Cherry shrimp care guide
Cherry shrimp, Neocaridina davidi, or Neos for short, grow to about an inch in or 3,4 cm in length. They’re one of the easiest and most fun species to keep in a planted tank. I’ve kept them as pets for decades, and recently been breeding/selling a couple varieties called bloody mary and green jade shrimp. I love them so much, they even ended up on my logo. From here on out, I’ll be referring to cherry shrimp, but that applies to all the different color morphs within the species Neocaridina davidi.
Cherry shrimp originate from freshwater streams in Taiwan, but can now be found living in other parts of the world as non-native species from Japan to Germany and Poland. It’s unknown whether or not they pose a threat to the non-native habitats that they live in since many of them don’t have shrimp, they may not be displacing native wildlife. It’s still important to remember that you should never release your pets into the wild.
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Water Parameters
They’re an incredibly hardy species that can thrive in a wide range of water parameters. I tend to think of invertebrates as being an indicator species, a canary in the coalmine of the aquarium if you will. But that’s definitely not the case when it comes to cherry shrimp. They can tolerate a far wider range of conditions than most hardy freshwater aquarium fish can.
Acidic to basic water conditions from a pH of 6.5 - 8 are preferred. Even though it’s best to pick a moderate temperature in the middle of this range, they are fine with fairly cold to hot water - 57 - 86 F or 14 - 30 C.
It’s important to maintain a general hardness level of at least 7 (to 11) degrees and KH of at least 2 degrees (to 6). These hardness parameters are really important for developing and maintaining their exoskeletons. Without access to those minerals, their exoskeletons or shells essentially become soft.
CO2 & Flow - They do fine in tanks with or without CO2 and can tolerate both low to high levels of flow.
Ammonia & nitrites - They can tolerate very small levels, but ideally should be kept at 0.
Nitrates - It’s safe to keep them in nitrate levels up to about 30 PPM. Anything above that you’re starting to risk general toxic levels for anything in your tank.
Aquarium Setup
Over the years, I’ve found that it’s fun to give cherry shrimp larger tanks for a couple different reasons. First of all, larger tanks are usually more stable, and second of all, their population seems to grow exponentially with the size of the aquarium. I couldn’t even tell you how many shrimp were in my 75 gallon at the peak of the colony. There were some months where I’d sell 200 shrimp and feel like the population was barely dented.
Realistically, you should aim for a 5 gallon or 20 liter tank minimum. There’s no need for a heater or filtration system, though it certainly wouldn’t hurt to maintain a stable temperature and filter your water. If you do opt for a filter, be cautious of the intake. It’s a good idea to add a sponge to prevent shrimp from getting sucked in and chopped to bits. Some filters like the oase biomaster do a good job at collecting shrimp without harming them. I have a weekly shrimp and scud release when I clean my filter out in this tank.
Plants are a terrific addition to cherry shrimp habitat for 2 reasons. First of all, plants provide excellent coverage for shrimp. They are usually the smallest livestock in a tank, and benefit from having secure hiding spots, especially for the juveniles. Also, plants are a breeding ground for biofilm and other organic debris that shrimp love to eat. The fact that cherry shrimp are such good scavengers of biofilm and detritus make them the perfect cleanup crew for a planted tank.
If for whatever reason you aren’t into the idea of a planted aquarium, you could throw in some plastic decor for them, you’ll just need to be diligent about feeding them a varied diet. It’s just really important to give them adequate hiding spaces.
I’ve heard people mention that cherry shrimp tend to display darker, richer colors on darker substrates, whereas light sands can bring out pale colors in them. This may be somewhat true when it comes to cherry shrimp. Even though both colonies came from the same line, shrimp in my light sand bottom tank tend to be a little pinker than the ones in my carpeted tank. I’m still not fully convinced that this is true though, it could just be coincidence, the case that a pink lineage has for whatever reason taken off in this tank. If you look at the jades in another tank with the same light sand, there are plenty of dark dark green ones. I’m only bringing this up because I’ve heard of reputable breeders bring this up, but personally, I’d just go with whatever substrate you want.
In terms of lighting, that’s also up to you. They are super outgoing shrimp that will spend a lot of time out in the open regardless of lighting intensity.
