By Sophie Harding
Which freshwater shrimp is actually right for you?
You've searched freshwater shrimp UK and hit a wall of names — cherry, sakura, crystal, bee, Amano, bamboo, wood, fan — with no one telling you the thing that decides whether your shrimp thrive or die in a fortnight: those names belong to four genuinely different groups, and the right one depends on your tap water, not your taste.
I'm Sophie Harding, and shrimp and planted nano tanks are my lane at Tropical Fish Co. I've set up, crashed, rescued and re-bred more dwarf shrimp colonies than I'd care to admit, and the single most common mistake I see is a beginner falling for a photo of a crystal-white Caridina, dropping it into hard London tap water, and watching the colony melt. The shrimp wasn't faulty. It was the wrong shrimp for that water.
This page is the answer we'd give across the counter when someone asks "which freshwater shrimp should I get?" It's a hub that sits above the species — we keep dedicated guides for cherry shrimp and Amano shrimp, and this compares all four groups and routes you to the right one. We stock twelve shrimp across every group, so whatever the comparison points you at, it's a live animal we can ship this week.
A Bloody Mary (Neocaridina davidi) — one of the hardiest dwarf shrimp in our range and a textbook beginner colour morph. The deep opaque red is selectively bred; the wild ancestor is a drab brown-grey. Photo: Tropical Fish Co.
Fun facts — the stuff most UK shrimp guides skip
- Every cherry shrimp on Earth started brown. The fire-reds, blue dreams and sakuras are all Neocaridina davidi, selectively bred from a mottled brown-grey wild shrimp that looks nothing like the tank-bred colours [1].
- Shrimp breathe with copper. Their blood carries oxygen using copper-based haemocyanin, not iron-based haemoglobin like ours — which is exactly why dissolved copper that's harmless to fish is lethal to shrimp [4].
- Amano shrimp are a biological dead end in freshwater. Their larvae need brackish water to develop, so no matter how perfect your tank, an Amano colony never self-sustains — every one in UK trade is hatchery-raised from salty water [6].
- Cherry shrimp are quietly invasive. Neocaridina davidi has established wild populations in warm outflows and thermal pools well outside its native China–Vietnam–Taiwan–Korea range, thanks to a surprising tolerance for salinity and low oxygen [2].
- London tap water is harder than most of Europe. Thames Water runs 250–330 mg/L CaCO₃ — "very hard" — which is brilliant for Neocaridina and miserable for crystal Caridina without an RO unit [7].
The comparison — four groups, four very different shrimp
This is the section to read twice. The four groups UK keepers buy are not interchangeable. Match the group to your water and your experience first; pick the colour second.
| Attribute | Neocaridina (cherry & morphs) | Caridina — crystal/bee | Amano | Wood / fan shrimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example in our range | Cherry, Sakura, Bloody Mary, Blue Dream, Rili | Black & White Crystal, Orange | Amano, Snow White | Wood Shrimp, Giant African |
| Difficulty | Easy | Advanced | Easy (once settled) | Intermediate |
| pH | 6.5–8.0 | 5.8–6.8 | 6.5–7.8 | 6.5–7.5 |
| Hardness (gH) | 6–15 dGH | 3–6 dGH (very soft) | 6–15 dGH | 3–15 dGH |
| UK tap water? | Yes, most postcodes | No — usually needs RO | Yes | Yes |
| Breeds in freshwater? | Yes, readily | Yes, if soft water dialled in | No — needs brackish | No — needs brackish |
| Adult size | 2.5–3 cm | 1–2.5 cm | 4–5 cm | 8–12 cm |
| Min tank | 20 L | 30 L | 60 L | 80–100 L |
| Best for | First-time shrimp keepers, colour colonies | Experienced keepers, RO setups | Algae control in planted tanks | Display centrepiece, gentle filter feeders |
If you're new, your eyes should go straight to the first column. Neocaridina is the only group that combines "easy", "UK tap water" and "breeds readily" — that's why it's where every UK shrimp journey should start [5]. Crystal Caridina is the deep end; the wood shrimp are a different project entirely — beautiful, but not a colony.
Putting crystal/bee Caridina into hard, alkaline tap water because the photo was prettier than the cherry next to it. Crystals need soft, acidic water that matches their native streams, and they don't forgive the difference [3]. If your postcode is medium-to-hard (most of England), buy Neocaridina and have an easy, thriving colony — or commit to an RO unit before you buy a single Caridina.
Beginner shrimp — start here
For nine out of ten UK keepers, the right first shrimp is a Neocaridina. They sit happily in ordinary tap water across most of the country, they graze biofilm all day, and a colony of ten becomes a self-sustaining population in a planted 20–30 L within a couple of months.
Water parameters, copper and how many to buy
Read your water before you buy
The most useful thing you can do before ordering any shrimp is check
your postcode's hardness on your water company's quality page
[7]. UK suppliers report hardness in
mg/L CaCO₃; aquarium kits use dGH or ppm. Here's the conversion at
a glance, with which group fits.
| Your water report says | dGH | Best-fit shrimp group |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50 mg/L | < 3 | Soft enough for Caridina crystal/bee; Neocaridina need mineral top-up |
| 50–100 mg/L | 3–6 | Caridina-friendly; Neocaridina fine with light remineralisation |
| 100–200 mg/L | 6–11 | Neocaridina ideal — full colour + breeding |
| 200–330 mg/L | 11–18 | Neocaridina + wood shrimp thrive; Caridina need RO |
1 dGH ≈ 17.9 mg/L CaCO₃. Most of England sits in the bottom two rows — which is exactly why Neocaridina is the default UK shrimp.
