Neocaridina Care

Howdy y’all!
I’m going to be setting up my own neocaridina tank pretty soon, and I’m so excited!! I’ve done a lot of research, but I want to hear from y’all about how to care for these little guys, because everyone knows experience is better than any care sheet.
What do y’all’s set ups look like?
What do y’all feed them?
What pH do y’all raise them in?
Plant recommendations?
What should I expect and watch out for when I first get it set up?
How readily will they breed?
If any of y’all wanna just do an info dump or share fun stories raising these little guys I’d love to read it!
Thanks in advanced

 

I've been keeping them for a couple weeks now, and they are very hardy little things.

Setup is pretty bad right now plant/appearance wise, just a crypt, piece of driftwood in the middle with anubias attached, and an Amazon sword. Unfortunately all these plants are covered in BBA. Tank size is 29 gallons. Aquaclear 50 HOB and a 40 gallon sponge filter with an airpump attached.
I haven't fed them yet due to there only being 9 and most are babies, but when I do it will be with algae wafers, shrimp pellets and fresh vegetables.
ph is 8.2, but IMO gh and kh is more important. Gh is 12 and kh is 7-8.
Fast growing plants, mosses, stem plants, leafy plants, really anything.
Watch out for obvious signs of disease. Shrimp don't carry disease as often as fish (unless you import them from industrial shrimp farms). Drip acclimate, it will help.
I haven't really seen any breeding going on, but it's mainly because there are only 2 shrimp that are even fairly big and both are males. The rest are very small babies/juveniles. I'd say if you keep everything right they should breed.

 

I've been keeping them for a couple weeks now, and they are very hardy little things.

Setup is pretty bad right now plant/appearance wise, just a crypt, piece of driftwood in the middle with anubias attached, and an Amazon sword. Unfortunately all these plants are covered in BBA. Tank size is 29 gallons. Aquaclear 50 HOB and a 40 gallon sponge filter with an airpump attached.
I haven't fed them yet due to there only being 9 and most are babies, but when I do it will be with algae wafers, shrimp pellets and fresh vegetables.
ph is 8.2, but IMO gh and kh is more important. Gh is 12 and kh is 7-8.
Fast growing plants, mosses, stem plants, leafy plants, really anything.
Watch out for obvious signs of disease. Shrimp don't carry disease as often as fish (unless you import them from industrial shrimp farms). Drip acclimate, it will help.
I haven't really seen any breeding going on, but it's mainly because there are only 2 shrimp that are even fairly big and both are males. The rest are very small babies/juveniles. I'd say if you keep everything right they should breed.

How do I measure gh and kh?
Thanks so much for the info!

 

How do I measure gh and kh?
Thanks so much for the info!

A separate test kit. Api sells then. People also measure TDS, but unless your tap water changes seasonally or your mixing ro water I don't see the point of it. So just pick up a gh and kh kit. No problem, if you have any more questions I'll try my best to answer them.

 

A cycled filter or two is essential for any new shrimp tank if you want them to survive long enough to breed in my opinion. While they are as tough as old boots in many ways they don’t like any ammonia from what I have seen.
Accidentally i have them outside in fire buckets of old tank water. They survive a summer water temperature of 40 degrees centigrade and ice on the water in winter. But any ammonia will kill quickly.
An established tank is often more stable.
Constant water changes each week are not an issue with my water and my shrimp.
I have tried small water changes a month apart but did not get as good a result as treating them like a fish tank with MY normal 45% water change at least once a week. Most of my shrimp now swim in fish tanks or fry tanks and a doing ok with multiple water changes each week.

The couple of shrimp ONLY tanks I have get food almost every day but only a pinch . I do not clean the side or back panels of glass in any tanks.

I started with 5 cherry shrimp and now have many hundreds . I use them as live food . I put them in all fry tanks including fry that grow into hunters like apistogramma and gourami.
I find them everywhere they are in pest numbers. A nice pest that I save from water change buckets if I see them .

I believe they do not breed until around 6 momths of age but will drop young continuously given a little fresh food including vegetables and stable water parameters. I personally believe stable water parameters are achieved by regular water changes.

