Quick care card
Use this card as a starting point. Always check whether your aquarium is stable enough for sensitive species.
Difficulty
Expert
Behavior
Rock dweller that uses gaps between stones when disturbed.
Feeding
Grazing space and observed food uptake; no proven complete diet from one algae powder.
Breeding
No simple guaranteed breeding recipe; follow juveniles and food access separately.
Best match
Keepers with a documented species-specific system and observation experience
Important
Confirm species before purchase. A universal Sulawesi table or Cardinal appearance does not establish this species’ requirements.
Care in practice
Support a suitable warm, alkaline system with information on the actual stock and species husbandry. Consulted sources do not establish tested safe pH, GH, KH or TDS limits for every C. spinata. Check the full preparation outside the aquarium. An 8.5 mineral-product label does not establish an optimal pH for this species.
The original description records rocks and crevices. Make these surfaces accessible, stable and inspectable for waste, with shelter and functioning biological filtration. Leaving an empty aquarium for a long time cannot replace checks of filtration and food. Choose volume for living space, maintenance and the planned group rather than an unsupported minimum.
Provide established grazing surfaces and assess suitable added food by access and uptake. A hobby account reports difficulty with long-term care and a possible unknown dietary need; this is the author’s suggestion, not a demonstrated deficiency that a special powder resolves. Avoid both chronic underfeeding and accumulating leftovers. Protein is not inherently unsuitable.
Field observations found juveniles in shallower areas too and adults near larger rocks deeper down. This is habitat information, not a requirement for a deep aquarium. Observe without repeatedly dismantling refuges and record animals actually seen, food uptake and changes.
A separate species group makes identity, food and any offspring easier to follow. Do not combine animals solely because they originate in the same lake. Assess water, space, food distribution and separation options. Different colour does not guarantee that crossing is excluded.
The taxonomic revision describes egg-carrying females, but that does not provide a complete aquarium rearing method. For any breeding claim, check that it concerns C. spinata and ask about parents, water preparation and followed juvenile development. Do not import an Amano saltwater recipe or universal incubation period.
Automatically equating White Glove with spinata; calling general lake readings safe aquarium limits; treating an unknown dietary need as proven; relying exclusively on algae powder; limiting water changes despite pollution.
Background and identification
The revision identifies C. spinata as endemic to Lake Towuti, Sulawesi, living on hard substrate. Sulawesi Keepers lists it among threatened lake fauna. Ask for documented captive breeding and origin; we have conducted no new field survey.
The original account describes living animals as crimson to deep red with yellow or orange transverse stripes and spots. Parts of the claws and tail can also be yellow or orange. White gloves are not its primary identifying feature.
Cardinal, C. dennerli, has white spots and white front feeding appendages and comes from Matano. C. spinata has red with yellow-orange accents and comes from Towuti. Trade names such as Yellow Nose and Yellow Stripe help searches but do not replace reliable identification.
Why the name changed
This existing page describes Caridina spinata. White Glove does not fit the original account of its red-and-yellow pattern and is also used for Cardinal. We now display the species name with Yellow Stripe, a trade name listed by Sulawesi Keepers.
The care choices below are cautious editorial interpretation of habitat and limited husbandry reports. Specialist is not a measured ranking. Read water preparation; for white spots and white front legs, compare the Cardinal profile.
Sources and review
Sources for accepted names, classification and synonyms.
- von Rintelen & Cai (2009): Caridina spinata
Original revision treatment: Lake Towuti, rock habitat and red/yellow-orange living colour. Taxonomic egg observations are not an aquarium breeding schedule.
Sources for water values, temperature and stable care.
- Gabor Horvath: The jewels of Sulawesi
First-person account of a mixed Sulawesi setup, including failures. The recorded 27-28 C, GH 7 and pH 8.4 are one setup, not safe limits or proof of an optimal recipe. Loss predictions, cosmetics-grade additions, live-fish snail control and fixed acclimation/feeding rules are not adopted.
- SaltyShrimp: Sulawesi Mineral 7.5 instructions
Own product: easier dissolution, stated pH around 7.5 and KH/GH ratio 0.42. Preparation outside aquarium. Product statements are not independent proof of breeding success or disease prevention.
- SaltyShrimp: Sulawesi Mineral 8.5 instructions
Own product: stated pH around 8.5, KH/GH ratio 0.78, extra dissolution and subsequent CO2 removal outside aquarium. No antimicrobial claim, universal dosing, or guaranteed lake-water equivalence adopted.
Practical sources for setup, feeding, behavior and breeding.
- Sulawesi Keepers: threatened lake shrimp and trade names
Conservation organisation identifies spinata as Yellow Nose/Yellow Stripe and woltereckae as Harlequin, both Towuti endemics. No newly verified Red List assessment is claimed.
- Gabor Horvath: The jewels of Sulawesi
First-person account of a mixed Sulawesi setup, including failures. The recorded 27-28 C, GH 7 and pH 8.4 are one setup, not safe limits or proof of an optimal recipe. Loss predictions, cosmetics-grade additions, live-fish snail control and fixed acclimation/feeding rules are not adopted.
- UF/IFAS: Ammonia in Aquatic Systems
Nitrogen chemistry and biological filtration; fish thresholds are not used as shrimp thresholds.