King Kong Shrimp Caridina cantonensis (Taiwan Bee)

Quick Stats

Tank Setup

The King Kong Shrimp (Caridina cantonensis, Taiwan Bee variant) is the black Taiwan Bee — a solid black-bodied shrimp with white legs, the original Taiwan Bee mutation of the Crystal Red Shrimp. The story is that the Taiwan Bee trait first appeared in the early 2000s in a Crystal Red Shrimp breeding facility in Taiwan, as a spontaneous mutation that produced a shrimp with a dramatically thicker, more opaque shell and bolder colours than the standard CRS. The Black King Kong was the first Taiwan Bee variant recognised, and from that original mutation came the entire Taiwan Bee family: Red King Kong (solid red/white), Panda, Shadow Panda, and Blue Bolt. Every King Kong alive today traces back to those original mutants, which is part of why they remain expensive — the gene pool is narrow and the demand is global.

Water parameters: temperature 18–22°C, pH 5.5–6.5, hardness 3–6 dGH, KH 0–2. That range is the same demanding band Crystal Red Shrimp need, because King Kongs are the same species — Caridina cantonensis — with the same physiological tolerances. Tap water is almost never appropriate; you need RO water remineralised with a shrimp-specific remineraliser (Salty Shrimp Bee Shrimp Mineral GH+ is the standard, or GH/KH+ if your source water is naturally soft) to 3–5 dGH and 0–2 KH. Active substrate is non-negotiable — ADA Amazonia New (the dark, peat-fired aquasoil) or equivalent (Brightwell Aquatics FlorinVolcanit, Up Aqua Shrimp Sand, Controsoil) buffers pH down to 5.5–6.5 and holds it there for 12–18 months before exhausting. I run my King Kong colony at 20°C, pH 6.0, GH 4, KH 1 — 100% RO water, Amazonia substrate, with a small fan on the tank to keep the temperature from climbing in summer. Avoid temperatures above 24°C sustained, which suppress breeding and shorten lifespan from 18 months down to 9.

Set up the tank with active substrate (2–3 cm deep, ADA Amazonia New or equivalent), driftwood, leaf litter (Indian almond leaves are non-negotiable — they release tannins and humic acids that buffer pH down and provide a substrate for biofilm), and plenty of plants — Java moss is the single most important plant because shrimp fry hide and graze in it; add Java fern, Anubias, Bucephalandra, and floating plants (Salvinia, frogbit) for cover and biofilm surface. A sponge filter is the only appropriate filtration — no intake can suck up shrimp, and the sponge itself is a biofilm surface the shrimp graze on. Avoid canister filters and hang-on-backs with intakes, even with a sponge pre-filter; the pre-filter clogs, you forget to clean it, water flow drops, and shrimp die. Cycle the tank fully before adding shrimp — this means at least 4–6 weeks with fish food or pure ammonia, dosing to 1–2 ppm ammonia and confirming it processes to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite within 24 hours. King Kongs are 10x more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite than Cherry Shrimp; a tank that “looks cycled” but isn't fully cycled will kill a colony in a week.

Tank Mates

King Kong Shrimp are peaceful, defenceless, and among the most expensive shrimp in the hobby. The first rule of King Kong tank mates is: there are no King Kong tank mates. A King Kong colony belongs in a species-only tank, period. Adult King Kongs are too valuable ($50–$200+ each, with high-grade breeding females sometimes selling for $250 or more) to risk with anything that might pick them off one at a time, and shrimplets are 1 mm long and eaten by anything with a mouth. The economics alone make mixing fish with King Kongs a bad idea — one Otto that decides to graze through a clutch of shrimplets has just cost you hundreds of dollars in future stock.

If you absolutely must keep something else in the tank, the only safe tank mates are other Taiwan Bee variants of Caridina cantonensis with the same water parameters — Red King Kong, Shadow Panda, Panda Shrimp, and Blue Bolt — and small peaceful snails (Nerite, Ramshorn, Malaysian Trumpet, but not Mystery snails which are heavy bioload and outcompete shrimp for food). Be aware that all Taiwan Bee variants will interbreed with each other, so mixing them means your offspring will be unpredictable. Amano Shrimp can work in a large tank (20+ gallons) because they are a different genus (Caridina multidentata, not C. cantonensis) and will not interbreed — but they are larger, faster eaters, and will steal food from the King Kongs. A single Otocinclus is the only fish I would consider in a King Kong tank, and only in a 20 gallon or larger with heavy planting.

