Red Cherry Shrimp and Red Rili Shrimp 101

Red Cherry Shrimp couple (Female and male, left to right)

  Red cherry shrimps are originally from Taiwan. But I believe that red color is developed during captivity in the aquarium. This also means their color can be changed over time with appropriate selective pressure (Darwin's evolution). Red Rili Shrimps are one of the example of Cherry shrimp variants. They have clear segments between red head and tail, giving them unique appearance.  I can tell you that Red cherry and Red Rili are very hardy shrimps.  These shrimps are easiest to raise in freshwater aquarium than any other kinds of pet shrimps. They will do well and make a successful colony if you stick to some of the basic freshwater aquarium routine.

First thing first...

1. You need a nitrogen cycled aquarium ( 1 gallon size and up). I don't believe in store sold bacteria bottle. Best way to get your tank cycled is getting a used sponge filter from already established freshwater aquarium (from friend etc.). I would use a filter from bigger tank (to jump start your tank let's say you have a 5 gallon tank then you need sponge filter from 5 gallon and up (bigger the better). When you pick up a sponge filter from your friend, make sure that it's fully submerged in your friend's tank water. And do this quickly. Do not leave this filter in your car in hot summer day (all bacteria fried, R.I.P.).
2. For substrates at the bottom of the tank, you can use gravels, sands, aquarium dirt or even glass marbles. 
3. You also need dechlorinated tap water to fill up your tank. I love Seachem Prime. But others should work fine.
4. You also need some hiding places for shrimps. Personally I like Taiwan moss, Rotala rotundifolia, Anubias and Amazon sword but any plants should work out. Even plastic plant is better than none. Shrimps eat bacterial microfilm and algae grown on the surface of leaves (live or plastic) and tank's inner surface.. Personally I love Moss wall that you can put on as backdrop. I'll talk about how to make one later.
5. Of course you can put rocks, fake castle and so on to make your aquarium attractive. But most important thing is filtration, especially if you have other inhabitants other than shrimps in your tank. If you have shrimp only tank, cheapest option is a sponge filter driven by air bubble pump. You can buy one or make one with aquarium safe sponge (I use a polyurethane open cell sponge for air conditioner from home depot). Next option is HOB (hang on back) power filter.. It works well. Best option is canister filter (I recently upgraded to this option and never been happier.. super quiet and crystal clear water....). All these stuffs you can buy brand new from store or buy used from Craigslist for a bargain price.
6. Now you have to find red cherry shrimps. You can get it from variety of source including store or Craigslist (store price can be ridiculously high). They have very low bioload (very small waste producer). You can easily keep 10 shrimps per gallon of water. They are lowest at the bottom of food pyramid. So they want to see each other more often in the tank to feel safe and happy. I don't recommend putting 1-2 shrimps in the tank... Put at least 10 or more if you tank is at least 5 gallon or bigger. Also younger shrimps adapt well to new tank than older shrimps. But older shrimps generally have better coloration and bigger size (They only live 1-2 years). So there's a dilemma of choosing which one..... Young (good adaptation, longer lifespan left) or Old (bigger size, better color, short lifespan left).
7. What about feeding? Shrimp will eat anything.... I have never seen shrimps refusing to eat. Tropical fish flake, pellet, bloodworms, tubifex worms, cucumber, zucchini and leaf litter.
8. Some of the technical stuffs

• Water temperature: 58 to 85 F. Never go over 85F (unless they are acclimated)...... Most parts of San Diego should fall into this temperature range.. Except at Summer...When temperature shoot up too high suddenly,  I dump reusable cold pack into water close to the water spray bar. I know some people don't recommend this but it works out for me. Maybe for you too.
• No ammonia or nitrite in the water... they can tolerate fairly high nitrate but weekly 25% water change is better. Heavy planting also reduce nitrate in the water column.
• San diego tap water is fairly hard. Personally I mix to reduce hardness.
• pH: They can tolerate wide range of pH but prefer slightly acidic pH 6.1-6.5 but pH 7~8 is fine too.

If you have any question, leave a comment. Also you can check out my red cherry and Rili shrimps in sandiego.craigslist.org

Lava rock and Moss wall back-drop

Can I keep my cherry shrimps with other fish?

 Answer to this question is both Yes and No. It is completely depends on what you want to accomplish with your cherry shrimps and what kind of aquarium you have.
If you have aquarium with bare minimum (no hiding place, no plants (fake or live)), just gravel only... you shrimps will be ok alone but with other non peaceful inhabitants like Betta or angelfish, they will be all hunted down in a matter of minutes. Even with peaceful community fish like guppy or neon tetra, small baby shrimps are not completely safe. Even adult shrimps can get too much stress by harassing fish and eventually die.

