Should I buy it?
Cherry Shrimp
Neocaridina davidi
Typical trade / ID note: Neocaridina davidi (red colour line)
Also known as: red cherry shrimp, rcs, sakura shrimp, fire red shrimp, Red cherry shrimp, RCS, Sakura shrimp, Fire red shrimp
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on typical aquarium care sources; details may vary between setups. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
The hobby's gateway shrimp. Cheap, hardy, breeds for free in a planted nano. Anything with a mouth eats them. Plan a species-only or shrimp-safe community before buying.
Best for
Planted nano tanks 20L or more, species-only or with small confirmed shrimp-safe fish. A self-sustaining beginner colony.
Avoid if
Your tank holds any fish over 4 cm, cichlids, loaches, or anything with a predatory record.
Top things that go wrong
- Shrimp & snails. Compatible with snails. Will interbreed back to wild brown if mixed with other Neocaridina colour lines (blue dream, yellow, etc.).
Common mistakeAdding cherry shrimp to a community tank because they're 'peaceful'. Most fish eat shrimplets immediately and juveniles during moults.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Buying three for a fresh tank. A new cycle has no biofilm and three shrimp die over a fortnight. A mature tank with grazing surface settles a colony of ten within a week.
- 2.Treating ich with copper-based medication in the same tank. The shrimp die before the symptoms clear. Quarantine fish in a separate tank for treatment or use shrimp-safe products.
- 3.Three rules. No copper, ever (skip copper-based snail killers and most ich meds). Mature tank with biofilm, never a fresh cycle. Ten or more to start a colony, not three for colour. A pair on day one is a slow death; a colony is a self-sustaining feature.
About this species
Cherry shrimp are the easiest breeding shrimp in the freshwater hobby. A colony of ten in a planted 20L turns into thirty over three months without intervention. Females are larger and redder, males smaller and clearer. Wild-type Neocaridina is brown, so a tank that drifts brown over years is reverting, not dying.
- Blue Dream Shrimp20L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Malaysian Trumpet Snail20L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Nerite Snail20L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Assassin Snail30L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Amano Shrimp40L min · same group, similar adult size
- Ghost Shrimp40L min · same group, similar adult size
- Mystery Snail40L min · same group, similar adult size
- Bamboo Shrimp80L min · same fish family
- Amano Shrimpalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Assassin Snailalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Beckford Pencilfishalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Black Neon Tetraalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Bloodfin tetraalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Blue Dream Shrimpalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Beckford Pencilfish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Clown Killifish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Malaysian Trumpet Snail tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Mystery Snail tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease82
- Peacefulness90
- Community fit82
- Small-tank fit100
- Hardiness76
- Energy54
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
Rough 90L+ layout: one calm centrepiece, 8–12 small tetras/rasboras, 6–8 corydoras-type bottom fish — verify every name in the pair checker before buying.
Safe directions on file include: Otocinclus, Amano Shrimp, Nerite Snail.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Cherry Shrimp against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Cherry Shrimp + Otocinclus
- Try Otocinclus — open the pair check.
- Try Amano Shrimp — open the pair check.
- Try Nerite Snail — open the pair check.
- Try Corydoras Catfish — open the pair check.
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Cherry Shrimp is peaceful in mixed company.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- Sudden crowding
- Poor water quality
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper, but individuals can still test fins under stress or in a crowded tank.
Predation: Not a predator toward similarly-sized community fish. The usual community caveats about mouth size still apply for very small fry or shrimp.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still claims a working area in the tank. Give it room to settle without overlapping the next species' patch.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Moderate pacing — not hyperactive, not motionless.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Low listed risk — still watch new introductions.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
medium
Diet
omnivore
Mixed diet: a quality flake or pellet as the staple, with frozen or live foods two or three times a week.
Shrimp & snails
Compatible with snails. Will interbreed back to wild brown if mixed with other Neocaridina colour lines (blue dream, yellow, etc.).
Ten or more to start a colony. A pair or trio rarely breeds visibly and stays a sad accent until predation thins them out.
Breeding behaviour depends on the species. Research before you buy a mixed-sex group of this fish.
- A tank that has been running at least eight to twelve weeks with stable parameters and visible biofilm.
- TDS meter or hardness test kit, not just a pH strip. Cherries care more about TDS swings than pH band.
- Ten or more shrimp from the same source on the same day to start a colony.
- No copper-based meds in the cabinet. Read the label on any treatment you have.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 20L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 10 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 18–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
Explore and stocking hubs
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
Filtration & heating
A 20L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 80L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 18–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Cherry Shrimp does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 18–28°C and pH 6.5–8:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: medium · 2 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Aquarium Co-Op. Cherry Shrimp Care Guide
Primary: retailer care page covering tank size, water parameters, breeding, and sensitivity to copper and ammonia.
- Seriously Fish. Neocaridina davidi
Secondary: species reference. Note Seriously Fish still uses the older epithet 'denticulata' on some pages; current valid name is N. davidi.
Evidence notes
- Cherry shrimp tolerate a wide pH and hardness band but breed best around pH 7.0 to 7.6 with stable TDS. Sudden TDS swings during water changes are a common moult-failure cause.
- Selectively bred colour lines (fire red, painted fire red) are more sensitive than mixed-line shop cherries. A first colony from a generic source is forgiving; a high-grade line will demand more discipline on chemistry.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.