Yellow Shrimp
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Cherry Shrimp
Neocaridina Heteropod
General Overview
The Red Cherry Shrimp “Neocaridina heteropoda” is without a doubt the go to shrimp in the aquarium hobby. The Cherry Shrimp’s easy ability to breed and live in many different water parameters without much intervention has lead to its popularity. If you are a new shrimp hobbyist this is the go to shrimp due to its low demanding requirements. It is the building block for a shrimp hobbyist to learn about freshwater aquarium shrimp. Learn the ways of the cherry shrimp and you will slowly master the aquarium shrimp hobby.
Shrimp Information
Scientific Name: Neocaridina heteropoda
Other Scientific Names: Neocaridina denticulata sinensis
Common Name: Red Cherry Shrimp
Other Common Names: Cherry Shrimp, Cherry Red Shrimp, RCS
Origin: Taiwan
Found in the wild: No
| PH Range: 6.2 – 8.0 Temperature Range: 65 – 85 Hardness Range:3 – 15 dkh Life Span: 1 – 2 years Gestation Period: 30 days |
Ideal pH: 7.2 Ideal Temperature: 75 Ideal Hardness: 8 dkh Size: Approx. 1/2″ Diet: Omnivore |
Background and Origin
As most dwarf shrimp the cherry shrimp is a selectively bred species. This color variation was originally bred in Germany by a keeper that is unknown to the world. The unknown keeper slowly bred the red trait out of the wild Neocaridina Heteropoda to achieve the all red coloration we see today. This color variation started to appear in The United States in the late 1990’s.
Notice the light red coloration of the wild type shrimp pictured above. Also notice the green saddle that is lightly shown in this wild type. Now you can see where the Red Cherry Shrimp we know today gets it colors.
Water Parameters
The Red Cherry Shrimp is non demanding when it comes to its water parameters. They can be kept in pH levels as low as 5.6 as recorded in Japan in the early 1990’s, however it is recommended to keep these freshwater dwarf shrimp in a pH range of 6.2-8.0. They can be kept in both soft or hard water. Temperatures are not an issue with these shrimp however they should be kept within a range of 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit. They have been recorded living perfectly fine in temperatures ranging as low as 62 degrees Fahrenheit. The cherry shrimp is popular in keeping within the planted aquarium hobby in regards to this well know fact it should be brought to attention to all new shrimp hobbyist that metals such as copper are very deadly to any aquarium invertebrates including the red cherry shrimp.
Diet/Feeding
The cherry shrimp is also low demanding when it comes to its diet/feeding requirements. Red Cherry Shrimp are considered omnivores. That means they will eat both plant matter as well as meaty foods. When keeping Red Cherry Shrimp in the aquarium the three most common foods are algae, blanched vegetable, and prepared aquarium foods. Supplemental feeding is often not necessary, but when it is be sure not to over feed the aquarium as this leads to poor water quality.
Algae is a natural food source for Red Cherry Shrimp. They will eat many types of algae found in the aquarium, and often times, the algae found naturally in aquariums is enough food to support a moderate Cherry Red Shrimp population. Unfortunately they will not eat string / hair algae so they are not a good control measure for those types of algae.
Blanched vegetables make an excellent food for Red Cherry Shrimp. Vegetables such as Zucchini, Lettuce, Spinach, and Carrots are commonly used. When preparing these vegetables, place them in boiling water until they are soft, 2-3 minutes for leafy vegetables and longer for carrots and zucchini. Small amounts of each should be fed at a time and make sure never to leave rotting food in the aquarium. It is often recommended to use a glass petri dish to feed aquarium shrimp as it will make cleaning up leaf over food a ease.
Breeding
The Cherry Shrimp is well known for being extremely prolific, meaning that they breed almost non stop. It is not unheard of for a group of 4-8 shrimp to multiply into a colony of 20-40 in a matter of a months time. A healthy colony of shrimp will have its females pregnant constantly. The typical time frame from pregnancy to birth is 35-45 days. When looking at a pregnant female you will know she is about to give birth when small black spots appear on her clutch of eggs. These small black spots are the eyes of the soon to be newly born shrimp. This is very easy to spot and will give you a time frame of a few days to birth. Females have also been known to have a emergence of a new saddle when the female still has eggs that have yet to hatch. The emergence of the saddle is the indication that the female is prepared to have a new set of eggs and that the current eggs are close to hatching out.
Sexing
Sexing cherry shrimp is not as easy as many sites often publish. Females are larger than males and will have a saddle which is the common name for eggs which are still in the ovaries, located behind the head on the top. It is most common to see females with yellow saddles, however they may have green saddles as well. Eggs can be both yellow or green and having one is not better than the other. It does not indicate a healthy shrimp or higher quality shrimp. It is simply sometimes green sometimes yellow we believe their diet has a large role in the color, however we have no scientific information to back this up.
Aquarium Inverts 