Quick care card
Use this card as a starting point. Always check whether your aquarium is stable enough for sensitive species.
Difficulty
Easy
Behavior
Grazes surfaces; shelter remains necessary.
Feeding
Check added food and food on grazing surfaces.
Breeding
Freshwater development; colour consistency is not guaranteed.
Best match
Keepers able to follow the selected strain and colony
Important
Colour is not a health test. During sudden behavioural change or losses, first check water quality, oxygen provision and recent additions.
Care in practice
Aquarium Co-Op gives 22-24 °C as a practical husbandry preference, pH 6.5-8.5, GH at least 6 °dH and KH at least 2 °dH. This is hobby guidance, not an experiment establishing every combination or limit as safe. Record source-water and aquarium temperature, GH, KH and pH and compare with the actual stock. Suitable tap water may suffice; RO and minerals are not automatic requirements. Do not substitute TDS for these measurements.
Before stocking, establish functioning biological filtration, protected intakes, shelter and accessible grazing surfaces. Choose floor space and water volume for the growing colony and maintenance. Elapsed weeks or clear water do not demonstrate readiness. Dark substrate can change perceived colour but cannot replace suitable housing.
Offer suitable shrimp food and check which animals reach it. Grazing behaviour or existing algae does not demonstrate complete nutrition. Adjust quantity and frequency to the colony, uptake and leftovers; remove decay. Young shrimp also need food access. Protein is a nutrient, not inherently a cause of moulting problems.
Keep an observable group appropriate to the available space. Breeding requires both sexes; ten randomly chosen animals do not guarantee them. Sudden changes in activity call for checks, not a diagnosis based on colour or hiding alone.
Many fish can eat juveniles, including small or supposedly peaceful species. A fish-free aquarium simplifies following offspring. N. davidi colour lines can mix; keep a known strain separate if the pattern matters. Mixed colours do not predict a fixed proportion of brown, red or blue offspring.
Females carry eggs under the abdomen. Young appear as miniature shrimp without a separate saline rearing phase. UF/IFAS describes this direct development. Check growth and food access and protect intakes. An egg-carrying female does not establish a successful colony. House differently coloured offspring appropriately too, and never release them outside.
Buying a high grade as a health guarantee; chasing only TDS; treating algae as complete nutrition; maintaining a fixed small water change during pollution; using copper medication without assessing suitability and dose. Copper risk depends on exposure and water chemistry; a trace element on a plant-fertiliser label does not automatically predict mortality.
Background and identification
Neocaridina davidi is an Asian freshwater species; the red shrimp discussed here are aquarium selections. A colour trade name does not identify the country where an offered animal was bred. Ask about the actual strain.
Useful visible distinctions include red coverage and translucent areas, especially when comparing mature animals. Females are generally fuller and often more strongly coloured. One colour photograph cannot establish sex or health with certainty.
Comparing red grades
| Trade name | Usual meaning |
|---|---|
| Red Cherry | Red, often with translucent areas. |
| Sakura Red | Selected for greater red coverage. |
| Fire Red | Usually strong red body coverage. |
| Painted Fire Red | Often opaque red, including the legs. |
These names overlap and vary between sellers. The table describes trade usage, not an official quality standard. Compare mature groups and the actual offered animals, including males, under similar lighting. Greater coverage does not establish better health or different water requirements. The red grades are grouped here because their care question is the same.
Bloody Mary is a different trade line with its own origin account. Other profiles compare blue forms, Rili patterns and Yellow Neon and Golden Back. Colour alone cannot establish the ancestry of unknown stock.
Continue with the beginner guide or water decision guide.
Sources and review
Sources for accepted names, classification and synonyms.
- UF/IFAS: Cherry shrimp, Neocaridina davidi
Identity, direct freshwater development, grazing and colour forms; laboratory timing is not promised for every aquarium.
Sources for water values, temperature and stable care.
- Aquarium Co-Op: Cherry shrimp care
Own husbandry guidance and tankmate experience. Its 22-24 C, pH 6.5-8.5, GH at least 6 and KH at least 2 are attributed practice guidance, not experimentally proven universal safe limits. No guaranteed sex ratio, mandatory mineral addition or fish safety adopted.
Practical sources for setup, feeding, behavior and breeding.
- Garnelenhaus: Neocaridina grades
Different grading vocabulary for red coverage in international and German-speaking trade. Grade is not a welfare, health or hardiness measure.
- Garnelenhaus: Neocaridina colour lines and reported crosses
Named hobby breeding observations, including variable offspring. No universal Mendelian ratios, guaranteed line purity or certainty of mixed-species ancestry adopted.
- LICG: Zoetwatergarnaal
General freshwater shrimp care; broad guidance is not a species-specific diagnosis.
- UF/IFAS: Ammonia in Aquatic Systems
Nitrogen chemistry and biological filtration; fish thresholds are not used as shrimp thresholds.
- US EPA: Aquatic life criteria for copper
Copper risk depends on water chemistry; no single universal aquarium dose inferred.