperature shock is a reason behind fatal shrimp muscular necrosis. If you’re curious to know details about shrimp muscular necrosis, you can take a look at this article. 

Hence, you must keep the temperature range constant. For this, you can add a room heater to keep the room warm where you place the shrimp tank. 

If the room temperature fails to keep the tank water warm, you should adjust a heater. Adjust the heater near the maximum water flow in the aquarium. 

Adjust An Aeration System

It is an optional step. If you do not want an aerator in your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp tank, you must ensure a powerful filtration system. However, there are lots of advantages to adjusting an aerator in your bee shrimp tank.

If you have a sponge or under gravel filter in your Taiwan Bee shrimp tank, an air pump will increase the functions of the filter. Besides, an aeration system will increase oxygenation in the tank water through surface agitation.  

You can also use an air pump to create bubbles in the tank. Your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp will enjoy the presence of bubbles in the tank.

Fit A Lighting

In the tank of your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp, you can fix lighting for promoting algae growth and good health of live plants. Lighting is not a must required thing for Taiwan Bee shrimp.

If you have live plants in your Bee shrimp tank, these plants will need lighting. But, you shouldn’t constantly keep the lighting on. Make a schedule of 8 hours for lighting. Otherwise, the Taiwan Bee shrimp tank will have an abundance of algae.

While fixing the lighting, you should keep it on one corner of the tank. As a result, a dark corner will be created in your shrimp tank. 

Like other shrimp, your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp will get some comfortable places to hideouts. These dark corners will work as a suitable place for your Taiwan Bee shrimp when they feel stressed.

Keep Plants In The Tank

Keeping aquarium plants is helpful for Master Taiwan Bee shrimp-like any other shrimp. If you keep live plants, these plants will add oxygen to the water. Moreover, the plants may absorb several toxic elements, including ammonia, nitrate, etc. 

There are several safe plants for the Master Taiwan Bee shrimp tank. Such as Java Fern, Java moss, pearl weed, Red Tiger Lotus, Cryptocoryne, Christmas moss, dwarf lilies, etc. 

Before buying these plants, you should choose those plants that are low maintenance and have a minimum requirement for lighting. 

If you do not want any hassles, you can keep fake plants in your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp aquarium. The fake plants are easy to maintain. Besides, these plants will provide hiding spaces for your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp. 

In case you look for floating plants, you can check out this article about the 7 best-floating plants for shrimp tank and their benefits. 

Add Décor Items

The final thing about your shrimp habitation set-up is adding décor items. To recreate the natural habitation, there are lots of things to add to the tank. 

Your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp can play around with these kinds of stuff. Moreover, these décors will provide some good spaces for rest and hideouts.

You can add lots of live or fake plants. Also, you can keep branches, rocks, coconut shells, shrimp flats, coconut tubes, etc. There are some good reviews for Cholla woods too. 

Step 2: Cycling The Tank Before Adding Your Taiwan Bee Shrimp

The experienced owners strictly forbid not to shrimp in a non-cycled tank. After setting up the tank, you must cycle your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp tank. After cycling, you can add your Taiwan Bee shrimp.

After cycling the tank, there will start the development of beneficial bacteria. These bacteria will turn the toxic elements into less harmful components for your shrimp. 

For this reason, you should tank 4-6 weeks to cycle the tank. Afterward, you can smoothly add your Taiwan Bee shrimp to the matured tank. 

Step 3: Keeping Optimal Water Parameters For Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp

Since shrimp survive in water, providing a good quality of water is an essential thing for the owners. For your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp, you can fill the tank with reverse osmosis or de-ionization water. 

Besides, Taiwan Bee shrimp require soft water to thrive in captivity. These Master Taiwan Bee shrimp can not survive in hard water. Moreover, these shrimp prefer a bit of acidic water.

Optimal pH	6-6.5
Optimal GH	3-6
Optimal KH	0-1
Optimal TDS	120-150
Optimal Temperature	70-78 degrees Fahrenheit
Ammonia	0.3-1 ppm
Nitrite	0 ppm
Nitrate	Less than 20 ppm

However, you shouldn’t add tap water to your Taiwan Bee shrimp tank. Such tank water contains chemicals that may be fatal for your Taiwan Bee shrimp.

You should keep test kits to monitor the water parameters regularly. If you notice imbalances in the parameters, you should change the water. But, you shouldn’t make drastic water change. It’ll also cause a shock for your Taiwan Bee shrimp.

Step 4: Adding Suitable Tank Mates For Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp

Master Taiwan Bee shrimp are excellent additions to keep in a community aquarium. The temperament of these shrimp is peaceful and docile. So, it’s pretty easy to coexist with these Taiwan Bee shrimp with some friendly tank mates.

