Quick care card
Use this card as a starting point. Always check whether your aquarium is stable enough for sensitive species.
Difficulty
Difficult
Behavior
Grazes surfaces and uses shelter.
Feeding
Suitable food and grazing space, accessible to juveniles too.
Breeding
Follow young actually growing; pattern inheritance depends on the strain.
Best match
Keepers able to follow a soft-water system and their chosen strain
Important
A pattern or high price does not establish health. During losses or sudden changes in behaviour, first investigate water quality, oxygen provision and recent additions.
Care in practice
Prepare a measurable soft-water system and compare the offered strain with bee husbandry guidance. Ask about temperature, GH, KH, pH, source water and substrate. RO with appropriate minerals may help where tap water does not fit; follow the actual substrate and mineral instructions. TDS or a trade name alone is insufficient.
Background and identification
Comparing patterns
| Name | Usual description |
|---|---|
| Black King Kong | Extensive black with limited white. Extreme is used for very little white. |
| Panda | Black-and-white pattern with more prominent pale bands. |
| Wine Red | Red Taiwan Bee forms with varying white markings. |
These are hobby and trade names, not a formal quality standard. A better grade usually means a desired appearance, not healthier or stronger animals. Ask for photographs of the actual group, mature parents and variation among offspring. A name cannot predict a fixed ratio of red, black or blue.
One keeper system as an example
Flip Aquatics reports pH 5.5-6.7, GH 3-6 and KH 0-1 for its King Kong stock, using mineralised RO water and active substrate. This describes a husbandry system, not an experiment establishing safe limits. Compare it with the actual strain and your measurable water preparation; do not add separate products merely to chase one number.
Keep a strain separately when following patterns matters. Sharing the Taiwan Bee label does not make mixed offspring predictable. For blue forms, compare Blue Bolt and Shadow Mosura.
For aquarium preparation, use a manageable bee water system. The water decision guide connects source water, GH, KH, substrate and water changes.
Sources and review
Sources for accepted names, classification and synonyms.
- Garnelenhaus: Taiwan Bee / Shadow Bee
Hobby descriptions of hybrid lines, trade patterns and low-KH husbandry. Claimed 100 percent inheritance, pigment mechanisms and universal hybrid outcomes are not adopted.
Sources for water values, temperature and stable care.
- Flip Aquatics: its Black King Kong Extreme stock
Own-stock appearance and explicitly reported husbandry parameters. Does not establish safe bounds for all Taiwan Bees. Its universal offspring and hybridisation claims are not adopted.
- Garnelenhaus: Bienengarnele
Hobby husbandry of bee shrimp and soft-water systems. Broad published ranges are not experimental optima; unsupported feeding-frequency and crossbreeding guarantees are not adopted.
Practical sources for setup, feeding, behavior and breeding.
- Garnelenhaus: Taiwan Bee / Shadow Bee
Hobby descriptions of hybrid lines, trade patterns and low-KH husbandry. Claimed 100 percent inheritance, pigment mechanisms and universal hybrid outcomes are not adopted.
- Garnelenhaus: classical Taiwan Bee grades
Trade pattern names, including King Kong, Panda and Wine Red. A hobby classification, not separate species, health grades or verified inheritance ratios.
- Flip Aquatics: its Black King Kong Extreme stock
Own-stock appearance and explicitly reported husbandry parameters. Does not establish safe bounds for all Taiwan Bees. Its universal offspring and hybridisation claims are not adopted.