Black Fancy Tiger

A black-and-white striped shrimp — as much clean, bright white as a Crystal, laid out in tiger bands.

Arrives young. The white thickens and brightens and the black solidifies as they grow, and every one is patterned a little differently — that is the line, not a fault.

Three price levels, set by how solid the black is, how thick and bright the white is, and how many clean stripes the shrimp carries — all visible when they arrive.

Caridina — but a hybrid, so hardier than most of the family and a reasonable first step into it. Numbers in the FAQ.

The Black Fancy Tiger is a Caridina hybrid — Tiger crossed with Crystal Black (Black Bee) — bred for as much thick, bright white as possible, deep black patches and sharp tiger stripes. Unlike our galaxy lines it carries no metallic sheen and the white takes on no colour tone: the look is clean black and white, the way a Crystal is. Hybrid vigour makes them robust, active grazers that breed readily in a standard Caridina setup: easy to keep, hard to master.

About the photo. The shrimp pictured is High grade. We ship unsexed juveniles, so treat it as the target, not the arrival — white and black both build with each moult as they mature. Adults are available on request.

What to expect as they settle in:

• Every shrimp is unique: This is a hybrid line — striping, white coverage and black patching land differently on every individual.
• Colour builds with age: Juveniles arrive still developing. The white thickens and brightens and the black fills in solid as they moult; a thick shell looks shiny, a thin one dull with see-through patches.
• Legs: Leg colour is rarer on Fancy Tigers than on our galaxy lines. Spider legs — the body pattern carried onto the legs — can appear on High grade, subtly, but are not guaranteed even there.
• Keep the water clean: On a white-focused line poor water shows fast — the white can turn yellowish. Stable, clean water keeps it bright.

Every shrimp arrives pale from the trip and colours back up within hours to a few days.

A Fancy Tiger is graded differently from a Galaxy Tiger, because it is a Crystal cross. Three things count, and all three are readable at the size we ship:

• The black — how solid and intense it is.
• The white — as much as possible, thick and bright, judged the way a Crystal is judged.
• Tiger bands — the number and neatness of the white bands around the body, on the same scale as our galaxy tigers: Entry 1–3 bands, Mid 2–3, High 3–4.

The higher grades simply look brighter and more solid. Leg colour can turn up on High grade, but it is a bonus when it does, not a promise.

This line is offered in Entry, Mid and High grades — there is no Collector grade on the Black. Entry is the same lineage at the lowest price, with the least white and the fewest bands showing yet. Mid has sound white and black with a broken stripe pattern. High is the top of the pull — thick, bright white, solid jet black and clean, even stripes.

Grading is done by eye at shipping size, on what the shrimp shows then. Shrimp rarely move a grade as they grow, but water matters: poor water costs colour and shell.