Origins:  Cherry shrimps were discovered on Taiwan.  And since there’s quite an extensive exotic fish industry thriving on that island, they started cranking them out in mass quantities in 2002.  We finally tried some in 2004.

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Half-grown cherry red shrimps at 0.5 inches.  Still not common in 2004.

Appeal:  How you gonna not like a bright red shrimp?  Maybe that’s why they call them cherry red shrimp? Or cherry red algae-eating shrimp?  Yes, they eat the hair algae that some aquarists equate with the plagues Moses visited upon ancient Egypt.

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Half an inch -- really hard to photograph.

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Smaller than Tom Thumb.

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Full-grown massive one-inch shrimp.

Size:  One inch.  That’s it.  Males are smaller.  Relax.  Cherry red shrimp will not threaten your African cichlids.  In fact, you better keep yours with very small tank mates.

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Cherry red shrimp dislike smooth surfaces like this.

Housing:  Cherry red shrimp are thigmotactic.  Most people think “thigmotactic” refers to crevice lovers like cucarachas and earwigs.  Not so, chemo sabe (yes, we stretched for that pun, but not as much as the Type A personality in the table above).  It means they need climbable surfaces such as aquatic plants to walk on or they get stressed out.  You never want to tangle with a stressed out cherry red shrimp.

Water:  Good old Des Moines aged tap water (220 ppm) provides the lime they use to build their rigid exoskeleton.  Think of these guys as baby crayfish (very expensive baby crayfish) and you should succeed with them.  Betcha you could aqua-farm these guys in any shady backyard fish-free pond.

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Once your cherry red shrimp run out of algae, they scavenge for fish food.

Foods:  Include cherry red shrimp in the algae-eating shrimp category.  They like it.  They love it.  They want some more of it.  However, their miniscule size means they can never ingest mass quantities.  They also like any kind of fish flakes or pellets you give them – particularly those with lots of plant material in them.  They’d probably even eat those hard as a rock shrimp pellets that eventually “melt” into your gravel and usually mess up your water.

Temperature:  Keep your cherry red shrimp at tropical temperatures – 75^o to 80^o.  They adjust better to cooler rather than warmer temperatures.

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Cherry red shrimp make great candidates for small tanks.

Decór:  Cherry red shrimp make primo candidates for planted aquaria.  There’s almost a symbiotic relationship there.  They clean up the volunteer algae that magically appear and snack at the salad bar you provide for their tiny tender toesies.

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Female cherry shrimps grow a smidge larger than the males.  That's our breeding info.

Breeding:  Haven’t had ours long enough to breed them.  Should take care of itself in a well planted predator-free aquarium.  Predators on the bite-size babies include nearly anything that moves.  Don’t trust the parents either.  Get out your hot glue gun and build a little breeding cage out of nylon net – the stuff they use to make tutus flouncier or scrub your back in the shower.

Larvae Care:  The larvae can’t be much larger than newly hatched brine shrimp.  Start your newly hatched cherry red shrimp on one of the dust-fine micro foods or pulverize whatever flake foods the parents are eating.

Medication:  Most concoctions designed to kill pests will probably severely stress or even kill these little guys.  Copper in their water invariably kills cherry red shrimp.  Ditto with most shrimps and other assorted crustacea.

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Sponge filters attract (and feed) cherry red shrimps.

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Cherry red shrimps appear to enjoy blanched zucchini slices.

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Same zucchini a bit later.

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Just a bit later.  Looking for fresh meat.  Move slow and you won't scare them.

Last Word:  Cherry red shrimp catch your eye -- cute little bright red bugs crawling on green plant leaves.  However, they can be kept only with the smallest tank residents.  When new, they lose their red color for a short time.  It comes back in a day or so.  Feeding them color foods will probably make them redder.  LA.

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