So it all boils down to "Hiding places". more the better!

Next, what is your goal? Do you want to keep them as member of community or breeding colony?  If they see their own kind more often, they get less stressed. Similar to those schooling fish behavior. If you have enough numbers of cherry shrimps in your tank, they are not afraid of other fish so much. They will move around the tank freely, like of like helicopters roaming around the sky. And eventually into breeding mode.

Here's my experience of cherry shrimp compatible fish (not attacking adult cherry shrimps).

• Pearl gourami
• Dwarf gourami
• African dwarf frog
• neon tetra
• rummy nose tetra
• guppy
• cory catfish

Not compatible fish

• Gold fish
• Betta
• Angel fish
• Cichlids
• Loaches
• Any fasting moving fish with big mouth

True color of red cherry shrimp ???

"What is going on?"
When I saw that red cherry shrimp at the store, it was dark red. But when it's packed in plastic bag and checked out again inside your car..... it lost its color .... why? (Female Red Rili Shrimps are more resistant to this color changes).

Cherry shrimps can changed its color by changing arrangement of color pigments called chromophore under their exoskeleton similar to squid or cuttlefish. When shrimp dies, its color get change too.

Shrimp changed its color when exposed to external stress. When you stress them by removing from their habitat, they change color, a sort of like camouflage..

When you finally arrive home and put them in your nicely decorated aquarium with lots of hiding places, they will gradually gain their beautiful coloration. You can also enhance their color by setting up darker colored gravels or sands (black is best). Also feeding diet rich in beta carotene also enhances their coloration.

Setting up small shrimp aquarium

5.5 gallon Top Fin RCS tank with one guppy (LED light mod).

If you want to set up affordable shrimp tank, one of the best option is this TOP FIN brand 5.5 gallon starter kit ( often on sale for 19.99 at Petsmart). Its lighted hood is not durable or bright enough for planted tank... it only has very small incandescent lamp.... But it's so cheap!!! (This kit includes HOB filter, fish net, light hood and some foods)  I dropped the hood and bought several 5050SMD LED light strips to make LED lighting cover by hot gluing strips to the plexiglass plate.  To drive this LED light, you'll need a 12V power adapter.

You also need to get gravel or sand substrate. I love darker colored one, to contrast cherry shrimp color. To maximize small space in the tank, I added taiwan moss wall to the backside of the tank. Then I put about 20 shrimps at the beginning but they reproduced quickly so I removed all of adult females out. Still I have too many juvenile shrimps....

Moss wall backdrop in desktop tank.

What can I feed RCS?

You can feed almost any tropical freshwater fish food.

Naturally formed in aquarium: bacterial microfilms, brown or green algae

Store bought: flakes, sinking pellet, shrimp pellet, frozen or dried bloodworms, tubifex worms,              sinking algae tabs.

Human food: sliced zucchini, cucumber, unsalted seaweed (nori), blanched spinach (to sink these stuffs, I tied them to fishing bait weight (not made from lead).)

Free stuffs from nature: leaf litters, only browned leaf should be used. You have to let this stuff sink in the aquarium water for several days to remove as much tannin and allow to form microfilms. Do not use citrus tree leaves. Several leaves I tested in the order of shrimps' preference: strawberry > apple=guava >  loquat > maple leaves (not asian maple). Maple leaves last over a month in the tank but strawberry or apple leaves disappear within days (it could also cause water chemistry change... so be careful).

Whatever you feed, DO NOT OVERFEED!!!

RCS munching on a slice of cucumber (top) and zucchini (bottom)

Breeding Red cherry and Rili shirmps

When you make red cherry and Rili shrimps happy, they will make more of them. You would need both male and female shrimps to do this. Males are smaller, less colorful but much more active than females. Female has less curvature on their back, bigger and more colorful.
 After mating, female cherry shrimp will carry eggs under the belly for entire period. Swimmeret will aerate eggs during this period (cool!!). Tiny baby shrimps will come out when they are ready (about a month depend on water temperature).  They need hiding places if you have a community fish tank. Even small fish like neon tetra will hunt for baby shrimps. Best place for hiding is taiwan moss or java moss.

Berried females

Female with saddle on the back.

 You can tell when female is ready for breeding by looking for saddle on their back.