Avoid: any fish, period. This is not a Cherry Shrimp tank where a school of Ember Tetras is fine. Ember Tetras will pick off King Kong shrimplets one at a time and you will never see it happen; you'll just notice the colony is not growing. Avoid other Neocaridina colour morphs (Cherry Shrimp, Yellow Shrimp, Blue Dream, etc.) — they are a different species and won't interbreed with King Kongs, but they thrive in harder, more alkaline water (pH 6.5–8.0, GH 4–15) that stresses King Kongs, so one species or the other will be living in suboptimal conditions. Avoid all loaches, all cichlids, and all “shrimp-safe” nano fish — the term “shrimp-safe” means “won't eat adult shrimp in a planted tank”, not “won't eat shrimplets in a high-value breeding tank”. If you want a display tank with fish and King Kongs together, accept that the King Kongs will not breed successfully and you are keeping them as a show specimen, not a colony.

Diet & Feeding

King Kong Shrimp are omnivores and scavengers, the same as all Caridina cantonensis colour forms. They graze constantly on biofilm, algae, detritus, dead plant matter, and the microscopic organisms that live on every surface in a mature tank. In an established, well-cycled, well-planted King Kong tank you can technically stop feeding them and they will not starve — but the colony will not thrive, breeding will slow, and you will not see the shrimp because they will spend all day grazing instead of congregating on food. Feed 2–3 times per week with a high-quality shrimp pellet (Bacter AE, Shrimp King, Sera Shrimp Natural, or the more premium Mosura Shrimp Food line) and a small slice of blanched vegetable (spinach, zucchini, kale, cucumber) dropped in and removed after 24 hours.

Indian almond leaves (Catappa leaves) are non-negotiable. Drop one leaf per 10 gallons in the tank at all times; it will gradually break down over 2–4 weeks, releasing tannins and humic acids that buffer pH down and providing a continuous biofilm source the shrimp graze on. Replace each leaf when it is skeletonised. Other biofilm boosters: alder cones (5–10 per 10 gallons), mulberry leaves (dried), and commercial biofilm starters (Bacter AE, Microbe-Lift Bio-Plus Shrimp). Calcium matters for molting — maintain GH at 3–6 dGH and KH at 0–2 dGH. Lower than 3 dGH and you'll see failed molts (dead shrimp stuck in their old carapace); higher than 6 dGH and the shrimp will survive but breeding drops off. Cuttlebone, crushed coral, and mineral stones are not appropriate for King Kongs — they raise KH and pH, which is the opposite of what you want.

Portions matter with King Kongs because they are slow eaters in a low-bioload tank. A single pellet per 10 shrimp is plenty, and uneaten food should be removed after 4–6 hours, not 24 hours. Rotting food in a King Kong tank will spike ammonia fast because the biofilter is sized to a smaller bioload than a fish tank. Overfeeding is the single most common cause of colony crashes; underfeeding is rarely a problem in a mature tank with active substrate and leaf litter. Feed a varied diet — a rotation of shrimp pellets, blanched vegetables, and the occasional frozen bloodworm or BBS treat produces better colour and faster growth than any single food. The solid black colour of a well-fed King Kong is dramatically better than a stressed, underfed one; a hungry King Kong will look brownish or patchy, and the white legs will look greyish. The whole point of paying $50–$200 for a shrimp is to see the colour at its best — do not skimp on food quality.

Common Health Issues

King Kong Shrimp are fragile. The main health issues are molting problems (almost always caused by water parameter drift — GH below 3 dGH or above 6 dGH, or a pH swing of more than 0.5 in 24 hours), bacterial infections (often introduced with new shrimp; quarantine new arrivals for two weeks minimum), and pesticide poisoning (never use insecticides, bug sprays, air fresheners, candles, or non-stick cookware in the same room as a King Kong tank — aerosols and vapours drift into the water and kill King Kongs at trace levels that Cherry Shrimp survive).

