Can Black Skirt Tetra live with Cardinal Shrimp?
Caution — with care
Why
- Black Skirt Tetra is not on the verified shrimp-safe list, so we will not recommend it over a breeding Cardinal Shrimp colony. It may well be fine — it simply has not been confirmed by a source, and an unverified guess is not worth the colony.
- Black Skirt Tetra is 3.1× the length of Cardinal Shrimp and big enough to swallow one. Some keepers get away with it in a heavily planted tank; it is a real risk.
- Black Skirt Tetra will eat Cardinal Shrimp shrimplets. The colony still grows if there is moss or another dense hiding place for the babies.
- Only a narrow pH overlap — keep both around 7.5–7.5.
Sweet spot: both do well at 79–82°F and pH 7.5–7.5 — aim there.
Side-by-side
| Black Skirt Tetra | Cardinal Shrimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 70–82°F | 79–84°F |
| pH | 5.5–7.5 | 7.5–8.5 |
| Hardness (GH) | 3–15 dGH | 8–18 dGH |
| Adult size | 2.5" | 0.8" |
| Temperament | Semi-aggressive | Peaceful |
| Min tank | 20 gal | 15 gal |
Together, plan on at least 20 gallons.
How to make it work
- Keep a large, established shrimp colony in a heavily planted tank with moss and cover so enough survive to breed.
- Add only full-grown adults — never juveniles, which will be eaten.
- Target the overlapping water-parameter range and acclimate slowly.
Sort it with: A larger tank · GH remineraliser
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Design a tank with Black Skirt Tetra, Cardinal Shrimp →Everything compatible with Black Skirt Tetra · …with Cardinal Shrimp