Shrimp SD › Neocaridina vs Caridina
Decision guide
Neocaridina vs Caridina — which shrimp should you keep?
They look similar in the bag and they are almost opposites in the tank. One lives happily in dechlorinated San Diego tap water. The other needs water you build from scratch. Here is how to choose, and why you cannot do both in one tank.
The short answer
Start with Neocaridina — red cherry is the classic first shrimp. Move to Caridina only once a colony has been stable for a few months and you are willing to build RO water. Never keep the two together.
Neocaridina (Neocaridina davidi) covers the color morphs most people picture: cherry, fire red, bloody mary, blue dream, yellow golden-back and the rest. Caridina covers crystal red and crystal black, the Taiwan bee lines (king kong, panda, blue bolt, wine red) and tiger shrimp. Different genera, different water, different level of commitment.
Side by side
| Difficulty | Neocaridina — beginner. Forgiving of small mistakes. Caridina — intermediate to advanced. Not fragile day to day, but unforgiving of parameter drift. |
|---|---|
| Water | Neocaridina — GH 6–8 (tolerate to about 12), KH 2–8, TDS 150–250 ppm. Caridina — crystals and Taiwan bees: GH 4–6, KH 0–1, pH 5.8–6.5, TDS 100–130 ppm. |
| San Diego tap water | Neocaridina — works as it comes. Treat it with a conditioner that neutralizes chloramine, every time. Caridina — unusable. It is hard and buffered; no additive turns it into Caridina water. |
| Water source | Neocaridina — dechlorinated tap. Caridina — RO or distilled water plus a GH-only remineralizer. |
| Substrate | Neocaridina — inert is fine. Caridina — active buffering aquasoil that holds pH in the low 6s. It exhausts after roughly 18 months to 3 years. |
| Temperature | Neocaridina — 65–78°F; most San Diego rooms are fine without a heater. Caridina — 68–74°F; they dislike heat more, so summer can mean a fan across the surface. |
| Tank size | Neocaridina — 5 gallons will hold a colony; 10 is easier. Caridina — 10 gallons minimum. Larger volumes swing less, and swing is what kills. |
| Setting up | Neocaridina — cycle the tank, plant it, add shrimp. Caridina — set up, plant, cycle and leave alone for six to eight weeks before the first shrimp goes in. |
| Interbreeding | Neocaridina — all color morphs interbreed; offspring revert to wild-type brown within a few generations. One color per tank. Caridina — species cross with each other (crystals × tigers make tibees), so mixing lines turns a good colony into something unrecognizable. |
For every species and every number in one place, see the water parameter reference.
Why you can’t keep them in the same tank
This is the mistake that costs people the most money. The two genera do not interbreed, so there is no genetic problem. The problem is water. Neocaridina want hard, buffered water; Caridina want soft, acidic water over buffering soil. Any single tank is wrong for one of them.
The damage is slow, which is what makes it so expensive. Wrong mineral content does not kill shrimp overnight. It shows up as failed molts days or weeks later, long after you stopped thinking about the water. Two tanks, or pick one.
What Caridina actually cost you
The shrimp themselves are only part of it. Before the first Caridina goes in, budget for:
An RO source
An RO unit, or a reliable supply of RO water. You are building the water from nothing so you know exactly what is in it.
A GH-only remineralizer
GH-only, not GH+KH. Adding carbonate hardness fights the soil that is trying to acidify the tank, and the soil loses.
Active soil
The soil does the buffering. Plan on replacing it when it exhausts, typically after 18 months to 3 years.
A TDS meter
The cheapest instrument in the hobby and the one that tells you the most. Buy it before the shrimp.
Neocaridina need none of this in San Diego. That is why they are the better first shrimp, and why people who over-engineer a cherry tank tend to do worse than people who leave it alone.
So which should you choose?
Choose Neocaridina if…
This is your first shrimp tank, you want a colony that breeds on its own, or you would rather use tap water than run RO. Red cherry is the easiest start; blue dream is the striking blue. Read the Neocaridina guide.
Choose Caridina if…
You have kept a Neocaridina colony for a few months, you are happy to build and monitor RO water, and you want crystal reds or Taiwan bees. Read the Caridina guide first.
Not sure? Tigers or Amano
Tiger shrimp (Caridina mariae) tolerate slightly harder water and a pH nearer neutral, which makes them the sensible first Caridina. Amano shrimp are a wide-tolerance algae crew that suits tap water.
The path most people should take: get a Neocaridina colony breeding on its own first. A colony that has held for three months tells you your husbandry is good enough for Caridina; nothing else does.
Questions we get asked
Should a beginner start with Neocaridina or Caridina?
Neocaridina. Red cherry in a cycled, planted tank is the usual first shrimp because it forgives mistakes and, in San Diego, lives happily in dechlorinated tap water. Caridina need RO water, a GH-only remineralizer and active buffering soil, and they tolerate very little drift.
Can Neocaridina and Caridina live in the same tank?
Not for long. They are different genera and will not interbreed, so there is no genetic risk, but they want opposite water. In a shared tank one group is always wrong and slowly fails to molt. Keep two tanks, or pick one.
Is Caridina really that much harder than Neocaridina?
The shrimp are not fragile day to day. The difficulty is that you have to build and maintain the water they live in: RO or distilled water, a GH-only remineralizer, active soil that buffers pH into the low 6s, and enough patience to cycle the tank for six to eight weeks before the shrimp go in.
Can I use San Diego tap water for Caridina?
No. San Diego tap is hard and buffered, the opposite of what crystal red and Taiwan bee shrimp need, and no additive converts it. Tiger shrimp tolerate slightly harder water and are the sensible first Caridina for someone stepping across from Neocaridina.
Which is the better step up after cherry shrimp?
Once a Neocaridina colony has held for about three months, you know your husbandry is good enough to try Caridina. Start with tiger shrimp or an A-grade crystal red rather than the highest grades, which cost more and are not hardier.
Bring a water sample, we’ll test it
Not sure which side of the line your tank is on? Bring a sample to the Convoy store and we will test it and tell you honestly whether your tank is ready or whether you should wait a few weeks. For a Caridina setup, bring your mixed RO-plus-remineralizer water rather than tap, because that is the water that matters.
Or visit us at 4160 Convoy St, San Diego — open seven days, 10am–6pm.