Species Spotlight
Red Rili Shrimp are peaceful, hardy and sociable freshwater shrimp that make
excellent additions to the planted aquarium and community aquarium. These shrimp are suitable
for the beginner hobbyist as well as a novelty for the more advanced aquarist.
Red Rili Shrimp are admiringly adaptable creatures
that can live in almost any freshwater aquarium with various water parameters.
A shrimp colony will work hard to clean your aquarium of waste and algae.
You can keep Red Rili Shrimp with different shrimp species in the same aquarium, and you can also
house them with smaller non-aggressive peaceful fish such as Neon Tetras and Micro Rasboras.
In addition, placid bottom-dwellers that are too small to eat an adult shrimp,
like the Kuhli Loach, should work well, as would freshwater snails such as Nerites or Ramshorns.
However, it would be best to avoid keeping them with much larger, more aggressive
species as they will be seen as a snack. Red Rili Shrimp may become shy if you do
not provide them with enough places to flee to if they feel intimidated, helpless or scared, so make
sure you add decor like rocks, driftwood, plants and caves to help your shrimp feel more secure.
Red Rili Shrimp feature a prominent red and white colouration, with the white parts
appearing transparent. They have diverse transparent areas, from very little red to
mostly red with clear patches. However, their standard colour usually consists of red on the
head and tail with a clear body. In addition, these shrimp typically have different markings.
It is advisable not to keep various colour morphs of the Neocaridina species in the same aquarium;
otherwise, you will end up with "wild type" offspring that are
usually mostly translucent with brown spots or stripes.
Keeping only one colour together would be best to keep your shrimp colours solid and consistent.
You will not find Red Rili Shrimp naturally in the wild as they are a selectively bred strain
of neocaridina from the more common cherry shrimp, which originates from Taiwan in Southeast Asia.
Cherry Shrimp can be found inhabiting clear, slow-flowing waters in rivers,
ponds, streams and lakes with sandy or rocky substrate. Their habitat is
usually heavily vegetated with surrounding forested areas.
Red Rili Shrimp are unfussy and accept various foods, and in planted aquariums,
they may survive off scavenged biofilm and algae. If you have too many shrimp
in your tank for the available biofilm and algae or not enough plants to produce it,
you can supplement their diet with algae wafers, blanched vegetables, or other shrimp food.
It is essential not to overfeed your shrimp as this can damage their health and even result
in death. In addition, increased waste from overfeeding your shrimp can increase
tank maintenance, affect your nitrogen cycle, and harm your tank's inhabitants.
Feeding your shrimp once daily is usually enough, especially if algae and biofilm are available.
However, if your shrimp are not responding to food or leaving food uneaten for more than a day,
make sure you remove the food and decrease feeding.
It is relatively straightforward to differentiate between a male and a female Red Rili Shrimp.
The males are much smaller and usually less colourful than the female,
and because they do not need to carry eggs, their tails are generally narrower. In contrast,
females are more significant and usually display a more elaborate, opaque colouration.
Breeding Red Rili Shrimp is straightforward. These shrimp reach sexual maturity when they are
between 4 and 6 months old. All you will need is a small colony of around ten individuals;
this will ensure you have both males and females.
To encourage breeding, condition your shrimp with high-quality foods and keep
your water quality reasonable by performing regular water changes.
If your female shrimp are healthy, they should be pregnant most of the time.
Female shrimp will carry their eggs between their back legs,
regularly splashing fresh water over them and picking off any rotten eggs to prevent
fungus. The eggs will usually hatch around 28 to 30 days later.
The shrimplets will look like miniature replicas of the adults,
and there is no need to remove them to a separate tank.
Instead, ensure they have plenty of food, and they should develop and colour up relatively quickly.
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