Red Cherry Shrimp “Neocardinia davidi” – Breeding – Detailed Version

Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of interest in keeping dwarf shrimp in the home, usually planted, aquarium. It is rewarding, fun, and beneficial for the planted tank. However, you will soon find yourself wanting to explore more exotic and common varieties. The Red Cherry Shrimp, Neocardinia davidi, var., is a popular and inexpensive choice for beginners. red.

Red Cherry Shrimp Characteristics

Red Cherry Shrimp reach about 4 cm (1.6 inches). They prefer clean water with an PH of 6.5 to 8.0 and a temperature range of 14-30 degrees C (57-86). However, they are more comfortable at room temperatures of around 72 degrees. They are omnivores, and live up to 1-2 years in optimal conditions. Make sure you keep copper-containing food, supplements, and chemicals out your shrimp tank.

Fortunately, Red Cherry shrimp adapt to a wide variety of conditions in the hobby aquarium. They can be kept in a desktop aquarium with as little as 2 gallons, but 8-12 gallons will allow for a more active colony, more breeding, and a livelier population. The shrimp love hiding places and plants so frill plants are important. This is especially important after molting when shrimp are most vulnerable. They are also ravenous about eating the film of algae and micro-organisms that form on plant leaves, spending hours grooming their favorites. Shrimp love to hide in mosses and groom them, whether they are in a clump, tied onto rocks or wood.

Red Cherry Shrimp Grades

Red Cherry Shrimp come in many grades, ranging from deep red to pale colors. The females are most colorful and sensitive to the background and color of the substrate. If they are kept in tanks with light substrate they can become transparent or pale. In a tank with darker substrate, they take on a fuller, redder, coloration. The type of food, water pH, temperature, quality, and other factors affect the intensity of the color.

Excellent for Planted Tanks

Dwarf shrimp LOVE planted tanks. They love hiding places, the plants they produce, and the water chemistry they provide. It is important to determine what your goals are with Red Cherry Shrimp. Do you want to raise one colony of adult shrimps or increase the number? There are many nano fish that will coexist with adult shrimp, but will also eat newly hatched babies. Even smaller danios, rasbora or tetras might eat babies. For this reason, it is vital to have mosses and other hiding places; or even some of the cute bamboo shrimp hotels that can easily be covered with moss. Because they clean up the debris and don’t cause damage to shrimp, smaller snails can be a great addition to the shrimp tank. The best rule for fish is to keep only fish that get no larger than about 3/4 ” as adults (chili rasboras, etc.) Or none.

Red Cherry Shrimp are non-aggressive and active during both the day and night. You can often see them eating algae and grazing on gravel. They also mate with other shrimp, and they move from one plant to the next during the day. The shrimp will periodically shed its exoskeleton and leave a husk around the plant. It is important not to remove this, because the shrimp will consume it and replenish needed minerals. Female Red Cherry Shrimp tend to hide in the dark when it is close to spawning time and, if startled, may abandon their eggs. The more hiding places and the safer the shrimp feels, the more likely they will lay a full clutch of eggs. One can tell the gender of a Red Cherry Shrimp by looking at their size and color. Males are usually smaller and more colorful. The yellowish saddles on the backs of females are eggs in development. It is almost impossible for Juvenile Red Cherry Shrimp to have sex with until they grow larger and are able to show color.

Breeding Red Cherry Shrimp

It is actually fairly simple to breed Red Cherry Shrimp in the home aquarium if one pays attention to three major steps: 1) Inducing breeding, 2) Ensuring health and comfort while carrying the eggs, and 3) Raising the young. You can induce breeding by maintaining stable water conditions. Shrimp need a regular food source, with higher protein foods (Repashy, Shrimp Cuisine, Fish poo, etc.) They should be fed regularly but in a very limited quantity. It takes the shrimp about 3-5 months to begin breeding, with the female most susceptible to the male’s advances just after molting. The female then hides in the water and releases pheromones that attract males to her. After breeding, the female will transport the eggs beneath her, fanning them and moving them around for about 30 day. The baby shrimp are tiny, exact replicas of adults but much smaller. It is important to make sure there are no predators in the tank because most will easily consume a newborn shrimp. Shrimp caves, live moss, and shrimp caves can help baby shrimp hide from predators. They also provide microfauna for their growth.

Feeding Red Cherry Shrimp

It is simple to feed your Red Cherry Shrimp. Like many omnivores, they love variety. They will eat most any aquarium food but love shrimp pellets, algae wafers, blanched vegetables (zucchini, carrots, etc. ), or one of the more exotic foods on the market. It is also a good idea to use some Zoo Med Plankton Banquet blocks in the tank. This helps to keep shrimp active and supplies spirulina as well as other essential minerals, especially calcium.

Cholla Wood, Catappa leaves, and Cholla Wood are also great sources of food. As bacteria breaks them down, the shrimp can eat the bacteria. Some shrimp enthusiasts claim that adding a little natural bee honey weekly to their breeding system improves the quality of their eggs. Others love the Repashy Foods which is 45% protein and a great meal for shrimp, crab, crayfish, and snails. The key to feeding shrimp is MODERATION. It’s easy to overfeed shrimp. This can lead to a very unhealthy environment. Keep in mind that shrimp are small and do not need much food per day. Many successful shrimp keepers even suggest that you feed only every other day, or at least put no food into the tank one day per week. Depending on the amount of shrimp and snails you have, some recommend that you remove any food left behind after two to three hours.

There are many varieties and types of dwarf shrimp. Due to interbreeding, not all of the dwarf shrimp can be placed in one tank. You can enjoy these lively little creatures while they hunt for food or tend to their plant garden if you simply follow a few easy steps.