Red Cherry Shrimp

The red cherry shrimp is a selectively bred colour form of Neocaridina davidi, a hardy dwarf shrimp from Taiwan. Generations of line breeding have pushed it from a drab wild brown to a solid, opaque red that reads clearly across a room, and females are usually the deeper and more evenly coloured of the sexes. It is the shrimp most people start with, because it is forgiving of ordinary tap water and it breeds without any intervention.

Aquarium care

• Adults reach roughly 3 cm.
• Peaceful and non-aggressive: it grazes rather than hunts, so it is the tankmates that need choosing carefully, not the shrimp.
• Start with ten or more so a colony establishes properly.
• Omnivorous grazer: biofilm, soft algae, blanched vegetables, sinking shrimp food.
• Breeds readily in fresh water, with young that are miniature versions of the adults.
• Wants plants, moss or other cover for the babies to hide in.
• Avoid copper-based medications, which are toxic to shrimp.

A shrimp-only tank or a planted tank with small, gentle fish gives the best results. Most fish that can fit a baby shrimp in their mouth will eat one, so if you want the colony to grow, keep tankmates small and few.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. Have a look at the rest of our shrimp.