It has become quite common to receive emails and other forms of questions about the compatibility of dwarf shrimp species.  These questions are surprisingly difficult to answer because of the often-mislabeled species names of dwarf shrimp.  So what dwarf shrimp are compatible?

The general rules when trying to figure out compatibility is are the shrimp the same Genus?  Most Neocaridina species of shrimp will interbreed and cause a hybrid, and quite a few Caridina species will hybridize with each other.

Now comes the part where it becomes complicated.  There has not been a ton of scientific research that has shown what species will hybridize with each other.  And genetics in freshwater invertebrates are extremely complicated.  For 2 months TheShrimpFarm.com has been conduction an experiment to determine the genetics behind only the color genes of Neocaridina heteropoda and even that is difficult to determine.  So it is understandable that the hybridization of dwarf shrimp is still a gray area.

TheShrimpFarm.com has created a Dwarf Shrimp Compatibility Chart that shows the compatibility of the more common shrimp in the hobby!  You can check it out at The Shrimp Farm.