Can Cherry Shrimp Live With Chili Rasbora?

The chili rasbora is a planted-tank fish that can be housed alongside Neocaridina shrimp, and cherry shrimp have been kept with it successfully. At about 2 cm it is smaller than an adult shrimp, very peaceful and rather timid.

It is a micropredator, though, taking tiny insects, worms and crustaceans in nature, and almost all fish eat baby shrimp. Some newborn cherries will be eaten, so plant moss and fine-leaved plants thickly to keep the colony going.

The water is the narrow part. Chilis take pH 4 to 7 and cherries 6.5 to 8, so the shared window is pH 6.5 to 7 at 20 to 28 °C. Keep the chilis in a group of 8 to 10 or more, with dim light and floating plants, in a tank with a base of at least 45 by 30 cm. In a proper group the males show their best colours as they compete for the females.