 

1. Neocaridinas like fairly hard water and high pH. My pH is 8.2, and mine are thriving. I don't make any attempts to change my water parameters. I have no idea what my gh and kh are, though I have no doubt it's a good thing to know.
2. I'd recommend only sponge filters in shrimp tanks. If you want to use a HOB you need to add an intake sponge to keep the young shrimp from getting sucked up into it.
3. Your chances for success are greater if you let a tank "age" for several months before adding the shrimp. They constantly graze on biofilm, and there isn't any in new tanks.
4. I usually feed mine commercial shrimp food, but they'll eat pretty much anything fish eat. If you have pest snails they'll swarm all over one that's freshly crushed, and most people say it's a good idea to feed them blanched vegetables once or twice per week. Mine are especially fond of zucchini and spinach.
5. As stated above, shrimp are more sensitive to changes in water parameters than most fish, so smaller water changes are generally best. I rarely do more than 20%, and while exact temperature matching isn't critical, you certainly don't want it to be off by much. Of course the larger the water change is the more important it is to match it as close as possible.
6. They benefit from hiding places, like dense plants (Java moss or pearl weed are good choices), or piles of rocks sized so that the shrimp can get inside.
7. Sand is a good substrate, but choose the color according to the color of the shrimp you plan to get. Red shrimp look good on dark substrate, but blue ones will blend in on it, so lighter is better for them.

 

1. Neocaridinas like fairly hard water and high pH. My pH is 8.2, and mine are thriving. I don't make any attempts to change my water parameters. I have no idea what my gh and kh are, though I have no doubt it's a good thing to know.
2. I'd recommend only sponge filters in shrimp tanks. If you want to use a HOB you need to add an intake sponge to keep the young shrimp from getting sucked up into it.
3. Your chances for success are greater if you let a tank "age" for several months before adding the shrimp. They constantly graze on biofilm, and there isn't any in new tanks.
4. I usually feed mine commercial shrimp food, but they'll eat pretty much anything fish eat. If you have pest snails they'll swarm all over one that's freshly crushed, and most people say it's a good idea to feed them blanched vegetables once or twice per week. Mine are especially fond of zucchini and spinach.
5. As stated above, shrimp are more sensitive to changes in water parameters than most fish, so smaller water changes are generally best. I rarely do more than 20%, and while exact temperature matching isn't critical, you certainly don't want it to be off by much. Of course the larger the water change is the more important it is to match it as close as possible.
6. They benefit from hiding places, like dense plants (Java moss or pearl weed are good choices), or piles of rocks sized so that the shrimp can get inside.
7. Sand is a good substrate, but choose the color according to the color of the shrimp you plan to get. Red shrimp look good on dark substrate, but blue ones will blend in on it, so lighter is better for them.

Thank you for the advice!
In regards to using an aged tank, I just got a brand new tank but was going to transfer water/decorations/plants/filters from my established community tank when setting it up. Should I still let it run for a few months, or because everything inside is already “aged,” should it be okay?

 

I have my own opinion on the answer to the question “ should I still let it run for a few months “ even when using decorations/ plants / and very dirty old filters. I have been told I am wrong but continue to see the results of adding a handful (8 ish ) of cherry shrimp into a tank that was dry 5 minutes ago.
I have scruffy looking plants in established terracotta pots , old wood ,old sand substrate, old leaf litter, old gravel that’s mostly in the top of the terracotta pot, established floating plants and most importantly very established old sponge filters. ( Not the water )
I set a tank up the day before yesterday using all of the inhabitants of a similar sized tank. The older tank now has a pair of apistogramma.
While I admit the cherry shrimp had not breed in the last month or if they had the endlers used them as live food. I removed a good number of shrimp along with one BN pleco fry and 20 odd endler fry and a few pest snails.

At the risk of being told I am wrong and I am offering dangerous advice to new shrimp keeper I will continue to hold the belief and suggest.

If you have VERY established sponge filters (x2 & dirty) ) ,old established ornaments, old established pot plants, old established wood, old leaf litter, old established bark, old floating plants, old substrate, but not the water. You can add cherry shrimp to a tank that was dry five minutes ago.

For anyone that saw this new dry tank I set up a month ago I have since added a light.

Like any advice freshwaterninja you need to use your own judgment .

 

75 gal cherry shrimp only tank!

I feed algae wafer, fish food, fruits and vegetables

pH 7.8

Java moss is the best plant for them IMO

They breed like guppies but they are more sensitive to ammonia so gotta keep the water clean

 

I have my own opinion on the answer to the question “ should I still let it run for a few months “ even when using decorations/ plants / and very dirty old filters. I have been told I am wrong but continue to see the results of adding a handful (8 ish ) of cherry shrimp into a tank that was dry 5 minutes ago.
I have scruffy looking plants in established terracotta pots , old wood ,old sand substrate, old leaf litter, old gravel that’s mostly in the top of the terracotta pot, established floating plants and most importantly very established old sponge filters. ( Not the water )
I set a tank up the day before yesterday using all of the inhabitants of a similar sized tank. The older tank now has a pair of apistogramma.
While I admit the cherry shrimp had not breed in the last month or if they had the endlers used them as live food. I removed a good number of shrimp along with one BN pleco fry and 20 odd endler fry and a few pest snails.

