Table of Contents
Overview
Cherry shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda), also known simply as cherry shrimp, are native to Taiwan, and their bright red color gives them real beauty. Although they can reproduce in freshwater, most of the shrimp available in shops today are bred in captivity. Red cherry shrimps can be both large and small freshwater shrimps that you can integrate into your aquarium.
They are small and decorative freshwater shrimps, but they are active and exciting to watch. Here are a few tips and tricks to grow them in your aquarium.
Since the 1990s, these adorable shrimps have been introduced to the freshwater aquarium trade after a new freshwater shrimp species was introduced from Taiwan. The wild Neocaridina davidi, native to the waters of Taiwan, was bred selectively because of its color and appearance and its swimming ability.
In 2003, these shrimps started to be imported into the US, and their popularity grew even more as people loved their red color. They are very popular because they eat seaweed and are very lovable and because people love them because of the red color of the cherry shrimp.
Neocaridina davidi is the current scientific name for this species. Still, it was initially listed as Neocara davidis, a cherry shrimp species from the Pacific Ocean off South America. They are the same species and the only two species of Neocephala and the second most common species on the planet.
Cherry Shrimp Water Parameters
For the dedicated aquarium lover, keeping red cherry shrimps is relatively simple, and there are no stable water parameters. They can be held in the aquarium as long as the aquarium in which they are kept has stable parameters, avoids harmful elements, feeds them with high-quality food, and only contains acceptable aquarium partners.
Once a certain number is determined, it is much more critical than temperature, and water hardness remains stable. If the cherry red shrimp is stable, they can thrive in the aquarium, but only if you have the right conditions for it, such as a good food source and right aquarium partners.
Avoid Copper
Shrimps in aquariums cannot be treated with medicines containing copper or other toxic substances such as mercury, arsenic, lead, or lead.
Many medicines that treat fish against parasites, such as marsh, copper mint, and seachem, would be fatal for shrimps. High amounts of copper and tin are highly toxic to shrimps, and even small amounts of copper can cause serious health problems for fish.
It should not be stressed that copper is listed as an ingredient in liquids, fertilizers, and even food. It is needed as a nutrient for animals and plants in trace amounts, and some products contain only traces of copper, which, if used correctly, is not sufficient to harm shrimps.
Cherry Shrimp Feeding
Feeding red cherry shrimp is not difficult at all, and it is one of the most popular shrimp species in the world, with a variety of flavors and textures.
The diet includes various fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, and other edible plants, and they can also contain edible plant substances that come from living aquarium plants. Cherry shrimps are also algae eaters, which feed on soft green and brown algae that grow on glass tanks’ sides. As algae eaters, cherry shrimps can withstand the hard surfaces on which they grow and eat.
Red cherry shrimps are excellent scavengers that help keep your tank clean, as are Amano shrimps and nite snails.
Their small size means that they do not consume as much as larger tank cleaners, so they should not be considered miracle workers for tank cleaning. Keeping cherry shrimp and other species in a clean pool is no substitute for the proper pool maintenance, but consider them as pets in their own right.
Cherry Shrimp & Live Plants
The Red Cherry Basin is about half the size, provided that the rules against overfilling are observed. The tank should contain as many live aquarium plants as possible, but not more than 2 – 3 per tank, provided you specify the number of aquariums.
For the shrimp, it is essential to have many places to crawl and explore and access to food and water in the Red Cherry Basin and other parts of the basin.
The value of an aquarium with live plants is that the tank is never too clean and provides a great hiding place and shelter for the shrimps.
The plants release edible material that finds its way into the water column and onto hard surfaces that the shrimps can eat. An aquarium with red cherries should also have a sponge filter that catches small food scraps and cleans the shrimps for hours. It is also a good idea to keep an air stone in the tank that pumps bubbles into the water and out of the water that keeps it moving.
Breeding Cherry Shrimp
Even small fish like guppies and tetras eat tiny shrimps when they get a chance, so keeping shrimps usually works pretty well. One thing should not be forgotten: if you give them the conditions they need to thrive, they will be happy to provide you with lots of babies.
To maximize your shrimp farming, you should keep your tank for this species only and give them a thick plant cover to hide to become fish you cannot eat.
Preparing for Breeding
Some say you need to raise the temperature; others advise keeping it low for as long as possible. Cherry shrimp don’t need to be prepared for farming, so you have the conditions you need to make them thrive, and that’s a good thing.
Female shrimps are more extensive than male shrimps of the same age, and male shrimps are less colorful than females. Once the shrimp are fully grown, the sex determination is quite simple, except for a few small differences in color, but not much else.
Males have a slimmer body style, and their bellies are much thinner than their hind abdomens, but not as healthy as the female shrimp.
A female preparing for breeding develops a saddle from which an egg is carried to fertilization and then to the eggs.
It is shaped like the saddle on the back of a horse and hits the stomach, about the head of the horse’s size and shape. The saddle is filled with unfertilized eggs that are then transferred from her ovary to the female’s ovaries.
The Breeding Process
As soon as they molt, their bodies begin to repel the pheromones that attract the man’s pelvis. The female starts to carry eggs in the saddle but is fertilized only with the next molting.
The actual mating process takes less than a second, and the male repeatedly charges at the female and fertilizes her. After fertilization, she will pass the egg through her ovaries to her abdomen’s underside and pass it on to him.
It looks like a tiny cluster, but the developing egg is bright yellow, and the female is said to be buried. The female carries the egg, holds it, fanned it out, and it is said that it is buried at a depth of about 2 cm below the water surface.
The babies hatch from the egg into the neocaridina, a higher-order shrimp, and then into the adult shrimp.
Conclusion
Cherry Shrimp is really cute and so interesting to look at, and I have many positive things to say about it, from its personality to it’s looking to the fact that It is so cute.
It seems to have Its little world in the pool and is an excellent clean-up team; it is like a community pool filled with tiny fish. It’s ideal for cleaning, and it seems to have her little worlds in its tank.
It will eat all uneaten food, even fish chops and even some of Its body parts like head, tail, and tail.
Growing cherry shrimp is easy and rewarding, and I highly recommend them; they are a great beginner shrimp for aquarists. Just think, these tiny shrimps need even more protection than adults; think of them as tank friends, which is more than enough. You can also buy them at your local grocery store for a fraction of the purchase cost and redeem your savings.