As mentioned before, Master Taiwan Bee shrimp can grow up to only 3 cm or 1 inch. If you keep these tiny shrimp with larger tank mates, those larger livings will gobble up your shrimp. 

Not to mention, aggressive and larger tank mates may nibble or harm your tiny Taiwan Bee shrimp. In addition, you should choose such tank mates that share similar water parameters as Taiwan Bee shrimp. 

So, it’s a significant task to choose suitable tank mates for Master Taiwan Bee shrimp. I’ve made a small list for this. 

• Blue bolt shrimp
• Crystal shrimp
• Bamboo shrimp
• Guppies 
• Tangerine tiger shrimp
• Chili rasboras
• Malaysian trumpet snails
• Neon tetra
• Cherry shrimp
• Nerite snails
• Amano shrimp
• Ramshorn snails
• Other small invertebrates 

However, you should avoid aggressive tank mates like crayfish. Large and territorial aquarium fish should be avoided too. Although African dwarf frogs are docile aquatic frogs, these frogs aren’t compatible with Master Taiwan Bee shrimp.

Step 5: Feeding Varieties Of Nutritious Diet

To keep your Taiwan Bee shrimp healthy, you should feed your shrimp varied types of nutritious diets. These Master Taiwan Bee shrimp are omnivores and opportunistic eaters. Due to being scavengers, these shrimp tend to swallow everything that they find on the tank bottom. 

In the bottom of the tank, Master Taiwan Bee shrimp may find biofilms, algae, organic matter, and microorganisms to eat. Besides, these shrimp swallow dead plants, leftover fish foods, and decaying matter. 

You can feed your Taiwan Bee shrimp blenched vegetables and leaves. For this, you can pick spinach, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, kale, broccoli, zucchini, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. Make sure to peel the vegetables. 

Before boiling the vegetables, you should chop the vegetables into small pieces (1.25 cm thick). Afterward, you can place the boiled vegetables in ice water. Boiling and chilling vegetables together make them break down readily. 

Aside from homemade shrimp food, you can keep commercial foods for your Taiwan Bee shrimp. Since commercial foods aren’t healthier than homemade foods, the experts do not suggest such foods as staple foods. 

However, I recommend Hikari shrimp cuisine, Shirakura Shrimp food, and Repashy Super Green foods. You can also keep dried cuttlefish bones to add dietary calcium.

In addition, you should supplement the shrimp food with bee Pollen and Moringa powder.

Feeding Frequency For Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp

The feeding frequency for Master Taiwan Bee shrimp varies depending upon various conditions. You can start feeding your Taiwan Bee shrimp regularly. Then, you should check whether there remain leftovers.  

If you notice unfinished foods at the bottom of your Bee shrimp tank, you should reduce the amount of food. On the other hand, you should increase the amount of food when your Taiwan Bee shrimp finish their food very quickly.

Some owners feed their Taiwan Bee shrimp regularly. If your shrimp tank is matured, you can feed your Taiwan Bee shrimp once in 2-3 days. 

Step 6: Breeding Care For Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp

Master Taiwan Bee shrimp is one of the hardest shrimps to breed. You must ensure keeping a constant temperature and perfect water parameters for successful breedings of Taiwan Bee shrimp. 

A crucial thing to remember is to keep the male and female ratio perfect for successful breeding. For this, you should identify both male and female Taiwan Bee shrimp at the beginning. Generally, the larger shrimp are female shrimp. The rule of thumb is to keep a 3:1 ratio of female and male Taiwan Bee shrimp.

The next condition for successful breeding is to keep the water parameters right. You must ensure that your Taiwan Bee shrimp should not remain hungry. Make sure to provide an abundance of food in your Taiwan Bee shrimp tank. Besides, a slight drop in temperature can disrupt the breeding procedure. 

Step 7: Molting Care For Master Taiwan Bee Shrimp

Every 3-4 weeks, your adult Taiwan Bee shrimp change their exoskeleton to grow a new one. Sometimes, these shrimp suffer from bad molting problems that may lead them to death. Hence, you must ensure special molting care for your Master Taiwan Bee shrimp.

Generally, Master Taiwan Bee shrimp experience bad molting due to wrong water parameters, improper diet, and other incoordination in their habitat. So, the first thing you should ensure is keeping the optimal water parameters. 

In addition, you should ensure that your Taiwan Bee shrimp do not lack protein and calcium. To encourage their molting, you can add iodine to the water of your Taiwan Bee shrimp tank.

Check out this article to know more about what to do when shrimp are stuck on a molt. 

Before You Go

I hope you’ve got a detailed idea about Master Taiwan Bee shrimp care. If you’re interested to keep another beautiful shrimp named Blue Cherry shrimp, you must require a full care guide for this shrimp species. For this, you can go through the following article.

Blue Cherry Shrimp Care Guide For Beginners!