How Many Taiwan Bee Shrimp Can You Have per Gallon?

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So, you’re ready to create a Taiwan Bee shrimp tank—but you’re just not sure how many of these shrimp you should add to your tank. These little critters are tiny, and it’s easy to think that you can just add in as many as are available to you. But is there such a thing as adding too many Taiwan Bees to a tank?

You can have 5-10 Taiwan Bees per gallon (3.79 liters) of water in your tank. Technically, you can have more than that, but you’ll need to pay far more attention to the water conditions in your tank, conduct more water changes, and feed your shrimp more.

This article will help you understand just how many Taiwan Bees are too many in a single tank and why you should avoid overloading your tank with shrimps. Let’s get started!

Can You Add Too Many Taiwan Bees to a Tank?

Like many other freshwater shrimp, Taiwan Bees are extremely sensitive to water conditions. If the conditions exceed what they like by too much, they will fail to thrive and die.

Given this sensitivity, it is possible to add too many Taiwan Bees to a tank. Some of the results of overpopulating a tank with Taiwan Bees include:

Too Much Competition

If your tank is overpopulated, you’ll have numerous Taiwan Bees competing for a limited amount of food. Additionally, your filters will not be able to keep up with the bioload produced by your shrimp.

Finally, there’s also a consideration of ammonia. Shrimp and fish produce ammonia as waste, so the more shrimp in your tank, the greater the amount of ammonia. Any noticeable trace of ammonia in your tank is stressful for shrimp and can lead to your Taiwan Bees being burnt or even dying.

Stunted Plant Growth

There are two reasons why experts recommend a planted tank for Taiwan Bees and other shrimp: it provides them a space to hide and play and also provides them with a source of food. 

Tanks can only handle a limited number of plants, and a portion of them will be eaten by your shrimp. This isn’t an issue when you have 5-10 shrimp to a gallon (3.79 liters) of water – however, introduce 20 or 30 shrimp to a gallon (3.79 liters), and you’ll soon see the difference in plant life.

This isn’t to say keeping a lot of shrimp in your tank is impossible. However, it will mean that the demands of maintaining your tank will increase exponentially. You’ll have to conduct multiple water changes a week (at a minimum) and feed your shrimp more often so that they won’t run out of food and turn to the plants in your tank.

However, this is a lot of work, and most people cannot keep it up indefinitely. With 5-10 Taiwan Bees per gallon (3.79 liters), on the other hand, the tank’s care needs are minimal, and you won’t have to take out too much time to monitor the tank’s water conditions. If you’re a newbie shrimp-keeper, you should start with 5 Taiwan Bees per gallon (3.79 liters) and make your want up to 10, if you prefer. 

Even experienced shrimp keepers have a similar ratio. For example, as noted in the YouTube video below, one of the largest shrimp-only aquariums in the world is a 480-gallon (1,817-liter) aquarium that contains over 3000 Taiwan Bees—or just over 6.25 Taiwan Bees per gallon (3.79 liters) of water:

What To Do With Excess Taiwan Bees

It’s relatively common to end up with excess Taiwan Bees, especially if you have a tank with both males and females. So, what should you do if there are too many shrimp in your tank? Here are a few options:

  • Sell Them. The simplest option is to look for people who want to buy Taiwan Bees and sell them your excess shrimp. This allows buyers to start their own tank and sellers to make a little money on the side.
  • Transfer them to a Fish Tank. If you can’t sell (or give away) your shrimp, the next solution is to transfer them to a fish tank, especially one with predator fish in them. The fish will use them as food, and live shrimp are a good source of nutrition.

Once you’ve thinned the tank down, separate the males from the females. As long as the water conditions are right, Taiwan Bees breed very quickly and easily in a 4-6 week cycle. Separating them will ensure you don’t go back to an overpopulated tank before you know it.

Final Thoughts

You should have 5-10 Taiwan Bees per gallon (3.79 liters) of water. If you’re a new shrimp keeper, aim for the lower end of that number. Too many Taiwan Bees in a tank risks the water filling up with too much ammonia and nitrates for your shrimp to do well, and while you can have a tank with a greater shrimp-to-water ratio, that will require a lot more work from your side.

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