Last Updated on September 8, 2024 by Sara Rose
Cherry shrimp are a great addition to any aquarium. They can add and make your aquarium look more lively. To be able to rear them well, it is important to know what the best plants for cherry shrimp are. In this article, we will share with you our top 5 best plants for cherry shrimp.
Table of Contents
What Is A Cherry Shrimp?
Cherry shrimp or Neocaridina davidi is a freshwater shrimp that originates from China and Nothern Taiwan. It has since been introduced to the rest of Taiwan, Japan, and Hawaii, and is a common aquarium animal in many households and exhibitions.
The natural coloration of the Cherry shrimp is a greenish brown. They can, however, be found in other numerous colors such as red, yellow, orange, green, blue, violet, and black among others. The red-colored one is the most popular and more frequently sold in pet stores.
When kept in aquaria, they prefer fresh, clean water. The ideal pH level for Cherry shrimp is 6.5-8, Cherry shrimp temperature tolerance is between 57 and 84 degrees F.
Cherry shrimp are omnivorous creatures and have a life span of 1-2 years if provided with the ideal care and living conditions.
Top 5 Best Plants For Cherry Shrimp
1. Moss
–Aquatic mosses, such as Christmas Moss or Java Moss, are some of the best plants for a Cherry shrimp tank. Aquarium mosses provide a great place for baby shrimp to grow safely, as well as a place to play or hide when they are feeling a bit shy. They also offer an excellent food source for shrimp of all ages and sizes to nibble on.
Provided with the right conditions, and an injection of carbon dioxide, aquatic mosses can grow very dense in your tank. They are very easy to grow, low maintenance and slow-growing plants. They can be propagated via cutting or splitting and require no substrate in the tank
Aquarium mosses are ideal for the novice aquarist due to their low maintenance. They are also perfect for low-tech tanks. Another added benefit of aquarium mosses is that they provide oxygenation and filtration. This will sure make your shrimp happy.
2. Java fern
Java ferns have large leaves that grow beautifully and provide a great hiding spot for your shrimp. They are highly adaptive plants that will readily adapt to the water conditions in your tank, this means less work for you!
To help promote their growth, you will need to tie their rhizome to a rock or an ornament at the bottom of the tank.
They are great at filtering the water and providing additional oxygen. On top of these benefits, java ferns are such great plants to look at and will add a decorative element to your Cherry shrimp tank. Your shrimp will also love to hide, play, and graze on the leaves as well as walk around them.
3. Hornwort
The easy-to-care-for qualities, and conditions to maintain of this plant make it one of the best plants for Cherry shrimp! It is a fast-growing plant so you will need to keep trimming it or it will easily take over your whole tank. But because of its fast growth rate, it can easily absorb excess nutrients and waste from the water column, providing the clean water that Cherry shrimp love. It will do so while growing and providing your shrimplets with plenty of spots to hide and play.
Hornwort is another great plant option for beginners because it is versatile and can survive a wide range of environmental conditions. It can be planted in different ways such as floating, or attached to a hardscape such as a rock in the tank.
4. Anubias Nana Petite
This slow-growing, low-maintenance and easy-to-grow plant is great for Cherry shrimp aquaria. It is comparatively smaller than most aquarium plants and usually comes attached to driftwood so there is no hassle planting it. You can place it anywhere you refer and it will grow.
Anubias Nana Petite can tolerate a wide range of water quality parameters such as temperature. It does well in both high and low light conditions. It likes a bit of carbon dioxide and other nutritional supplementation but there are absolutely not necessary.
The driftwood plus the plant provide a good hiding spot for Cherry shrimp, and catch food that the shrimp will enjoy nibbling on.
This plant is great for filtering the tank and providing oxygen. Because it is slow growing, it can be used as a foreground or midground plant
This plant is very fast growing and very low maintenance. It does not come with a root system, therefore it will need to be planted on a substrate where it will attach its roots and grow. A while after planting it, it will develop a strong root system which will help support its growth
Water wisteria requires a moderate amount of carbon dioxide injection, fertilizer and light to grow well. It is however a hardy plant that can withstand different environmental conditions.
This plant filters and oxygenates the water really well. The leaves of the plant catch on food that Cherry shrimp love to scavenge while getting a good hiding place.
Cherry Shrimp Substrate
As we have seen from the list of best plants for Cherry shrimp provided above, some plants require a substrate, and some don’t. So in the case where substrate is needed, what is the best substrate for Cherry shrimp?
These shrimp respond to the color of their background substrate and will take up its color. If they are in a tank with a light colored substrate they will become lighter, and the opposite is true for a darer substrate
A dark substrate is probably the best and most common choice for these shrimp. Black gravel and Amazonia soil are the most popular. The evolutionary significance of this is that in the wild, shrimp blend in with their environment to that they do not become an easy prey target for predators.
How Many Red Cherry Shrimp Per Gallon?
So what is the right stocking density for cherry shrimp in an aquarium? They usually do best if maintained at 2-5 cherry shrimp per gallon of water for them to get the food they need and be comfortable in the tank. Anything above this may compromise their growth and health.
Conclusion – Best Plants For Cherry Shrimp
We hope this article has provided you with all you need to know about the right plants for your Cherry shrimp tank. You can now go ahead and confidently choose the right plant that will support the growth, health and overall well-being of your shrimp!
An aquaculture specialist and freelance writer. Passionate about anything sustainable living, such as growing your own food, and if you can do it in conjunction with fish farming, even better! I currently work as an aquaculture researcher where I can expand and share my knowledge and skills on aquaculture, crop farming and adding value to wastewater by using it to grow food products. I enjoy reading and learning as much as possible, and writing is another avenue for me to share the knowledge I gain with others. I want my writing to inspire people to try their hand at gardening, whether indoors or outdoors. You can even start by keeping a few houseplants indoors to help you gain a bit of confidence if you need to.