What Is an Ornamental Shrimp?

Two kinds of shrimp wind up in aquariums. If you added the shrimp to the aquarium to admire, like a fish, it's an ornamental shrimp. If you added it as a snack for your other pets, it's a feeder shrimp. Sometimes, the same shrimp can be ornamental or feeder depending who buys it. Many different species and varieties of ornamental shrimp have found their way into the hobby.

  1. Ghost Shrimp

    • Ghost shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) sell under several other names, including glass shrimp and grass shrimp. They are often sold as cheap feeders, usually several for a dollar. However, they make interesting aquarium additions in their own right, provided their tank mates don't get large enough to eat them. Ghost shrimp are almost totally transparent and grow to about an inch and a half long. They adapt well to aquarium conditions, and may even breed in the home aquarium.

    Amano Shrimp

    • Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata) were first introduced to the aquarium hobby by Takashi Amano, a Japanese aquarium guru famous for his "nature-style" aquarium. Amano shrimp have a harder time adapting to aquarium life than some ornamental shrimp. They rarely breed in captivity, so specimens are still often wild-caught. They also need vegetable-containing foods, like veggie pellets to keep them healthy and fed. They resemble ghost shrimp, with a curved back and slightly more opaque bodies.

    Bamboo Shrimp

    • Bamboo shrimp (Atyopsis spp.) also go by several common names, including glower shrimp or fan shrimp. They grow larger than most ornamental shrimp, reaching a size of about three inches. This gives them a somewhat crayfish-like appearance. These ornamental shrimp prefer strong current and will often hang out near filter outlets to get it. They use their fan-like appendages to filter food out of the water column. The best way to feed them is to grind up fish food into dust and release it up-current of them.

    Red Cherry Shrimp

    • Red cherry shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda var. red) have a lot to recommend them for novice shrimp-keepers. They are hardy, and males are very colorful -- bright red marking on a white body -- while the females are drab, with muted colors. This species breeds rapidly in captivity, lowering their price. However, like other small ornamental shrimp, even medium-sized aquarium fish may see them as bite-sized snacks. Some sources recommend keeping them in dedicated tanks without fish tankmates.