Green Jade Shrimp
Neocaridina davidi
Also known as: Jade shrimp, Green Neocaridina, Green shrimp
Quick Facts
- Adult size: 3 cm (1.25 inches)
- Minimum tank size: 19 litres (5 gallons)
- Lifespan: 1–2 years
- Temperament: peaceful
- Swimming level: bottom-and-middle
- Diet: omnivore
- Minimum group size: 10
- Difficulty: beginner
Water Parameters
- Temperature: 18–26°C
- pH: 6.5–7.5
- Hardness (GH): 125–250 ppm (7–14 dGH)
Values above are general hardness (GH). For carbonate hardness (KH), the buffer that keeps pH stable, see the water parameters guide.
Care Summary
One of the newer and rarer Neocaridina davidi colour directions, the Green Jade is a soft olive to emerald shrimp with a semi-translucent body, bred from the same hardy species as the cherry. Its care is identical to the cherry and firmly beginner-friendly: peaceful, adaptable, and well suited to the moderately hard, slightly alkaline water common across Australia, breeding readily in a stable, mature, planted, copper-free tank. Because green is a less fixed line than red or blue, colour can be variable and a colony needs selective culling of pale individuals to hold its quality over the generations. As with every Neocaridina, keep a single colour per tank so the morphs do not interbreed back to wild brown, and keep all copper out of the water.
Tankmates
Like all dwarf shrimp, Green Jades are tiny and defenceless, so adults are easily eaten and shrimplets picked off by most fish, even species sold as shrimp-safe. For a thriving colony, keep them in a shrimp-only tank or with only very small, gentle fish such as otocinclus and ember tetras, and plant densely with mosses for cover. Being Neocaridina, they want the opposite water to the Caridina bee shrimp: moderately hard and neutral to slightly alkaline, which suits most Australian tap water. Keep one Neocaridina colour per tank, since different colours interbreed and revert to wild brown. Killed by copper, so avoid copper-based medications and fertilisers.
Compatible with
Avoid keeping with
- Betta
- Angelfish
- Guppy Fry Predators
- Large Cichlids
- Loaches
- Gourami
- Kuhli Loach
- Dwarf Chain Loach
- Assassin Snail
- Tiger Barb
- Electric Yellow Cichlid
- Bumblebee Goby
Common Problems
- copper poisoning from medications or fertilisers
- colony collapse from ammonia or nitrite spikes in an immature tank
- variable or fading colour without selective culling of the colony
- loss of colour if mixed with other Neocaridina morphs, whose offspring revert to wild brown
- predation by fish tankmates
Sources: seriouslyfish.com, shrimpscience.com · Last updated: 2026-10-05