Yellow Rili Shrimp (Neocaridina davidi)

Choose the Yellow Rili Shrimp for a bright grazing group

The Yellow Rili Shrimp is a selectively bred colour form of Neocaridina davidi, the dwarf freshwater shrimp best known in its red form as the cherry shrimp. “Rili” is the trade name for a colour-blocked pattern: the head and the tail carry colour while the middle of the body stays clear and glassy. In this form the coloured parts are a bright lemon to sunflower yellow, so a group shows as small yellow-and-glass shrimp working steadily over moss, wood and leaves.

Neocaridina davidi belongs to the family Atyidae. Older books and shop labels may call it Neocaridina heteropoda or Neocaridina denticulata sinensis; Wikipedia lists both as synonyms of the same species. The wild shrimp is a mottled brown animal from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams in Taiwan, eastern China, the Korean Peninsula and Vietnam. Every yellow, red, blue or rili shrimp in the hobby is a bred form of that one species, which matters when you plan breeding later on this page.

Adults are small. OATA’s UK care sheet gives about 3 cm for cherry-type shrimp, Wikipedia gives 3–4 cm, and females grow larger and more strongly coloured than males. Plan for a group of small, busy grazers rather than a single display animal.

Check the fit before you order

Yellow Rili Shrimp sit in the same care group as our other cherry shrimp. Browse the wider freshwater shrimp category or the Neocaridina shrimp range to compare colours. The photographs show the colour form, not the individual shrimp you will receive.

Know what one purchase supplies

One purchase quantity supplies one live Yellow Rili Shrimp. The only option is “Standard”: this colour form is not graded into sizes, so shrimp are sent at the size available on the day, which may be young adults or slightly smaller juveniles. Sex is not specified. A mixed group is likely when you order several, but it is not guaranteed.

The rili pattern varies from shrimp to shrimp. The clear band can be wide or narrow, the yellow can be pale or deep, and young shrimp usually colour up as they grow. Expect a group with some natural variation rather than identical animals; a shrimp that looks pale on arrival often shows stronger colour once it has settled.

Order for the group you plan to keep

• One shrimp: suitable only as an addition to an existing Yellow Rili group.
• Five shrimp: the smallest group OATA recommends; single shrimp or very small groups often become stressed.
• Ten or more: a fuller display and a better chance of both sexes for breeding, provided the tank is mature and large enough.

Before you order, read our delivery and live arrival information and have the aquarium ready, tested and stable. Shrimp should go into a tank whose filter is already processing waste, never into a tank filled the same week.

Set up a mature shrimp aquarium

OATA sets 10 litres as the minimum for a small group of shrimp and recommends a larger tank when shrimp share it with fish. Our cherry shrimp care guide uses 20 litres as a cautious starting point, because a bigger volume of water changes temperature and chemistry more slowly. Neither figure is a per-shrimp formula: what matters most is a cycled filter and steady water.

A filter is always essential. Shrimp produce little waste, but the biological filter must already be turning ammonia and nitrite into nitrate before they arrive. Our guide to the aquarium nitrogen cycle explains how a tank matures. Many shrimp keepers fit a fine sponge over the filter intake so newly hatched shrimp are not drawn in; the sponge also becomes another surface for the group to graze.

Use gravel or sand as the substrate, because shrimp walk over it and pick through it for food. Add cover with live or artificial plants, pots or caves, and fit a lid: OATA notes that shrimp can jump out. A heater keeps the temperature steady through the year if your room warms and cools, and lighting on a timer gives a regular day and night.

Lay out the tank in zones

Yellow shows best against dark substrate and green plants. A planted tank also keeps up a steady supply of biofilm, which is what the shrimp spend most of the day eating. Wikipedia notes that Neocaridina davidi does not eat vascular plants, so healthy aquarium plants are safe with them.

Match the water values and keep them steady

Keep Yellow Rili Shrimp within OATA’s planning ranges for freshwater shrimp: 17–27°C, pH 6.5–8.0, general hardness 4–18 dGH and carbonate hardness 3–15 dKH. These are broad group values, not exact targets for this colour form, so pick a point inside them that your tap water can hold and keep it there. Shrimp cope with a wide range far better than with sudden change.

Tap water in the UK ranges from soft to very hard depending on where you live. Test your own tap water for pH and hardness before you buy, and use our water matcher to compare your readings with the shrimp’s range. Our water chemistry guide explains what pH, general hardness and carbonate hardness mean.

Separate stable values from waste readings

Temperature also sets the pace of breeding. In a controlled study of red cherry shrimp, published under the older name Neocaridina heteropoda heteropoda, Tropea and colleagues found that eggs took about 21 days to hatch at 24°C, about 15 days at 28°C and about 12 days at 32°C. Every female that matured and mated at 32°C lost her eggs, and the authors described about 28°C as the best temperature for culture under their laboratory conditions. For a home aquarium that is a reason not to run the tank hot, not a number to chase: OATA’s range stops at 27°C, and a steady mid-range temperature is the safer plan.

