Blue shrimp compared: which blue shrimp suits your tank

Blue is the colour most people want in their first "nice" shrimp tank, and it comes in more forms than you might expect. Some blue shrimp are hardy Neocaridina kept in dechlorinated tap water. Others are Caridina that need soft, acidic water made from RO. A few are Sulawesi shrimp that need warm, hard, alkaline water. They can all look blue in a photo, but they are three different fishkeeping projects.

This guide sorts the blue shrimp we breed and sell by the water they need, which is the choice that matters most.

Start with your water, not the colour

The biggest mistake with blue shrimp is picking the prettiest one first and working out the water later. Blue shrimp fall into three water groups, and a tank can only really suit one of them:

• Neocaridina (tap-water safe): pH 6.8–7.8, GH 6–10, KH 2–6. Usually kept in dechlorinated tap water; test yours against these ranges.
• Caridina / Taiwan Bee (RO water): pH 5.5–6.5, GH 4–6, KH 0–1. Needs RO water remineralised for shrimp, and usually an active soil that holds the pH down.
• Sulawesi (remineralised alkaline): pH 7.8–8.2, GH 6–8, KH 3–6, kept warm. Also built from RO water, but pushed the other way.

If you are not sure which group suits you, Neocaridina vs Caridina walks through the difference.

Blue Neocaridina: tap-water blues

These are the same species as cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi), just bred for blue. They share cherry shrimp's hardiness and breed readily in a settled tank. On our listings they carry the Beginner care level.

• Blue Dream: a solid, deep-blue shell.
• Ultra Blue: bright solid blue all over, at its best under strong light.
• Blue Jelly: a paler, translucent blue. Softer-looking than Blue Dream.

One thing to know about blue Neocaridina: juveniles arrive lighter and colour up as they grow, and colour can vary from shrimp to shrimp in a colony. Water parameters for Neocaridina covers keeping them.

Blue Caridina: the Taiwan Bee blues

These are Caridina lines, most of them from the Taiwan Bee family. The blue here is often deeper and more solid than in Neocaridina, but they need soft, acidic RO water and a stable tank. On our listings they carry the Intermediate or Advanced care level.

• Extreme Blue Bolt: solid blue from head to tail, with no white fade.
• Ocean Blue: a blue shrimp whose tail darkens to a deep ocean blue as it grows.
• Orange Based Blue Steel: a solid blue shell with an orange tone toward the tail.
• Blue Dragon Calceo: deep blue through the shell and the tissue underneath.
• Orange Eyes Blue Devil: deep blue with orange eyes, darkening with each moult.

Read Water parameters for Caridina and Taiwan Bee shrimp before you buy any of these.

Blue Sulawesi: warm, hard-water blues

Sulawesi shrimp come from the ancient lakes of Sulawesi in Indonesia and want warm, alkaline water, inert hardscape and a mature tank. They are a specialist choice.

• Blue Ghost Sulawesi: deep blue over black, a captive-bred strain.
• Orange Eyes Blue Ghost: the same look with orange eyes.
• Blue Leg Poso (Caridina caerulea): a translucent body with vivid blue legs, from Lake Poso.

Can different blues live together?

Only within the same water group, and even then think about breeding. Different Neocaridina colours will interbreed, and the young usually drift back toward wild brown over generations. The same is true of most Caridina lines. If you want a blue colony that stays blue, keep one line per tank.

Neocaridina and Caridina won't interbreed, but their water needs are too far apart to share a tank well.

Buying blue shrimp from us

We ship unsexed juveniles, 0.6–1.2 cm, by express post on Mondays and Tuesdays, covered by our Live Arrival Guarantee. Graded lines are sorted to our grading standard, and Shipping & Live Arrival explains how delivery works. We can't send live animals to WA, the NT or Tasmania.

Browse every line in Neocaridina, Caridina or Sulawesi.