The honest rule of shrimp tank mates: adult cherry shrimp are safe with small peaceful species; shrimplets are food for almost everyone. Pick from the list below, keep dense moss for cover, and your colony will grow even in a community tank. These picks are tested daily in our own store tanks in Sydney.
Snails — the perfect neighbours (1–4)
1. Nerite snails · 2. Mystery snails · 3. Ramshorn snails · 4. Malaysian trumpet snails. Zero threat at any life stage, and they eat the algae and leftovers shrimp miss. Browse our aquatic snails — more detail in helpful snails for freshwater tanks.
Fellow shrimp (5–6)
5. Amano shrimp — bigger, completely peaceful, and the best algae-eating workhorse in the hobby. 6. Other Neocaridina colours — totally compatible, but note they interbreed and colours dilute over generations (details in our breeding guide).
Peaceful nano fish (7–10)
7. Neon tetras · 8. Ember tetras · 9. Chili rasboras · 10. Otocinclus. Small mouths, mid-water swimmers, minimal interest in shrimp. Otos are the single safest fish in the hobby — pure algae eaters. Find them in our aquatic fish range.
Bottom dwellers (11–12)
11. Corydoras (pygmy or sterbai) — peaceful scavengers that ignore adult shrimp. 12. Bristlenose plecos — algae specialists that grow larger but stay uninterested in shrimp; see our algae eater collection.
❌ The do-not list
Bettas, angelfish, gouramis (dwarf included), barbs, most cichlids, goldfish and anything predatory or big-mouthed. They will hunt shrimp — sometimes slowly enough that you blame the water instead. If shrimp keep vanishing, run through Why are my shrimp dying?
Setup that makes it work
- Dense moss — shrimplet survival lives and dies on cover
- Feed fish first, at the other end of the tank
- Never add fish to a brand-new colony — let shrimp establish for a month first
Build your community
Start with cherry shrimp, add from this list, and everything ships Australia-wide with our Live Arrival Guarantee. Care basics are in Shrimp Care 101.