OATA warns that invertebrates are very sensitive to copper and can die even at low levels. Read the label of every medicine, plant fertiliser and water treatment before it goes into a shrimp tank, and if a label does not say it is safe for invertebrates, do not use it.

Acclimatise new shrimp slowly

Shrimp are easily stressed by bright light, temperature extremes, noise and movement, so take the bag straight to the aquarium when it arrives. OATA’s floating-bag method suits Yellow Rili Shrimp well:

1. Switch off the aquarium light and keep the room dim.
2. Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 10 minutes so the temperatures even out.
3. Open the bag and add small amounts of aquarium water to it over at least 30 minutes.
4. Lift the shrimp into the aquarium, keeping as little bag water as possible out of the tank.
5. Pour the bag water away down a household sink, never outdoors.

If your tank water is very different in hardness from the water in the bag, take longer over the mixing step. Slower is not harmful; rushing it is.

Use a first-week checklist

New shrimp often hide for a few days and may moult soon after arrival. A shed skin that looks like a dead shrimp is normal, OATA notes, and Wikipedia records that the shrimp eat their own moults. Count shrimp, not skins.

Feed small amounts and remove leftovers

Yellow Rili Shrimp are omnivorous grazers. Wikipedia describes Neocaridina davidi feeding on biofilm, algae and detritus, and OATA calls freshwater shrimp mainly herbivores that graze algae. In a mature planted aquarium they find much of their food on leaves, wood and glass, so the food you add is a supplement rather than the whole diet.

OATA suggests feeding shrimp two or three times a week with algae wafers or a shrimp-specific pellet, leaving the food for at least 30 minutes and then removing whatever is left. Our own cherry shrimp guide prefers a complete sinking shrimp food as the base and adjusts the amount by watching the group rather than following a fixed timetable. Both agree on the main point: uneaten food spoils the water, and poor water harms shrimp far faster than a light diet.

Build one measured shrimp meal

• Start small: a piece of food the group can clear within a few hours.
• Use one spot: drop it on open substrate so you can see who comes to eat and what is left.
• Check after 30 minutes: most of the group should have found it.
• Remove leftovers: lift anything still uneaten before the lights go off.
• Vary the menu: rotate shrimp pellets and algae wafers; blanched vegetables are another option keepers use.

If food sits untouched day after day, feed less often. If the group strips every scrap at once and the tank has little algae or biofilm, increase the portion a little. Shrimp that ignore food altogether are a reason to test the water, not to add more food.

Maintain the tank without upsetting the group

Shrimp tanks reward a calm routine. OATA recommends testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and hardness once a week, and more often while the tank is new or after adding livestock, with a partial water change of 25% at least once a week. Treat every bucket of replacement tap water with a conditioner that removes chlorine or chloramine, and match its temperature to the tank.

Follow a weekly routine

1. Test the water before you change any, so the reading reflects the tank.
2. Siphon out about a quarter of the water, cleaning only the open substrate.
3. Check the siphon bucket for shrimp before you pour it away.
4. Refill slowly with conditioned water at the same temperature.
5. When the filter needs cleaning, rinse the media lightly in removed tank water, never under the tap.

Slow refilling and matched temperature matter more for shrimp than for most fish, because shrimp respond badly to sudden change. Trim moss and plants gently, and look for shrimp in every clump you lift out before it goes in the bin.

Watch the group and act on changes

Learn what normal looks like during the first month: shrimp spread across plants and wood, grazing almost constantly, with a few hidden at any time while they moult. OATA lists the changes that point to a problem in shrimp and snails, and each one has a practical first response.

Pair each observation with an action

Wikipedia notes that females may abandon their eggs when stressed or carrying for the first time, so one lost clutch is not unusual; a run of losses is worth investigating. When you contact us, share your tank size, temperature, pH, hardness, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings and what changed recently. That information is far more useful than a photograph alone.

Breed Yellow Rili Shrimp and keep the colour line

Yellow Rili Shrimp breed readily in a mature tank with plenty of cover and food. Females carry their eggs under the tail, which makes mature females easy to sex, and a female’s developing ovaries often show as a “saddle” on her back before she mates. Wikipedia gives 20–30 eggs per clutch, hatching after two to three weeks, and the Tropea study recorded about 24 young per female at each of the three temperatures it tested.

There is no larval stage. The young hatch as complete miniature shrimp about 1 mm long and start grazing straight away, which is why Neocaridina breed in ordinary fresh water while Amano shrimp, whose larvae need brackish water, do not breed in a home aquarium. Wikipedia gives sexual maturity at about two months in its breeding section (and 30 days elsewhere in the same article), and a lifespan of one to two years.

