Cherry shrimp and Neon tetra
Can these two share a tank? The assessment below is derived from stored behavioural and environmental traits, not from a compatibility chart.
Usually works. Minor points to watch are listed below.
- Minimum volume
- 60 L
- Minimum length
- 60 cm
- Factors considered
- 7
Concerns
Adult shrimp should be safe, but Neon tetra will eat shrimplets. Expect the colony to hold steady rather than grow.
Derived from: traits.predation.shrimplets
Why it can work
- Temperature requirements overlap comfortably at 20–26 °C, with room for both animals to sit inside their preferred range.
- pH requirements overlap at 6.5–7.5.
- Hardness requirements overlap at 6–10 °dGH.
- Cherry shrimp needs a group of at least 10. Kept in smaller numbers it is not simply lonely — shoaling species held below their threshold show chronic stress behaviour, colour loss and, in several species, increased aggression towards tankmates.
- Neon tetra needs a group of at least 8. Kept in smaller numbers it is not simply lonely — shoaling species held below their threshold show chronic stress behaviour, colour loss and, in several species, increased aggression towards tankmates.
- The two occupy different levels of the tank, which reduces direct competition for space.
Conditions
Most interesting pairings are conditional on something. These are the things the keeper can actually change.
- Dense moss or leaf litter if you want the shrimp colony to increase in number
- At least 10 Cherry shrimp, counted as one group
- At least 8 Neon tetra, counted as one group
Derived, or documented?
These are different claims and are shown separately. The verdict above is derived from stored traits — arithmetic on AquariumHQ's own records. Whether the pairing is actually reported to work is a separate question, and for most pairs the honest answer is that we hold nothing.
Environmental compatibility
Derived from stored traits
Temperature, pH, hardness, size and behavioural traits compared between the two records. Sound as far as it goes, and it is not evidence that the pairing works.
Behavioural evidence
Widely reported in practice
Reported consistently across aquarium practice without a single citable source. Treated as real but not as measurement.
AquariumHQ's overall position
Safe for the shrimp you can see and lethal for the ones you cannot. A keeper who wants a growing colony and a keeper who wants a stable ornamental population want different answers to this pairing, and both are served by knowing that the shrimplets are the variable.
What would change it: Dense moss. A colony with enough cover recruits faster than the tetras can crop it; a bare tank does not recruit at all.
Factor by factor
- Shrimplet predationReported
Adult cherry shrimp are too large for a neon tetra; newly released shrimplets are not, and are taken consistently. A colony with neons persists but does not grow, which reads to a keeper as the shrimp failing to breed.
- HardnessDerived
The cherry shrimp needs hardness for moulting and the neon tetra is a blackwater fish. The bands overlap around 6–10 dGH and neither animal is in its preferred water there.
- Adult shrimp safetyReported
Adults are reported as untroubled. Nothing in the pairing threatens a full-grown shrimp.
| Depends on | How much |
|---|---|
| Tank size and dimensions | none |
| Life stage | decisive |
| The individual animal | none |
How good is the overlap?
Whether two ranges intersect is a necessary condition, not evidence. What matters is WHERE the shared band sits: an overlap at the top of one animal's range and the bottom of the other's is a forced compromise however wide it looks, and it is the case a simple intersection test cannot see.
| Dimension | Assessment | What that means here |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Comfortable for both | The shared band 20–26 °C sits centrally in both ranges, with room to drift. |
| pH | One animal at the edge of its range | The shared band 6.5–7.5 pH sits at the top of one animal's range, so that animal is permanently at its limit even though the overlap looks generous. |
| Hardness | Workable | The shared band 6–10 °dGH is usable, though it does not sit centrally for both animals. |
Factor by factor
Every factor states what it rests on. Most are derived from the traits stored on both records — sound arithmetic on AquariumHQ's own data, and not a report about how the pairing actually goes. Where a factor says 'not known', the data is missing and saying so matters, because a missing factor and a favourable one look identical once both are absent.
