The care record, in full
This record sat with six of its nine fields empty for a while, and the reason was ours rather than the animal’s: the reference source behind every fish record here does not cover invertebrates, so nobody had gone looking anywhere else. A source that publishes shrimp parameters states all of them, and the record now carries the tank, the temperature, the pH, the hardness and the lifespan with a named source on each. The care guide most people read states none of those five, which is worth knowing about care guides.
Every field, and every source
The whole record, in the nine fields every species on this site carries. One field here is blank. The ghost shrimp hardness row is empty because three of its sources published something in that row and not one of them published a general hardness figure: a number with no unit, a carbonate hardness figure, and the words on the hard side. That is a different kind of blank from the ones elsewhere on this site, where the sources simply say nothing.
| Field | Cherry shrimp | Ghost shrimp | Amano shrimp | Vampire shrimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum tank | 5 to 10 gal | 5 gal | 10 gal | 20 gal |
| Temperature | 59 to 86 °F | 72 to 80 °F | 72 to 78 °F | 74 to 84 °F |
| pH | 6.5 to 8.0 | 7.0 to 8.0 | 7.2 to 7.5 | 7.0 to 7.2 |
| Hardness | 71 to 179 ppm | not recorded | 72 to 251 ppm | 107 to 357 ppm (6 to 20 dGH) |
| Adult size | 1.2 to 1.6 in (30 to 40 mm) | 1 to 1.5 in | 1 to 2 in | 2 to 4.5 in, and 6 in the wild |
| Diet | Algae, biofilm and detritus | Omnivore and scavenger | Algae, and it prefers not to be | Filter feeder. Particles in the current, not pellets |
| Water column | Substrate | Substrate | Substrate | Wherever the current is, and low on one source |
| Lifespan | 1 to 2 years | Days to 1.5 years | 2 to 3 years | 3 to 5 years |
| Growth rate | Mature at about two months | Young are tank safe at about 5 weeks | not recorded | not recorded |
The row that is a requirement
Hardness. Shrimp Science publishes GH 4 to 10, which converts to about 71 to 179 ppm, and the reason is on the record: this animal grows by molting, so it builds a shell out of minerals taken from the water. Aquarium Co-Op arrives at the same place from the practical end by recommending crushed coral for a continuously molting animal.
Every other hardness figure on this site is a tolerance. This one is a specification, and it is the argument for owning a GH test even if you never plan to change your water.
The row that is the widest on the site
Temperature, at 59 to 86 °F. It is a tolerance rather than a target and it is broader than any fish range we hold, which means a shrimp colony will sit inside whatever band the rest of your tank needs.
That is worth stating plainly because it inverts the usual advice. The shrimp is not the fussy animal in a mixed tank on temperature; it is the fussy animal on minerals, and on who else is in there.
The rule that decides everything in a shrimp aquarium
If it fits in the fish's mouth, that fish is a predator.
This is the guideline our source gives, and in a shrimp tank it outranks volume, temperature and pH combined. A 1.5 inch shrimp fits in a great many mouths.
- Bettas are described as notorious for going after shrimp. Not a ban we can source, but not a footnote either.
- Hiding places change the odds, not the rule. Enough cover lets a colony coexist with larger fish, and the risk remains.
- Docile company is the stated preference. The quieter the tank, the more of the colony you keep.
What the record does settle
Calcium is not optional
Shells need minerals. Crushed coral in the substrate or the filter, or a mineral supplement, is the stated way to supply it.
They forage, then they need feeding
Algae, biofilm and leftovers are the base, and the record still asks for a quality shrimp food on top of it.
They breed on their own
Wikipedia gives 20 to 30 eggs at a time, two to three weeks to hatch, and young that emerge as miniature adults. One male and one female is the stated requirement.
Questions about freshwater aquarium shrimp care
What size tank do cherry shrimp need?
Five gallons as the stated minimum, with ten or larger preferred, from Shrimp Science. Aquarium Co-Op states no tank size for the species at all, which is one of five figures that source leaves out.
What water do cherry shrimp need?
GH 4 to 10 is the figure that matters, about 71 to 179 ppm, because the shell is built from it. Temperature is 59 to 86 °F as a tolerance, pH 6.5 to 8.0, and the same source gives KH 1 to 8 and TDS 100 to 250.
Can shrimp live with a betta?
Our records say never, and it was one of the first two refusals on this site. Aquarium Co-Op states bettas are notorious for going after shrimp; we mark it never rather than risky because the young hatch at about a millimeter, so a colony has to survive the fish and not just the adults.
Do cherry shrimp breed on their own?