At the risk of being told I am wrong and I am offering dangerous advice to new shrimp keeper I will continue to hold the belief and suggest.

If you have VERY established sponge filters (x2 & dirty) ) ,old established ornaments, old established pot plants, old established wood, old leaf litter, old established bark, old floating plants, old substrate, but not the water. You can add cherry shrimp to a tank that was dry five minutes ago.

For anyone that saw this new dry tank I set up a month ago I have since added a light. View attachment 753181
Like any advice freshwaterninja you need to use your own judgment .

Thank you for all of the insightful info! What do you classify as “very old,” and why do you specifically say not the water?

 

A sponge filter is generally considered seeded / cycled in 3 or 4 weeks minimum. But for the purpose of providing one of the food sources for cherry shrimp it should be at least twice that in my opinion. Depending on the stocking in the donation tank and how much you are feeding/ over feeding it may not have much in the way of biofilm/ algae/ Infusorea on it.

Tank water contains very little or no bacteria.No bacteria live in the water. Yes some are always moving around in the water. It is generally understood there is no such thing as cycled water.
As the shrimp are going to need to be acclimated to your house water from shop water there is no time saved by using old water.
The point is always to remember very little or no bacteria live in the water

When moving fish or shrimp from one of your own tanks to another tank on your house water using the old water it makes sense to safe time and use most of the old water. Just because the shrimp/ fish are already in those parameters.

 

Flyfisha
Interesting! A few years ago, I set up a 10g Planted Shrimp tank, as you mentioned it was highly recommended to have a mature/seasoned tank. It was successful, but... the time and patience it took was rough.



freshwaterninja
Just remember "Every Tank is different as a Fingerprint"

Good Luck!

 

A sponge filter is generally considered seeded / cycled in 3 or 4 weeks minimum. But for the purpose of providing one of the food sources for cherry shrimp it should be at least twice that in my opinion. Depending on the stocking in the donation tank and how much you are feeding/ over feeding it may not have much in the way of biofilm/ algae/ Infusorea on it.

Tank water contains very little or no bacteria.No bacteria live in the water. Yes some are always moving around in the water. It is generally understood there is no such thing as cycled water.
( yes I watch LRBs channel if that is were this is coming from)
As the shrimp are going to need to be acclimated to your house water from shop water there is no time saved by using old water.
The point is always to remember very little or no bacteria live in the water

When moving fish or shrimp from one of your own tanks to another tank on your house water using the old water it makes sense to safe time and use most of the old water. Just because the shrimp/ fish are already in those parameters.

That makes sense, thanks so much! So my seven month old tank should be mature enough to pull decorations and plants from?

 

Yes that’s a good amount of time.
When offering advice it’s always difficult to use a word like mature because it means something different to each of us .
I think we can safely say as long as you have never pulled your ornaments out and washed them under tap water after 7 months they are mature?

 

Yes that’s a good amount of time.
When offering advice it’s always difficult to use a word like mature because it means something different to each of us .
I think we can safely say as long as you have never pulled your ornaments out and washed them under tap water after 7 months they are mature?

In my research, I’ve seen other people on this forum recommend Bacter AE. Do you, or I guess anyone reading this, have any experience with it? Does it eliminate the need for a mature tank, does it speed up the process, is it useless, is it just a supplement, etc. etc.?

 

I do not use Bacter AE . It’s sold in my town but I always thought it was for the more picky caridina shrimp. Not for cherry shrimp ( neocaridina) that started in the hobby as a live food culture for cichlids.

BacterAE can’t do any harm, can it?
There are others that us it for any shrimp.

 

I do not use Bacter AE . It’s sold in my town but I always thought it was for the more picky caridina shrimp. Not for cherry shrimp ( neocaridina) that started in the hobby as a live food culture for cichlids.

BacterAE can’t do any harm, can it?
There are others that us it for any shrimp.

Alright, thank you so much for all your help! I’ll get it as a food supplement then but I won’t rely on it as a replacement to taking the time to mature the tank.

 

Thank you for the advice!
In regards to using an aged tank, I just got a brand new tank but was going to transfer water/decorations/plants/filters from my established community tank when setting it up. Should I still let it run for a few months, or because everything inside is already “aged,” should it be okay?

I started a shrimp tank with a seasoned filter and plants, and it's thriving now, but I lost more shrimp than I expected to in the first few weeks. So my advice is still to let a tank run for a while before adding the shrimp, but if you don't want to do that then adding plants, decorations, and a filter from an established tank will improve your chances for success.