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Freshwater Fish · Shrimp

Cherry Shrimp

Neocaridina davidi

Hardy red cleanup crew for nano tanksBeginner

Lifespan: 1-2 years
Size: 2.5-4cm
Social needs: Social; keep a colony of 10+
Time: Low
Cost: Low
Diet: Omnivore scavenger (biofilm, algae, shrimp foods)

Overview

What is this animal?

The cherry shrimp is a small, hardy freshwater invertebrate, a selectively bred colour form of Neocaridina davidi known for its bright red shell and easy care.
It is one of the best beginner invertebrates and a popular nano-tank species.

Reaching just a few centimetres, cherry shrimp graze biofilm and algae, breed readily, and form colourful colonies.
They are sensitive to copper and unstable water but otherwise undemanding, making them a good introduction to keeping freshwater shrimp.

Temperament

Cherry shrimp are peaceful, social grazers that do best in colonies and feel secure in numbers, so start with at least ten.
They spend their days foraging over plants and surfaces and pose no threat to other inhabitants.

Keep them in a species tank or with very small, peaceful fish, as most fish will eat shrimplets and some will hunt adults.
Avoid all aggressive or larger fish.
They breed prolifically; cross-breeding with other Neocaridina colours dulls their bright hues over generations.

A good fit for

Nano and planted-tank keepers
Beginners new to freshwater invertebrates
Those wanting a natural algae cleanup crew
Aquarists interested in easy shrimp breeding

Common mistakes to avoid

Any copper, from medications or decor, is lethal
Adding shrimp to an immature, unstable tank
Fish tankmates eating shrimplets and adults
Overfeeding fouling the small water volume

Enclosure

Minimum 20 litres (5 US gallons) — for a group of 10

Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 10, and the space above is for that group.

A stable, mature, planted tank of at least 20L suits a cherry shrimp colony, with cool to warm temperatures of 18-26C and neutral to slightly alkaline water of moderate hardness.
They need plenty of biofilm, so an established tank is essential.

Provide moss, plants and surfaces for grazing, and gentle, shrimp-safe filtration with intake guards to protect tiny young.
Keep ammonia and nitrite at zero and avoid any copper, which is lethal.
Stable parameters and a cycled tank matter more than precise numbers.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

Tank and stand
Filter
Heater and thermometer
Substrate, plants and decor
Liquid test kit
Dechlorinator and starter supplies

Ongoing

Specialised shrimp pellets or sticks
Powdered spirulina or fine particle food (for filter-feeders)
Golden pearls or a comparable fine powdered food
Courgette and spinach for blanching
Mineral or GH supplement for shell health
Pipette or turkey baster for target-feeding into the current
Small feeding dish to keep food off the substrate
Fine net or tweezers for removing leftovers

Safe substrate: Inert aquarium gravel · Fine, smooth sand · Aquasoil for planted tanks

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

Check temperature and equipment
Head-count and look everyone over

Weekly

Feed sparinglyevery 3 days
Top up evaporationevery 3 days
Clean glass and clear algae
Small, matched water change
Test hardness as well as nitrogen

Monthly

Trim and thin the plantsevery 2 weeks
Check labels for copper
Check supplies and reagent dates
Rinse the filter media

Less often

Replace chemical filter media (Carbon/Purigen)every 2 months

Vet: Quarterly colony and mineral review — every 3 months

Top resources for more info

Independent creators and organisations we would send a friend to. We have no affiliation with any of them, and nothing here is sponsored. Links checked 2026-09-19.

YouTubers

Mark's Shrimp TanksDwarf shrimp keeping, water parameters and breeding Flip AquaticsShrimp and nano fish care guides (run by a retailer)Girl Talks FishCare how-tos by fish type, tank setup and beginner mistakes

Sites

Shrimp ScienceCherry shrimp care, water parameters and tank troubleshooting Aquarium BreederGuides to shrimp, snails, crayfish and crabs in the aquarium Seriously FishSpecies profiles with tank size, water parameters and diet for 1,800+ fish

Go deeper

Diet

Cherry shrimp are omnivorous scavengers that graze biofilm and algae continuously, supplemented with specialised shrimp pellets, blanched vegetables such as spinach and courgette, and occasional protein.
A mature, biofilm-rich tank meets most of their needs.

