Can I breed Red Cherry Shrimp with fish in my aquarium, and if so what fish are best? This is a question I get a lot via email and I see it asked all the time on various forums. And there are two answers, the simple one and the more complicated one!

The Simple Answer:

Yes, you can!

The More Complicated Answer:

Red Cherry Shrimp are a fairly easy to breed Dwarf Shrimp. There are only a few things that will cause them not to breed. Stress is one of them.

There are many fish that will prey on Red Cherry Shrimp, and in an aquarium they are very confined and have relatively few places to hide (compared to wild shrimp). This can cause a massive amount of stress.

If they fish that are kept in the aquarium do not prey on adult shrimp the Red Cherry Shrimp will quickly figure that out and begin to breed. The problem here is just about any fish that swims will snack on a baby shrimp.

If you plan on raising the young I always recommend not having any fish. If you must have fish provide as many hiding places as you can for the young, but expect the population to grow much slower than if they were alone!

We have an article about the types of fish are ideal to keep with your shrimp!