Yes, and the figures are on the record: maturity at about two months, 20 to 30 eggs at a time, two to three weeks to hatch, and young that emerge as miniature adults with no larval stage. One male and one female is the stated requirement.
Does grade change the care?
No. Grade is a price. A low grade Sakura and a Painted Fire Red want the same water, eat the same food and live the same length of time, and nothing on the record changes with the color of the animal.
Can I keep two colors together?
You can, and Shrimp Science states what happens: crossbreeding produces a lower grade version of one of the parents. If the color of the colony is the point, one variety per tank is the whole of the discipline required.
How long do cherry shrimp live?
One to two years, from two sources independently. It is the only field on this record where two of the five agree on the same figure without either of them qualifying it.
Do I need to feed them if the tank has algae?
The record still asks for a quality shrimp food on top of the algae, biofilm and leftovers. A clean tank is not a fed colony, which is the most common way to lose one after the water.
Can shrimp live with snails?
Yes, and it is the one place our stocking rule makes an exception, because our sources describe the grazers as company for each other rather than as alternatives. Set the hardness by the shrimp record, since it publishes a figure and the snail record does not.
Why is there only one shrimp record?
Because a second one assembled out of forum consensus would undo what the first one fixed. This record sat with six of nine fields blank until we found a source that publishes invertebrate parameters, and the queue below is waiting on the same thing rather than on somebody finding an afternoon.
Guides for this silo
One so far, and it is about the shrimp nobody keeps: what you hatch to feed everything else.
What is not here yet
Three shrimp records in the queue
The shrimp silo is the shortest on the site, which is now a count of species rather than a count of blanks. Each name below waits on a source that publishes its figures the way ours does for the cherry shrimp, because a second record assembled out of forum consensus would undo what the first one just fixed.
Neocaridina and Caridina, which is the whole hobby
Freshwater aquarium shrimp split into two genera before they split into colors, and every source we read leads with it. The three records in this silo hold one animal from each of three genera, and our what do shrimp eat guide reads their three diet rows side by side. The cherry shrimp is a Neocaridina, which will fill a tank with a colony from one pair. The amano shrimp is a Caridina, and it cannot breed in freshwater at all, because its larvae have to reach salt water. The ghost shrimp is a Palaemonetes, a third genus in a different family that cannot cross with either. Everything left in the queue is a Caridina or a Neocaridina.
Neocaridina is the beginner side. Aquarium Co-Op states it plainly: the genus does not have complicated requirements and is recommended for beginners. It tolerates a pH from 6.0 to 7.5 or 7.8, and it carries more than fifteen color and pattern variants, which is why a shop shelf looks like a paint chart and a care sheet does not.
Caridina is the demanding side, and the demand is specific rather than general: Aquarium Co-Op gives a preferred pH of 6.0 to 6.7, sometimes to 7.0. That is a narrower band than the Neocaridina range and it sits at the acidic end of it.
What the split does to a shopping trip
Two shrimp in adjacent tanks at the same price can want different water. Nothing on the label says which genus you are looking at, and the color names are trade names rather than taxonomy.
The pairing a source actually states
Compatibility on this site is usually assembled from silences. Here one source says it outright: Aquarium Co-Op names dwarf shrimp with nerite snails of the genus Vittina as a combination that works, and our nerite snail record is Vittina natalensis. That is the first pairing between two records we hold that a source states rather than implies.
It also names two that do not work: long arm shrimp with any dwarf shrimp, which is predation, and shrimp with crabs, which it describes as fatal after molting. Neither animal is written here, and both are in the queue behind everything else for that reason.
Copper, from a second direction
The nerite record carries a copper warning from a snail source. Aquarium Co-Op states the same hazard for shrimp and names where it comes from: copper pipes in the water system, heating coils, many medications for ornamental fish, and algae conditioners. It adds the detail the snail source did not, which is that tiny amounts are especially lethal in soft water.
Two independent sources, two different animals, one hazard. That is the strongest agreement anywhere in this silo and it is about something you add to the tank rather than something in it.
| Genus | Written here | Queued | pH, per Aquarium Co-Op |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neocaridina | Cherry shrimp | Blue dream shrimp | 6.0 to 7.5 or 7.8 |
| Caridina | none | Amano shrimp, crystal red shrimp | 6.0 to 6.7, sometimes 7.0 |
| Filter feeders | none | Bamboo shrimp | not stated separately |
| Palaemonetes | none | Ghost shrimp | not stated separately |
Read the written column down and this silo is one animal from one genus. That is the honest state of it, and the reason the queue is ordered the way it is: the Neocaridina beside the one we hold first, because its record can be checked against an existing one, and the Caridina after, because those need their own water and their own reading.