Yellow Shrimp

Neocaridina davidi

Also known as: Neon Yellow shrimp, Golden Back shrimp, Yellow Fire shrimp

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

A bright lemon-yellow colour morph of Neocaridina davidi, the same hardy species as the cherry shrimp. The strongest-coloured line carries an opaque golden stripe along the back and is sold as Golden Back or Neon Yellow. Care is identical to the cherry and about as easy as an aquarium animal gets: peaceful, undemanding, and happy in the moderately hard, slightly alkaline water of most Australian taps, breeding freely in a stable, mature, planted, copper-free tank from a starting group of ten. Yellow shows beautifully against dark substrate and green plants, though the colour can wash out on pale gravel or under a wild-type gene pool. Keep a single Neocaridina colour per tank, as mixing morphs produces wild-brown young, and skip all copper-based medications and fertilisers, to which every dwarf shrimp is fatally sensitive.

Tankmates

Like all dwarf shrimp, Yellow Shrimp 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
• moulting failure without enough calcium and general hardness
• washed-out colour on pale substrate or through hybridisation with other morphs
• predation by fish tankmates

Sources: seriouslyfish.com, shrimpscience.com · Last updated: 2026-10-05