# Easiest cherry shrimp to care for and breed.



## Paulthewitt (18 Jan 2021)

I’m about ready to order some cherry shrimp so started looking recently- only to find that there are so many types and colours!!!

they need to be cheap - so will be a lower grade. But when looking at red/blue/green/wild/etc...
Are any easier or harder to breed?

I want them live firstly, but also breed. I plan to get a bigger tank so use this as the safe tank to move them over there where there will be a fish population. Hopefully not to be eaten, but I will be less concerned if they are! 

The blue/black /green all look awesome. But if they are more temperamental or tough to breed, I would rather avoid them. Even ‘wild’ is an option if notably easier!


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## Hufsa (19 Jan 2021)

I would pick the color you like the most. If you're gonna struggle with the shrimp you will likely struggle no matter what color they are (they're all pretty inbred poor little sweet things). Might as well get the color you like best to look at 
I guess the lower grade red or wild variety might be the hardiest just based on how long they have been around vs the others, but I feel like thats reaching a bit and not likely a huge difference.
But im open to be corrected by anyone with more experience keeping several kinds at a time, I have only kept red and blue at separate occasions.


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## Nick potts (19 Jan 2021)

Hufsa said:


> I would pick the color you like the most. If you're gonna struggle with the shrimp you will likely struggle no matter what color they are (they're all pretty inbred poor little sweet things). Might as well get the color you like best to look at
> I guess the lower grade red or wild variety might be the hardiest just based on how long they have been around vs the others, but I feel like thats reaching a bit and not likely a huge difference.
> But im open to be corrected by anyone with more experience keeping several kinds at a time, I have only kept red and blue at separate occasions.


You do hear that some colours/grades are less hardy then others and I have always wondered why. My best guess is that the highly inbred strong coloured ones have poor genetics?

As above, pick a colour you like, cherry shrimp are pretty tough little critters as long as there basic requirements are met.


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## tiger15 (19 Jan 2021)

I found the red Cherry hardier and easier to breed than the blue dream.  My red are multiplying but my blue are not and gradually thinning out under the same environmental conditions.  May be it’s just me or I got the lower grade red and higher grade blue to start with.


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## PARAGUAY (19 Jan 2021)

Practical Fishkeeping have a great guide by Gabor Horvath An Introdution to Shrimp  in February issue.


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## Garuf (19 Jan 2021)

I have black rose that I stopped selecting colour lines from because I'm lazy. If you're consistent and your tank parameters don't swing so wildly from tap, they will adapt and reproduce provided there's sufficient higher-protein food. I suspect all cherries except the extremely selected lines like Samurai will just do their thing. I often find 50+ in my filters when I clean them. I've heard blue are the least rabbit like but I started with 20 and have 300+ in the quarentine tank and 100 or so in the 45f and I put 100 in my 45P.  I take around 100 to the pet shop every 6 weeks or so.


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## Paulthewitt (19 Jan 2021)

thanks all - thats helpful.
I'm always doing things on a budget and yes I could wait and save up for better colour, etc.... but then that would mean you know, waiting!
Good to know whatever I choose within reason shouldn't have many issues


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## Nick potts (19 Jan 2021)

Paulthewitt said:


> thanks all - thats helpful.
> I'm always doing things on a budget and yes I could wait and save up for better colour, etc.... but then that would mean you know, waiting!
> Good to know whatever I choose within reason shouldn't have many issues


If you want cheap, take a look on band for some culls


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## zozo (19 Jan 2021)

Cherry Shrimp is the Red variety of the Neocaridina heteropoda. Hence Cherry(red)... 

The other coloured N. heteropoda are actually the very same sp. only a different colour. In theory, they should all be equally easy to breed... I guess this colour difference is selective breeding and maybe in some cases diet-related... There is documentation available about which shrimps sp. do crossbreed and which don't. This you should review if you ever plan to groom multicoloured shrimp populations.

If you put different coloured Neocaridina (or compatible) together you'll finally end up with wild coloured var. that would be brown.


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## tiger15 (19 Jan 2021)

Even though different color Neo shrimp belong to the same species, their hardiness and other attributes are not the same.  This is similar to domesticated angel fish in that silver angles are the hardiest, while black and other exotic strains have higher mortality rate in growing up.  

I notice my red and blue Neo have different hardiness and phenotype.  My red are more hardy and exhibit greater sexual dimorphism in that males are less colorful than females.  My blue, on the other hand, are less hardy and exhibit no sexual dimorphism in color.  So the blue are uniformly colorful in both sex, but less hardy and prolific.


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## Paulthewitt (19 Jan 2021)

Nick potts said:


> If you want cheap, take a look on band for some culls


band??

I was looking on ebay and was about to buy some before someone beat me too it!!
Always happy to look at another source if I can find one thats better


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## Paulthewitt (21 Jan 2021)

Well - I now have orange cherry shrimp. Being tight I bought juveniles - so they are very small! but hopefully all will go well.
They are being drip acclimatised as I type

I considered different colours and decided I could not justify the extra spend for one of the rarer/more striking colours like Black or green. As long as they were not wild or red I would be happy as they would be a little different to the average; and I love to be different!

thank you all for all your help


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## Garuf (21 Jan 2021)

It's best to buy juveniles, they're more adaptable and give a better chance of them adapting to your water. 

The pumpkin orange ones are nice, I'd like them for my next setup.


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## Paulthewitt (21 Jan 2021)

Garuf said:


> It's best to buy juveniles, they're more adaptable and give a better chance of them adapting to your water.
> 
> The pumpkin orange ones are nice, I'd like them for my next setup.


Thanks - I didn't know they would likely be more adaptable! so that's great. Only downside is waiting longer for them to breed. Assuming I can keep them alive...obviously!


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## Sammy Islam (21 Jan 2021)

Paulthewitt said:


> Thanks - I didn't know they would likely be more adaptable! so that's great. Only downside is waiting longer for them to breed. Assuming I can keep them alive...obviously!


If all is well you won't be waiting very long 😉


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## tiger15 (21 Jan 2021)

Paulthewitt said:


> Well - I now have orange cherry shrimp. Being tight I bought juveniles - so they are very small! but hopefully all will go well.
> They are being drip acclimatised as I type
> 
> I considered different colours and decided I could not justify the extra spend for one of the rarer/more striking colours like Black or green. As long as they were not wild or red I would be happy as they would be a little different to the average; and I love to be different!
> ...


You have better chance getting them to breed starting out as juvies than big ones that may already passed the peak.  If you want the hardiest and easiest to breed shrimp, you shouldn’t pick the rare color shrimp.  The reason red cherry is most commonly available is that they are the easiest to multiply.  I don’t know the trend of the rarest color Neo, but I don’t think black is rare, orange and green may be.


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## Wolf6 (21 Jan 2021)

I've always found the red ones to be indestructible, both regular cherry as well as bloody Mary. Malawa shrimp are also extremely easy, just far from as pretty.


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## not called Bob (21 Jan 2021)

getting them locally can help it seems, a local breeder using the same water as you increases the chances of success, that and a very thorough acclimatisation to the tank water


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