Copper is the one rule that applies to every shrimp
Whichever group you choose, copper is the threat that unites them. Shrimp carry oxygen with copper-based haemocyanin, so dissolved copper that fish shrug off is lethal to invertebrates [4]. Three precautions cover almost every case:
- Never dose a copper-based fish medication in a tank with shrimp — most white-spot and fluke treatments will wipe a colony.
- Quarantine new live plants for two weeks. Nursery plants often carry copper-based fertiliser residue that leaches into a small tank.
- Read your plant fertiliser label. Many all-in-one ferts contain trace copper; use a shrimp-safe fert in any tank with inverts.
How many, and what size tank
Dwarf shrimp are colony animals — buy ten or more so the gene pool is robust and breeding actually establishes [6]. Twenty shows visible colony behaviour within weeks. The filter-feeding wood and fan shrimp are the exception: they're large animals that do fine as one or a small group, but they need volume and flow.
- Neocaridina / Caridina dwarf shrimp: 20 L minimum, 30 L preferred for a breeding colony. Sponge filter on an air pump — gentle flow, big biofilm surface, no impeller to suck in shrimplets.
- Wood Shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis): 80 L+ with decent current so food particles reach its feeding fans.
- Giant African shrimp (Atyopsis gaboensis): 100 L+ — this is a 12 cm centrepiece animal, not a nano resident.
Caridina, Amano and specialist shrimp
Once you've kept Neocaridina and understand acclimation, the rest of the hobby opens up: soft-water crystal Caridina for the experienced keeper, the algae-eating Amano every planted tank wants, and the gentle filter-feeding wood shrimp.
Amano (and the Snow White Caridina japonica) are the best algae-eating invertebrate you can buy for a planted tank — but they cannot breed in freshwater, so think of them as a working pet rather than a self-sustaining population [6]. Five to ten in a 60–90 L planted tank keep hair algae in check indefinitely. Full detail in our Amano shrimp guide.
Tank mates — what's actually shrimp-safe
Shrimp are never the aggressor; they're always the potential prey. The rule of thumb: small, peaceful, non-predatory fish that don't forage hard at the substrate. Adult shrimp (1.5 cm+) live alongside them fine; shrimplets will be eaten by almost anything, which naturally caps colony growth in a community tank rather than ending it.
Genuinely shrimp-safe companions, with their care guides:
- Corydoras care guide — peaceful bottom dwellers that ignore adult shrimp; pygmy corys are ideal in a nano.
- Otocinclus care guide — tiny algae grazers that share a shrimp's biofilm diet without ever threatening them.
- Harlequin rasbora care guide — a calm mid-water schooler that leaves the substrate to the shrimp.
- Ember tetra care guide — small, gentle and surface-to-mid-water; adults coexist with a cherry colony well.
- Nerite snail hub — not a fish at all; the perfect non-breeding algae partner in a shrimp tank.
Avoid bettas, angelfish, larger gouramis, cichlids, big barbs, loaches and especially dwarf pufferfish — anything that hunts will treat your shrimp as a snack. For the broader planted-community shortlist, see the planted-tank fish hub.
For a step-by-step build of a dedicated Neocaridina nano tank — substrate choice, hardscape and planting for a colony — UK aquascaper Mark Davies walks through the whole process on MD Fish Tanks [8].
A Wood Shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) — a filter feeder, not a grazer. It anchors on driftwood in the current and combs food particles from the water with fan-like appendages, which is why it needs flow and an 80 L+ tank. Photo: Tropical Fish Co.
When your shrimp arrive — slow, patient acclimation
Shrimp are far more osmotically sensitive than fish, so our acclimation protocol is deliberately slower than a fish drip. Rushing it causes the fatal "stuck moult", where a shrimp can't escape its old shell after a sudden swing in dissolved solids. This routine applies to every group — Neocaridina, Caridina, Amano and wood shrimp alike.
- Dim the room and unpack quietly. Shrimp travel best in low light; keep it calm.
- Float the sealed bag for 30 minutes to equalise temperature — longer than fish, because shrimp react badly to thermal shock.
- Drip-acclimate for 60–90 minutes at one drop per second. This is the non-negotiable step — the slow drip matches their osmoregulation rate. Caridina crystals deserve the full 90 minutes.
- Net gently into the tank — never pour transport water into the display.
- Lights off for four hours, then leave them be.
- No feeding for 24 hours. A mature tank's biofilm covers them while they settle.
Our shrimp travel via a licensed live-animal courier in insulated, oxygen-rich packaging built for invertebrates, with something to cling to inside the bag. On arrival, photograph the bag before you open it — our Live Arrival Guarantee covers any dead-on-arrival shrimp for a refund or replacement. Drip slowly and you'll rarely need it.
Ready for more?
Start with the group that matches your water, then go deeper:
- Beginner colony: the cherry shrimp UK guide covers colour strains, colony size and welfare in depth — it's the natural next read after this hub.
- Algae crew: the Amano shrimp UK guide explains why they can't breed in freshwater and what they actually eat.
- Husbandry basics: the shrimp keeping care guide and the cherry shrimp care guide are your long-term reference for feeding, moulting and water management.
- Shop the range: every live shrimp is on the shrimps & crustaceans hub; for the planted community angle see the planted-tank fish hub.
The References block below lists every source cited on this page. Match the shrimp to your tap water first, buy a proper group of ten, keep copper out, and drip slowly — do that and freshwater shrimp become the most rewarding little colony in the UK hobby.