Keep the yellow rili pattern

• One colour per tank: every Neocaridina colour is the same species, so they interbreed. Mixed young lose the clean pattern, and crosses of different colours can throw wild-coloured brown offspring.
• Select the young: The Shrimp Farm suggests moving young shrimp that do not show the colour and pattern you want to a separate tank, so the main group keeps its quality.
• Give cover: moss and fine plants protect the young and give them biofilm to graze.
• Keep fish out of the breeding tank: even small fish take newly hatched shrimp.

Choose tank mates that cannot eat shrimp

OATA’s rule is simple: avoid fish that can fit a shrimp in their mouth, and avoid predatory species. Our cherry shrimp guide adds that no fish is guaranteed safe for newly hatched shrimp, so a shrimp-only tank raises the most young. If you keep fish with Yellow Rili Shrimp, choose very small, peaceful species, give the shrimp dense cover and accept that some young will be eaten.

Screen every companion

Add companions after the shrimp have settled, and watch at feeding time. A fish that hunts along the plants or picks at moss after the food is gone is likely to be taking young shrimp.

Compare the other rili colours

The rili pattern comes in several colours, all the same species. Compare the Red Rili Shrimp, the Orange Rili Shrimp, the Blue Rili Shrimp and the dark Carbon Rili Shrimp. If you prefer solid colour, the Yellow Cherry Shrimp is yellow from head to tail. Keep only one of these colours per tank if you want the young to breed true.

For more on keeping dwarf shrimp, read our shrimp-keeping guide and the cherry shrimp UK guide, or browse all our shrimps and crustaceans.

Never release shrimp, plants or tank water

OATA reminds keepers that releasing aquarium animals or plants into the wild is illegal and harmful. Neocaridina davidi shows why: Wikipedia records populations established from released aquarium shrimp in thermally polluted waters in Japan, the United States, Poland and Germany. In Germany, Klotz and colleagues reported the species in the Erft river system in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2013 and noted that it tolerates colder water and could spread further. Pass unwanted shrimp to another keeper or a shop, and pour old tank water down a household drain, not into a pond or watercourse.

Answer Yellow Rili Shrimp buying questions

What is a Yellow Rili Shrimp?

It is a selectively bred colour form of Neocaridina davidi, the cherry shrimp species, with a bright yellow head and tail and a clear, glassy middle. Adults reach about 3 cm according to OATA; Wikipedia gives 3–4 cm.

How many shrimp does one purchase supply?

One live shrimp of the Standard option, sex not specified. Order at least five to start a group, as OATA recommends.

How many Yellow Rili Shrimp should I keep?

At least five. OATA notes that single shrimp or very small groups often become stressed; ten or more makes a fuller display and a better chance of breeding.

What water do Yellow Rili Shrimp need?

A mature, filtered aquarium kept steady within 17–27°C, pH 6.5–8.0, 4–18 dGH and 3–15 dKH, with zero ammonia and nitrite and no copper. These are OATA’s planning values for freshwater shrimp.

What do Yellow Rili Shrimp eat?

They graze biofilm and algae all day. Add shrimp pellets or algae wafers about two or three times a week and remove anything still uneaten after a few hours.

Can I keep them with other cherry shrimp colours?

They will interbreed, and the young lose the clean yellow rili pattern. Keep one Neocaridina colour per aquarium if you want the young to breed true.

Will Yellow Rili Shrimp breed in my aquarium?

Usually, yes. A female carries 20–30 eggs under her tail for two to three weeks, and the young hatch as tiny copies of the adults. Moss and fine plants protect the young, and a shrimp-only tank raises the most.

Which tank mates suit Yellow Rili Shrimp?

Snails, Amano shrimp and very small, peaceful fish. Avoid any fish that can fit a shrimp in its mouth, predatory fish, crayfish and large crabs.

Consult the care references

• OATA: How to look after freshwater shrimp and snails — UK planning values for water, tank size, group size, feeding, copper, acclimatisation, health signs and release.
• Wikipedia: Neocaridina davidi — names, natural range, size, diet, breeding, lifespan and introduced populations.
• Tropea, Stumpf and López Greco (2015), PLoS ONE — effect of 24, 28 and 32°C on growth, egg incubation and breeding of the red cherry shrimp.
• Klotz et al. (2013), Aquatic Invasions — released Neocaridina davidi in a warm stream system in Germany.
• The Shrimp Farm: rili shrimp care — the colour-blocked rili pattern and selecting young.
• Garnelio: Green Rili shrimp — pattern variation and wild-coloured offspring from mixed colours.
• Gensou: Yellow Rili Shrimp — variation of the yellow rili pattern and foods used by keepers.
• Tropical Fish Co cherry shrimp care guide and delivery policy — our own starting tank size, feeding approach and live arrival terms.