Malaya Shrimp

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Easy   • Temperament: Peaceful   • Maximum Size: 3"
• Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallons   • Water Conditions: 65-78° F, dkh 3-12, pH 6.8-7.8
• Color Forms: Clear, Gold, Brown, Red, Blue, Green and Black   • Diet: Omnivore   • Origin: Malaysia
• Family: Atyidae   • Species: Shrimp   • Aquarium Type: Shrimp

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The Malaya Shrimp is not surprisingly from the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, where it is found inhabiting tropical streams, lakes and ponds. While it's introduction to the aquarium trade was only recently (late 2000's), the Malaya Shrimp has been spreading quickly throughout the hobby as it is easy to care for and breed.

The wide variety of colors and patterns has made the Malaya Shrimp an instant success within the aquarium hobby trade, and will most likely lead to some very interesting selectively bred variants given time. This wide range of coloration's including: clear, gold, brown, red, blue, green and black have led to many miss-identifications of the species.

Malaya Shrimp are in general easy to keep when kept in aquariums with stable water conditions and warm tropical temperatures. They can peacefully co-exist with other dwarf shrimp species or with peaceful community fish. They should ideally be provided an aquarium environment that contains rocks, driftwood and/or plants to provide both a place for algae growth and shelter for the shrimp should they feel threatened.

It is important to house them in an aquarium with a mature filtration system and high water quality, as they are accustomed to high quality water in their natural environment. This will also go a long way towards extending their relatively short lifespan of around 2 years. It is also important to not expose Malaya Shrimp or other invertebrate species to copper based medications as this can kill them. They should not be housed with aggressive fish species or with community species such as loaches and puffers as they eat small shrimps in the wild.

Malaya Shrimp are not picky eaters, as they will readily accept a wide variety of meaty and vegetable based foods. Their diet should consist of a variety of vegetable and meaty foods including: algae, blanched vegetables (spinach, zucchini, etc.), algae wafers, fish food pellets/flake, shrimp pellets, blood worms, tubifex worms, etc.

They should generally be fed once per day an amount of food that they will completely consume within a couple of hours. Being that they are scavengers, they are used to eating what they can find, thus it is alright to miss some feedings or to go a couple days without feeding if necessary. When kept with fish species, they will scavenge the aquarium bottom for leftover foods and decaying plant material if kept with live plants.

The breeding cycle of the Malaya Shrimp is a bit different than most of the dwarf shrimp species, as they produce larvae instead of fully formed miniature shrimp. The larvae will develop into miniature shrimp over the course of a few days and will from there continue to develop as other dwarf shrimp offspring do.

What is unique about the Malaya Shrimp is that generally shrimp species that produce larval offspring require brackish water to breed; however, the Malaya Shrimp will successfully breed and develop in freshwater. From this point on the baby shrimp will continue to develop into adult shrimp provided that they are kept in stable water conditions, have a steady food source and are not kept with predators that would eat them.