A Cherry Shrimp, also known as the Neocaridina, is a great pet to have, especially if you get one that has a bold color. So, can one of these be kept alone or do you need a group? You can find out in this article from Aquarium Blueprints.
Can a Cherry Shrimp live alone?
A Cherry Shrimp can live alone as it should be able to survive without others from the same species. Of course, you need to make sure that you are properly feeding the lone shrimp and make sure that the water parameters are ideally so that your pet is able to live a healthy life.
Should Cherry Shrimps be kept alone?
In our opinion, we recommend keeping Cherry Shrimps in groups. While the lone Cherry Shrimp in your tank will live, it won’t exactly be living a fulfilling life.
By having several of these inverts in the tank at the same time, you get to see them socializing with each other. For instance, if a mature female just molted, then the males in the tank will swim around frantically to mate with her. By keeping a shrimp alone, you won’t see this kind of behavior.
Moreover, shrimps should be more outgoing and active if they are in group, especially if you have other tankmates that they deem to be dangerous. If you only have on shrimp, then it will most like spend most of its time hiding and being afraid. Since these creatures are only around 1-inch long in length at the maximum, they can be hard to spot when hiding; therefore, you may not see your lone shrimp often.
Speaking of which, one of the biggest benefits of the Cherry Shrimp is that they will reproduce and grow in population in your tank. Of course, this isn’t possible if you are only keeping one of them. Since these creatures only live around 1 or 2 years, then having them reproduce will save you money if you want to keep having them in your aquarium since you don’t have to go out and buy more.
It is also important to note that Neocaridina species will self-regulate. If there is not enough food and/or space in your tank, then females will produce less eggs. Not to mention that these inverts have very little bio load. Therefore, you shouldn’t have to worry about an abundance of Cherry Shrimps causing problems in your tank.
Recap
While a Cherry Shrimp can be kept alone, it will most likely be lonely. Since this species like to hide, you may not be able to see it in your tank a majority of the time.
By getting a group, these Cherry Shrimps should be more outgoing and sociable. Not to mention that you can see behaviors like males swimming around the tank trying to mate with females as well as pregnant females taking care of their eggs.
By keeping males and females, you will most likely see them breed, ensuring that the colony will live on in your tank from many years to come. On the other hand, if you are only keeping a single shrimp, then it will most likely live a year or two at most.