Acclimating
Even though generally hardy, cherry shrimp are sensitive to sudden changes in water quality. It’s a good idea to not only temperature acclimate them, but to gradually add water from your tank into the bag or container that you are bringing them home with. I’ve never found it necessary to drip acclimate them. 4 or 5 scoops of water spread out over five minutes is enough to safely acclimate them.
Feeding
Cherry shrimp are opportunistic feeders. They’ll eat almost anything you throw in your tank. They’re really not picky, they’ll even scavenge off corpses in your tank, whether it’s a fish or a fellow shrimp. They will also not eat your live plants.
Although I like to see my shrimp hard at work eating biofilm and keeping my tank clean, I do supplement their diets quite frequently. Usually just a little extra of whatever I’m feeding my fish. An extra pinch of flake food or a few extra algae wafers. Slices of zucchini and blanched broccoli are a terrific fresh food for them as well as a source of calcium.
It should be noted, that even though they’re terrific at keeping biofilm down, which is a precursor to algae, they are not efficient algae eaters. So they can help prevent algae from forming by consuming biofilm, basically acting as a competitor of algae, but don’t go out buying a hundred cherries expecting them to go to work on some black beard or hair algae.
Tank Mates
If it fits in a fish's mouth, the shrimp will most likely get eaten. They do well and can establish breeding colonies with a lot of the smaller community fish like tetras, danios and rasboras. Even some small rainbows like threadfins, gertrudes and forktails are fine to keep with cherry shrimp colonies.
It’s pretty obvious who’s gonna eat the full grown shrimp… Cichlids, even dwarf species, larger rainbows, archerfish, gouramis, bettas, knife fish, siamese algae eaters…
Then there are other species that don’t prey on adults, but substantially limit their reproductive rate in one way or another. Sparkling gouramis for example, aren’t able to eat adult cherries, but voraciously hunt down baby shrimp. Scuds, on the other hand, don’t even wait for the shrimplets to hatch. They chow down on the eggs right out of the berried or pregnant females. You can still get a breeding colony going with both scuds and sparkling gouramis, but if your goal is to have as many shrimp as possible in your tank, you should avoid them and other micro predators.
You can mix cherry shrimp with other types of shrimp like Amanos or crystals, but it’s a bad idea to mix them with crawdads or predaceous crabs.
I know someone’s gonna leave a comment saying that they’ve kept shrimp with bettas or dwarf cichlids, and it’s true. In some cases it’s possible. Even though a lot of people like sushi, some people, like me, just don’t like eating fish. Our pet fish are the same way. They’re all individuals with potential for not eating what the majority of their species would find to be a delicacy. I couldn’t tell you if that boils down to taste or just lack of intelligence being able to identify something as a food source.
Breeding & Color morphs
Breeding cherry shrimp is so much fun, and it’s a pretty easy process. But before I get into that, it’s important to understand the different color morphs, so you can end up with the color shrimp you want to breed.
In the wild, cherry shrimp take on cryptic coloration that helps them to camouflage. They’re usually completely clear to clear with brown or green mottling on them. It’s not really beneficial for them to be a bright color that predators can hone in on.
The color varieties that we see nowadays in stores are a result of domestication. It’s pretty common that when animals become domesticated, they start to show far more variety in physical appearance than their wild counterparts. What happens is, mutations, like red or orange coloration that would not benefit shrimp in the wild are selectively bred for. So the first shrimp breeder had to pull out all of the red shrimp from a ton of wild varieties. When red shrimp breed with each other, most of their offspring will turn out red, but there will also be mutations that revert back to the wild type, or even other color varieties. Gradually through this process of selecting certain colors and breeding them, the aquarium trade has been able to introduce a wide array of colors and patterns to the hobby that aren’t found in the wild.
If you’re trying to breed a colony with one color variety, then you’ll need to be diligent about pulling out mutations that stray from what you want. For example, this colony used to be high grade bloody mary shrimp, but I’ve not been consistently pulling out clear or low grade shrimp, so they’ve been reproducing and altering the gene pool to have more variation that strays from the original bloody marys. The reason I stopped doing that in this tank was because some scuds were introduced to this tank, and they’ve drastically reduced the reproductive rate of my shrimp. I’d rather have more shrimp at this point in time than fewer high grade shrimp.
