The Oiran is a color line of the cardinal shrimp, Caridina dennerli, from the Malili lakes of Sulawesi. Its red body is broken up by heavy white mottling that carries down the legs and across the tail fan. It’s an advanced to expert shrimp, so the order of events matters: get the tank warm, alkaline and grown over first, then order the shrimp.
What arrives when you order Sulawesi Oiran
Every Oiran we sell is tank-bred by Shrimp Aquatics, not collected from the wild. We ship juveniles, and the red and white contrast keeps filling in over their first molts in your tank. How much white a single shrimp ends up with varies, so we don’t promise an exact pattern. Oiran, White Sock and Orange Eyes Oiran are color lines of one species, and the types of Sulawesi shrimp guide shows how the named lines relate.
The water an Oiran tank has to hold
These targets apply to every Sulawesi lake species in our shop. RO water and a Sulawesi mineral will get you there. What decides how a group does is whether the numbers stay put between water changes.
| Care level | Advanced to expert |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 79-86°F (26-30°C) |
| pH | 7.5-8.5 |
| GH | 4-8 dGH |
| KH | 3-6 dKH |
| TDS | 150-250 ppm |
| Nitrate | Keep under 10 ppm |
| Substrate and hardscape | Inert only |
| Diet | Biofilm, diatoms and algae, with occasional prepared food |
| Behavior | Peaceful and often shy |
At Shrimp Aquatics, most of our Sulawesi systems currently run at TDS 150 ppm, GH 6-7 dGH and pH 7.5. If your tank sits close to that, the move from our water to yours is a small one.
Measure the tank itself
Test pH, KH, GH and TDS on water taken from the aquarium. A mineral label or an old batch reading tells you what you meant to mix. If KH comes back under 3 dKH, fix that before you place the order.
Is your tank ready for Oiran yet?
A zero ammonia reading tells you the filter works. It doesn’t tell you there’s anything to eat. Oiran spend the day picking at the film on rock and glass, and that film takes longer to build than the bacteria do. Check every line before you buy:
- Ammonia and nitrite at 0 on your own test kit, with nitrate under 10 ppm
- A visible coat of biofilm and soft green algae on hardscape and glass
- Inert substrate and rock only, with no active soil pulling KH and pH down
- A heater that holds 79-86°F (26-30°C) day and night, confirmed on a thermometer
- RO water and Sulawesi mineral on hand for top-offs and water changes
- Caves and gaps in the rockwork where a shy shrimp can sit out of sight
- A tank that has only been running for a long time isn’t automatically ready.
Tank mates and mixing Oiran with other Sulawesi lines
Oiran do best with other warm, alkaline Sulawesi livestock. Rabbit snails (Tylomelania) share the same water and rock, as long as you allow for their waste. Bee and Taiwan Bee Caridina need soft, acidic water, so they can’t live here. Most fish will eat shrimplets, peaceful ones included. Mixing is the question to settle before you buy more than one of our Sulawesi shrimp lines. In our Sulawesi systems we treat White Sock, Blue Ghost, Yellow Ghost and Oiran as lines that may cross when kept together. If you want your Oiran to stay Oiran, keep them apart from those three.
Arrival day and the first weeks of feeding
Start with the instructions packed with your order, because packing method, transit time and species can all change the right approach. For a sealed bag after a long transit, Shrimp Aquatics’ current shipment protocol is to float the bag to equalize temperature, then net the shrimp into the tank without adding the shipping water. Keep the lights off for the rest of that day and don’t feed. For the first two weeks, let the group graze and stick to small, matched water changes. After that, a little prepared food about once a week suits most tanks. Lift out whatever is still on the rock a few minutes later. Not sure your water fits? Email contact@shrimpaquatics.com with your pH, KH, GH, TDS, temperature, tank size and tank age, and we’ll tell you whether to order now or wait.
New to Sulawesi shrimp? Read our Sulawesi shrimp arrival-day acclimation guide for tank-readiness checks, temperature matching, and transfer without shipping water.
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