Feed only tiny amounts every day or two, removing uneaten food to protect water quality.
Overfeeding fouls the water and is a common beginner mistake.
A varied diet supports colour, moulting and breeding; calcium and stable hardness aid healthy shell formation.

Health

Cherry shrimp are hardy but acutely sensitive to copper, ammonia, nitrite and sudden parameter swings, all of which cause failed moults and death.
Most losses trace to medications containing copper, unstable water, or adding shrimp to an immature tank.

Avoid copper-based fish treatments entirely, acclimatise new shrimp very slowly by drip, and keep water stable and well cycled.
Moulting problems often indicate insufficient calcium or fluctuating hardness.
In clean, stable conditions a colony stays healthy and reproduces steadily.

Is your enclosure big enough?

Minimum volume20 litres (5 US gallons)

CompanyCannot be kept alone. The minimum is 10, and the space above is for that group.

Length

Width

Height

Units

Or tank volume

Units

Is this urgent?

In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat — dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.

Go now

Any detectable ammonia or nitrite in a stocked tankLarge water change now with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water. Stop feeding. Test again in 12 hours. Both are directly toxic. How toxic the ammonia reading is depends on pH and temperature, so the same number can be harmless or lethal.

Now

Fish gasping at the surface, or crowding the filter outflowIncrease surface agitation immediately, then test the water. Either the oxygen has crashed or the gills are being chemically burned. Both are hours-scale problems.

Now

Sudden deaths, more than one fish in a dayTest ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature before doing anything else. Do not add medication yet. Multiple simultaneous deaths point at the water or the equipment, not at a pathogen.

Now

Today

Flashing — repeatedly scraping against decor or substrateTest the water, then look closely for parasites. Irritation is either chemical or parasitic; the test tells you which before you medicate.

Today

White salt-grain spots over the body and finsBegin the appropriate treatment today and check the temperature. The parasite's life cycle is temperature-driven, and it multiplies with every cycle you wait.

Today

Soon

Clamped fins, hiding, or refusing food for more than two daysTest the water and review recent changes. Usually the earliest visible sign of a parameter drifting.

A few days

Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.

What it really costs

Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.

Region

How many animals

Your electricity price, per kWh

Buying the setup

Bedding and substrate

Substrate in an aquarium is a filter as much as a floor. Most of the biology lives in and on it.

Safe

Inert aquarium gravelRinse thoroughly before use. Grain size should be too large to swallow and too small to trap food.

safe

Fine, smooth sandCorrect for corydoras, kuhli loaches and anything that sifts. Their barbels wear away on sharp gravel.

safe

Aquasoil for planted tanksExcellent for plants, but it leaches ammonia for the first weeks. Cycle around it; do not stock into it.

safe

Bare bottomLegitimate for quarantine and grow-out tanks. Easy to clean, but it holds far less biological filtration.

safe

With a caveat

Crushed coral or aragoniteDeliberately raises hardness and pH. Correct for rift-lake cichlids, wrong for soft-water species.

with a caveat

Very deep sand bedsAnaerobic pockets form below about 5 cm in still sand. Either keep it shallow or keep it stirred.

with a caveat

Painted or coated gravelUsually fine, but coatings chip. Test a handful in a jar for a week first.

with a caveat

Never

Sharp or angular gravel with bottom-dwellersWears down barbels and leads to infection in corydoras and loaches.

never

Anything containing metal, limestone of unknown origin, or shells in a soft-water tankSlowly alters chemistry in ways that are hard to diagnose later.

never

This is our general list for freshwater fish. We have not built one specific to Shrimp yet.

My kit says 0.25 ppm. Is that dangerous?

A liquid kit measures total ammonia, but only the un-ionised fraction is really toxic, and that fraction is governed by pH and temperature — each whole pH unit multiplies it roughly tenfold. So the same reading can be nearly harmless in one tank and lethal in another; this works out which one you are in.

Total ammonia, ppm

Temperature, C