Feeding shrimp is where a lot of well-meaning keepers go wrong, because they treat dwarf shrimp like tiny fish. They are not. Neocaridina shrimp — cherries, bloody marys, blue dreams, and the rest — are grazers and scavengers, not predators, and the foundation of their diet is something you cannot order: the biofilm that grows on every surface in a mature tank. Understanding that changes everything about how you feed them, including the much smaller role that "live food" actually plays. This guide explains what genuinely feeds a thriving colony, where live and supplemental foods fit, and the feeding mistakes that crash shrimp tanks.
The Most Important Shrimp Food Is Free
Biofilm — the microscopic layer of bacteria, algae, and microorganisms coating glass, plants, substrate, and hardscape — is the staple diet of dwarf shrimp. You will see your colony grazing it constantly: that endless picking at surfaces is them eating. In a mature, established tank, biofilm plus the algae and detritus that accumulate naturally can sustain a colony with very little added food.
This is why the number-one rule of shrimp feeding is counterintuitive: feed sparingly. A healthy planted shrimp tank generates a lot of grazing food on its own, and the fastest way to crash a colony is to overfeed, foul the water, and trigger ammonia or a bacterial bloom. Most shrimp deaths attributed to "disease" are really water-quality crashes from overfeeding.
Breeder's note: the best thing you can do for shrimplet survival is not a special food — it is a mature tank with abundant biofilm and a layer of leaf litter and botanicals. Baby shrimp graze biofilm and the microfauna it supports; a sterile, scrubbed tank starves them.
What to Actually Feed (and How Often)
Beyond the biofilm base, shrimp benefit from light, varied supplementation a few times a week:
| Food | Role | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Biofilm + algae (in-tank) | Staple — always available | Constant |
| Blanched vegetables (zucchini, spinach, etc.) | Plant matter, fibre | 1–2x / week |
| Leaf litter & botanicals (almond/oak leaves) | Slow-release biofilm + grazing | Always present |
| Quality shrimp food / biofilm boosters | Targeted nutrition, minerals | A few times / week, tiny amounts |
| Occasional protein | Variety, conditioning | Sparingly |
The discipline that matters: feed an amount the colony clears in 2–3 hours, and remove anything uneaten. If food sits overnight, you fed too much.
Where Live Food Fits
Here is the honest part: dwarf shrimp do not need live food the way carnivorous fish do, because they are not hunters. But live food still has two genuine roles in a shrimp context.
Daphnia as a tankmate, not just a food. Daphnia and shrimp coexist peacefully, and daphnia filter-feeds on the same suspended particles and algae, helping keep the water clear. In a shrimp tank, a small daphnia population acts as a living water conditioner, and the shrimp will pick at dead daphnia as a protein bonus. See the Daphnia entry.
Occasional protein for conditioning. A small amount of protein-rich food now and then supports moulting and breeding, but it must be measured carefully — protein fouls water fastest, and shrimp need far less of it than fish.
A word of caution on scuds: scuds are an outstanding live food for fish, but in a dedicated shrimp colony they compete with shrimp for biofilm and food, so most keepers culture scuds separately rather than running them loose in a breeding shrimp tank. The full trade-off is in the Scuds entry and the Live Food Encyclopedia.
The Mineral Side: GH and Moulting
This is not food, but it is the most common shrimp-feeding-adjacent killer, so it belongs here. Shrimp build their exoskeletons from minerals in the water — calcium and magnesium, measured as general hardness (GH). Too-soft water causes failed moults, one of the most common ways colonies quietly decline. No amount of feeding fixes a GH problem. Target GH around 6–12 dGH for Neocaridina, and check your water with the GH/KH converter before blaming food for losses.
Feeding Mistakes That Crash Shrimp Tanks
- Overfeeding — the single biggest killer. Sparingly is the rule.
- Treating shrimp like fish — heavy protein feeding fouls the water and is unnecessary.
- A too-clean tank — scrubbing away biofilm starves the colony, especially shrimplets.
- Copper exposure — many foods and medications contain copper, which is lethal to shrimp. Check labels.
- Ignoring GH — failed moults from soft water look like a feeding or disease problem but are a mineral problem.
Setting Up a Colony That Feeds Itself
The endgame for a shrimp keeper is a mature, planted, botanical-rich tank that largely feeds the colony on its own — biofilm, algae, and leaf litter doing most of the work, with light supplementation a few times a week. That self-sustaining stability is also what drives breeding and shrimplet survival.
Starting from healthy, hardy stock matters as much as feeding: a robust colony withstands minor mistakes that would crash weak shrimp. Blackwater Aquatics ships Canadian-bred cherry shrimp and several other hardy Neocaridina lines. If you also keep fish and want to add shrimp, read Betta and Shrimp first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do cherry shrimp eat?
Cherry shrimp are grazers whose staple food is biofilm — the microscopic layer of bacteria and algae on every surface in a mature tank — plus algae and detritus. Beyond that, feed light supplements a few times a week: blanched vegetables, leaf litter and botanicals, and small amounts of quality shrimp food. They need far less food than fish, and overfeeding is the most common cause of colony crashes.
Do shrimp need live food?
Not really. Dwarf shrimp are grazers and scavengers, not hunters, so they do not require live food the way carnivorous fish do. Live daphnia can coexist in the tank as a water conditioner and occasional protein, but the core diet is biofilm, algae, botanicals, and light supplementation. Scuds are best cultured separately, since they compete with shrimp for food.
How often should I feed shrimp?
Feed only a few times a week, and only an amount the colony clears in two to three hours, removing anything uneaten. A mature planted tank produces enough biofilm and algae to feed shrimp with very little added food. Overfeeding is the fastest way to foul the water and crash a colony.
What is the best food for baby shrimp (shrimplets)?
The best food for shrimplets is a mature tank with abundant biofilm and a layer of leaf litter and botanicals, which they graze continuously along with the microfauna it supports. Powdered biofilm-booster foods can help, but a well-established, lightly cleaned tank matters far more than any specific product. A scrubbed, sterile tank starves baby shrimp.
Why do my shrimp keep dying even though I feed them?
The most common causes are overfeeding (fouling the water), insufficient GH causing failed moults, copper exposure from foods or medications, and an immature or over-cleaned tank lacking biofilm. Shrimp losses are far more often a water-quality or mineral problem than a feeding-quantity problem — feed sparingly, keep GH around 6–12 dGH, and avoid copper.
Get the live food in this guide
Blackwater Aquatics ships breeder-grade live scuds, daphnia, and microworm cultures across Canada — the exact foods referenced above.