To get your shrimp to breed, you just need to meet all of the water parameters that I mentioned in the beginning and be sure to stock the tank with good tank mates. Micro predators that prey on young shrimp will tend to hunt down the colorful ones quicker than the clear varieties, resulting in a gradual evolution towards the wild type. And when you think about it, it totally makes sense. The reason that the wild shrimp have evolved their color patterns is to avoid being eaten. So be sure to stock your tank appropriately if you’re really serious about breeding cherry shrimp or other color morphs.
How do you know you have pregnant shrimp? Well, when a female shrimp is carrying eggs, it’s really noticeable. She carries them on her swimmerets, the little appendages used as flippers that dangle from the abdomen. It should be noted that a female shrimp can carry eggs which have not been fertilized by males. In those cases, the eggs will look kind of gray. Fertile eggs should hold a color closely to that of the parents. Red shrimp with red eggs, green shrimp with green eggs.
What I've found is that keeping a carpeting plant, thick mats of moss or jungles of ferns are the best way to boost your shrimp colonies. There’s something about the plant biomass and extra plant surface area that allows the shrimp population to explode. I think a large part of it is providing decent habitat for the shrimplets. Having a carpet to hide in and forage through adds a whole nother microcosm to your tank that really benefits cherry shrimp feeding and breeding. It also gives them space to be protected with any potential predators in your tank.
The last thing to note with breeding Neocaridinas is that mixing different color morphs will end up with a whole hodgepodge of colors. They won’t look exactly like their parents. You’ll get some that do exhibit the same colors as their parents, some that are a completely different color, some with different patterns, and some that look more like the clear wild types. Eventually the bright colors will become diluted from the gene pool. There’s no harm in keeping shrimp like this, it’s actually pretty fun to have that much diversity in your tank. It really just boils down to what your goal is.
Molting
Shrimp have have exoskeletons. Unlike humans that have bones on the inside, shrimp have shells around the outside of their bodies. The shells help protect them from getting physically damaged. They also help to maintain the shape of the shrimp. Unlike humans whose skeletons grow with our bodies, shrimp need to shed theirs every now and then and replace them with larger ones. Essentially they grow in spurts rather than a slow continuous growth like us.
So don’t be alarmed when you find clear casings from your shrimp, that’s a good sign that they are growing! If you start to find dead shrimp in your tank, there’s a decent chance that they’re having a hard time molting. If they’re not getting the minerals they need to build their exoskeleton, it’ll result in a soft shell, which is hard to burst out of and they’ll essentially get stuck in their exoskeleton during the molting process. The exoskeleton needs to be rigid like when an egg cracks. If you tried to crack an orange with soft skin the same way you’d try to get into an egg, it wouldn’t work. That’s the best comparison I could think of for a soft shrimp exo.
Two ways you can help your shrimp out if you see this happening is to increase your water hardness using a variety of different aquarium additives or stones like limestone. You can also feed them calcium rich food.
Parasites/diseases/ailments
Although not super common, there are some parasites that shrimp can catch.
The only one that I’ve personally dealt with is Scutariella japonica. It’s a parasitic nematode, or flatworm, and is by far the most common pest you’ll get when keeping Neos. It’s arguable how much damage they can do to shrimp. My local fish store told me not to worry about them when I went in looking for meds… But it’s kinda hard to not to worry when you see worms sticking out of your shrimp's head. They’re pretty easy to diagnose. Just look like slender white fluffs sticking out of your shrimp, and they tend to congregate around the head. I found that no planaria was the most efficient way to get rid of them.
Some other less common, but possible bad guys are Vorticella, a parasite that looks like white mold that also appears around the head. You can try paraguard, PIMAFIX or aquarium salt to treat them, but since I’ve never dealt with them, I can't tell you what works based on my firsthand experience.
Shrimp worms can be seen in clear shrimp. They usually anchor around the abdomen area and can be treated with aquarium salt or no planaria.
Unhealthy shrimp are prone to fungal infections which look like white fuzz anywhere on the body and can be treated with PIMAFIX.
Neos are super hardy shrimp. One of the most hardy species that I’ve ever kept. If you inspect your shrimp prior to purchasing them, you likely won’t ever have to deal with any parasites, diseases or ailments, but it’s still good to know what the common ones are so you can keep your eyes peeled.
Products
Here are some products that I have recommended throughout the video. Each line is linked to a purchase location.