They are extremely sensitive to copper, more so than Neocaridina. Many fish medications contain copper (Cupramine, Malachite Green formulations, general “ick cures”); many plant fertilisers contain copper as a micronutrient; tap water in older houses with copper pipes can carry trace copper. Always use a dechlorinator that neutralises heavy metals (Seachem Prime, API Stress Coat+) for top-offs, but the real answer is to use RO water for 100% of water changes — tap water should never enter a King Kong tank, even treated. Never dose a copper medication in a tank containing King Kongs; shrimp-safe alternatives exist for almost every treatment. Nitrate is more toxic to King Kongs than to Cherry Shrimp — keep nitrate below 10 ppm (vs. 20 ppm for Cherry Shrimp), which means weekly 20–30% water changes with remineralised RO water.

Prevention is everything: weekly 20–30% water changes with remineralised RO water (matched to within 0.5 dGH and 0.5 pH of the tank water), no ammonia, no nitrite, nitrate below 10 ppm, stable temperature (a chiller or fan for summer is non-negotiable in most climates), and a mature, fully-cycled tank. King Kongs do not belong in a freshly-cycled aquarium — the biofilm and micro-crustacean population of a 6-month-old tank is part of what keeps them alive between feedings. Quarantine new shrimp for two weeks in a separate hospital tank before adding them to a colony; bacterial infections brought in on new stock can wipe out a King Kong colony in 72 hours. Lifespan in good conditions is 12–18 months — shorter than Cherry Shrimp (18–24 months) because the selective breeding that produces the Taiwan Bee trait also produces a more fragile shrimp. If your King Kongs are dying within the first 3 months of purchase, look at water parameters and copper contamination first; the species is demanding, and a die-off is almost always an environmental problem rather than a stock-quality problem.

Breeding

King Kong Shrimp are not beginner breeding shrimp — but if you can breed Crystal Red Shrimp, you can breed King Kongs. Females carry eggs under their abdomen for 3–4 weeks, fanning them constantly with their swimmerets. When the eggs hatch, fully-formed miniature adults emerge (no larval stage, same as all Caridina cantonensis) — they immediately start grazing and are self-sufficient from day one. There is no parental care, no special food, no intervention required beyond keeping the water clean and stable. The challenge with King Kongs is not triggering the spawn — a healthy colony in the right water will spawn every 5–7 weeks without any intervention — but getting the parameters stable enough to keep shrimplets alive through their first molt.

Sexing: females are larger, deeper-bodied, and have a curved “saddle” of developing eggs visible through the back of the carapace when they are ready to breed (the saddle is the green or yellow band of developing ovaries behind the head). Males are smaller, slimmer, and paler. A colony of 10 King Kongs with both sexes will breed indefinitely. Females carry 15–25 eggs per brood (smaller broods than Cherry Shrimp, which carry 20–30) and produce a brood every 5–7 weeks once they hit maturity (about 4–5 months old, slower than Cherry Shrimp's 3 months). Population grows slowly compared to Neocaridina — a King Kong colony might double in 6 months where a Cherry Shrimp colony quadruples. This slow growth, combined with the demanding water parameters and the high global demand, is exactly why King Kongs stay expensive.

King Kongs do not breed true in the way you might expect. Crossing two Black King Kongs produces mostly Black King Kongs, but also throws occasional Panda Shrimp (black with white patches), Shadow Pandas (the bolder-contrast thick-shell form of the Panda), Red King Kongs (if any red genetics are hiding in the lineage), and occasionally a low-grade brownish offspring. The Taiwan Bee trait is recessive, and the percentage of full-pattern offspring per spawn is 60–80% at best, even from a well-stabilised line. Culling (removing) the lower-grade offspring each generation — either moving them to a separate tank or selling them at a lower price — is how breeders maintain the King Kong pattern over time. For an advanced project, King Kongs are also crossed with Tiger shrimp to create Tibees — the F2 generation of that cross can throw Pinto-pattern offspring (large irregular white patches on a black base) that sell for $50–$150 each. The King Kong is the foundation of the entire Tibee/Pinto family tree; without King Kongs, there are no Pintos. If you want to keep the line pure, do not mix King Kongs with other Taiwan Bee variants or Tiger shrimp; if you want to make Tibees or Pintos, plan the cross deliberately and keep the parent stock in separate tanks.

Frequently Asked Questions