Cherry shrimp care: water parameters, setup and breeding in a planted tank

Why cherry shrimp suit a planted tank

Neocaridina are sold in many color lines – red, blue, yellow, black and more. In a planted tank they graze biofilm, algae and decaying plant matter off leaves, moss and wood all day, so they are busy and visible rather than hiding.

Almost any fish will eat baby shrimp, and bigger fish eat adults too. Avoid bettas, cichlids, barbs and large tetras. Adults usually live fine with small, peaceful, small-mouthed fish such as small rasboras, otocinclus or pygmy corydoras. If you want the colony to grow, a shrimp-only tank or very dense planting works best.

Different color lines interbreed, and within a few generations the offspring drift back to the brown wild type. If you want one color, keep only that one.

Water parameters

• GH 6–10 dGH – calcium and magnesium for building a new shell; in very soft water molts fail, and in very hard water the old shell gets so tough the shrimp can’t get out of it. Sources differ, most often putting it between 6 and 10; the default SUISO shrimp tank target is 6–12,
• KH 2–8 dKH – buffers pH swings,
• pH 6.5–7.8,
• temperature 68–75 °F (20–24 °C) – they tolerate more; warmer water means faster growth and breeding but a shorter life,
• ammonia and nitrite at zero, nitrate as low as you can keep it – ideally under 10 ppm, though shrimp tolerate up to 20,
• TDS – recommendations vary from roughly 100 to 300 ppm between sources; use it mainly to check that your water stays the same.

Typical planted tank targets (pH 6.4–6.9, KH 3–5, GH 4–8) only overlap with shrimp at the top end: GH 6–8 and pH 6.5–6.9. Nitrate overlaps even less: the planted target is 10–20 ppm while the SUISO shrimp tank aims for under 10, so in a planted tank with shrimp stay at the low end. In SUISO the shrimp tank style has its own target ranges (pH 6.5–7.8, KH 2–8, GH 6–12, nitrate up to 10 ppm), and you can also track TDS, calcium and magnesium.

Aquasoil softens the water and holds pH down, often below what Neocaridina like – unlike Caridina, they don’t need it. On an inert substrate such as sand or gravel the range is easier to hold. With aquasoil, expect lower KH and pH, keep pH from dropping below 6.5, and don’t chase KH upward with sudden doses of additives.

If you inject CO₂, stay toward the low end of the usual 20–30 ppm (drop checker green, not yellow), raise it in small steps and switch it off about an hour before lights-out. With CO₂, a KH of at least 3–4 keeps pH from falling below 6.5. Too much shows as shrimp slowing down or standing still and fish gasping at the surface. If you see that, turn the CO₂ off right away, agitate the surface and change some water.

When and how to add shrimp

Only to a cycled tank: ammonia and nitrite read zero for several days and nitrate is rising. Aquasoil leaches ammonia in the first weeks, so wait until cycling is done. The longer a tank has been running, the more biofilm covers plants, moss and wood, and the more food shrimp find.

Start with at least ten so you get both males and females.

Drip-acclimate new shrimp. First let the bag reach tank temperature. Then pour the shrimp and their water into a container and drip tank water in through airline tubing at 1–2 drops per second until there is at least three times as much water as you started with. That usually takes 1–2 hours; the more the seller’s water differs from yours, the longer. Net the shrimp into the tank and don’t pour the seller’s water in.

Feeding and water changes

In an established planted tank shrimp find much of their food themselves. Feed lightly – only what they finish in two to three hours – and remove leftovers, because rotting food degrades water quality.

Juveniles and berried females need protein too. Powdered baby foods should be used very sparingly.

Shrimp do best with small, regular changes of around 10–20 % a week. A big change is risky mainly when the new water differs from the tank. If you change more in a CO₂ planted tank, match temperature, GH and TDS and add the water slowly.

When shrimp are dying

• a parameter jump after a water change – new water with different hardness, TDS or temperature; deaths often follow at molting,
• failed molts – the shrimp gets stuck in the old shell, sometimes with a white ring around its body; check GH and KH and whether they have been changing,
• new plants – potted plants from commercial growers can carry pesticide residues that kill shrimp soon after planting; use tissue-culture plants in a shrimp tank, or rinse others thoroughly and keep them in a separate container of water for a few days first,
• copper – copper-based medications kill shrimp, so never use them in a shrimp tank. Planted tank fertilizers contain only trace copper and manufacturers generally list them as shrimp-safe at the labeled dose; still, start a new fertilizer at half dose. Before using snail or algae treatments, check that the manufacturer lists them as shrimp-safe,
• ammonia and nitrite – usually after overfeeding,
• too much CO₂.

To find the cause, test ammonia, nitrite, GH, KH, pH and TDS, then go through what changed in the last few days: a water change, new plants, a new fertilizer or additive, a medication, feeding.

Breeding

A berried female carries about 20–30 eggs under her tail. They take three to four weeks to hatch depending on temperature – less in warmer water. There is no larval stage: the young hatch as miniature adults about 2 mm long.

Shrimplets hide in moss and dense plants and live on biofilm. Fish will eat them, so colonies grow fastest without fish. For stronger color, move the paler offspring to another tank.

What to log

When and how many shrimp you added, water changes with the GH, TDS and temperature of the new water, new plants, fertilizer doses and every medication or new product. Deaths usually trace back to a change in the days before, and a log makes it quick to find. Log a death as a livestock loss with its cause; when you ask the Advisor, it sees the loss in your journal next to the water changes and fertilizing before it. Note berried females and the first shrimplets as well – they are a good sign the tank suits your shrimp.