Snowball Shrimp

Neocaridina davidi

Also known as: White Pearl shrimp, Snowflake shrimp, Neocaridina

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

An opaque, milky-white Neocaridina, the Snowball takes its name from its eggs, which look like tiny snowballs carried under the female's tail. It is usually sold as a Neocaridina davidi variety and is sometimes listed under the older name Neocaridina zhangjiajiensis (the pearl shrimp), but it is kept exactly like the cherry: peaceful, hardy, and well suited to the moderately hard, slightly alkaline water of most Australian taps, breeding freely in a stable, mature, planted, copper-free tank. The white shows best over dark substrate and planting. Because the colour is fixed through some inbreeding, snowball colonies can be a touch more sensitive than reds, so stable water matters. Keep one Neocaridina colour per tank to stop the morphs crossing to wild brown, and keep all copper out of the water.

Tankmates

Like all dwarf shrimp, Snowballs 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

• Bronze Corydoras
• Neon Tetra
• Harlequin Rasbora
• Otocinclus
• Mystery Snail
• Ember Tetra

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
• slightly higher sensitivity than other morphs from the inbreeding that fixes the white
• 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