| Factor | Basis | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Derived from stored traits | Comfortable for both. The shared band 20–26 °C sits centrally in both ranges, with room to drift. |
| pH | Derived from stored traits | One animal at the edge of its range. The shared band 6.5–7.5 pH sits at the top of one animal's range, so that animal is permanently at its limit even though the overlap looks generous. |
| Hardness | Derived from stored traits | Workable. The shared band 6–10 °dGH is usable, though it does not sit centrally for both animals. |
| Body size | Derived from stored traits | Adult sizes are comparable at about 4 cm and 3.5 cm, so neither is a mouthful for the other. |
| Predation | Evidence-backed | Highest predation risk in either direction is "none". Reported: Adult cherry shrimp are too large for a neon tetra; newly released shrimplets are not, and are taken consistently. A colony with neons persists but does not grow, which reads to a keeper as the shrimp failing to breed. |
| Territoriality | Derived from stored traits | Neither animal holds a territory. |
| Breeding aggression | Derived from stored traits | Neither becomes notably more aggressive while spawning. |
| Fin-nipping | Derived from stored traits | No nipper-and-target combination between these two. |
| Aggression | Derived from stored traits | Strongest intraspecific aggression across the pair is "none". It bears on the pairing because a fish under pressure from its own kind redirects. |
| Social requirements | Derived from stored traits | Cherry shrimp needs at least 10; Neon tetra needs at least 8. A shoaling species held below its threshold shows chronic stress and, in several species, increased aggression towards tankmates. |
| Group-size dependency | Derived from stored traits | The outcome depends on group size as much as on the pairing: under-grouped shoalers nip more and hide more. |
| Tank zone | Derived from stored traits | The two use different levels of the tank, which reduces direct competition for space. |
| Activity level | Derived from stored traits | Activity levels are compatible. |
| Food competition | Derived from stored traits | Different feeding strategies, so direct competition is limited. |
| Risk to shrimp and snails | Derived from stored traits | Highest risk either animal poses to dwarf shrimp or snails is "moderate". |
| Effect on plants | Derived from stored traits | Neither animal damages planting. |
| Tank dimensions | Derived from stored traits | The more demanding of the two needs at least 60 L and 60 cm of length before anything else is in the tank. Volume alone does not describe a home for a fish that swims in straight lines. |
| Life stage | Evidence-backed | Life-stage dependency: decisive. Adults are reported as untroubled. Nothing in the pairing threatens a full-grown shrimp. |
| Individual variation | Evidence-backed | Individual variation: none. |
Environmental overlap
| Parameter | Shared range | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 20–26 °C | Aim for the middle of the shared band. |
| pH | 6.5–7.5 | Stability matters more than the exact figure. |
| Hardness | 6–10 °dGH | Check your source water before committing. |
What this assessment cannot tell you
- Individual temperament varies, particularly in cichlids and in bettas, and can override a favourable verdict for Cherry shrimp or Neon tetra.
- The assessment is for the pair in isolation. A third species can change the outcome in either direction.
- Both animals are assessed at adult size, not at the size they are sold.
- A verdict is a statement about probability, not a guarantee.
Where the two water bands meet
Derived from the ranges AquariumHQ publishes for each species. The compatibility engine reads the same numbers; this is what they look like drawn on one axis.
Temperature (°C)
Scale: 0 to 36 °C.
pH (pH)
Scale: 4 to 9.5 pH.
Hardness (°dGH)
Scale: 0 to 30 °dGH.
Why the bands sit where they do
The overlap above is arithmetic. This is where the two numbers came from — the kind of water each animal is recorded from, and how much room that leaves.
These two animals come from different kinds of water, and that is where the arithmetic below comes from rather than from anything about their temperaments.
Cherry shrimp
Subtropical stream
100–500 µS/cm · moderate flow · near saturation oxygen
Neon tetra
Blackwater
shaded upper-Amazon tributaries, black and clear water mixed
8–40 µS/cm · low flow · moderate oxygen
- TemperatureCherry shrimp 18–27°CNeon tetra 20–26°C
Both inside their range from 20–26°C — 100% of the narrower animal’s range.
A wide window. Both animals are inside their own range across most of it, and the tank can be run without either sitting at an edge.
- pHCherry shrimp 6.5–8Neon tetra 4–7.5
Both inside their range from 6.5–7.5 — 67% of the narrower animal’s range.
A wide window. Both animals are inside their own range across most of it, and the tank can be run without either sitting at an edge.
- General hardnessCherry shrimp 6–15 dGHNeon tetra 1–10 dGH
Both inside their range from 6–10 dGH — 44% of the narrower animal’s range.
A real window, and a narrow one. The tank has to be held inside it, and there is little room for the drift that happens between water changes.
Computed from the ranges AquariumHQ publishes for each species, each of which records what it rests on — a source value, a habitat inference, a physiological requirement or a trade convention. Most are habitat inferences, and the species pages say which.