Maximize Your Rili Shrimp’s Lifespan With 16 Pro Care Tips

If you have such fantastic shrimp named Rili shrimp with red and white-translucent parts, you may want long company by these beautiful shrimp. Since not all natural factors are present in captivity, you should take care of a few things to ensure the longevity of your Rili shrimp. I’ve come up with 16 pro care tips that help you maximize your Rili shrimp’s lifespan.

So, you shouldn’t miss this article if you own Rili shrimp as pets. Firstly, let’s check out the average lifespan of Rili shrimp.

How Long Do RILI Shrimp Live?

The average lifespan of Rili shrimp depends on various factors. In the wild, the life of these shrimp may end at an early age due to predators. On the other hand, environmental inconvenience can cause the death of your Rili shrimp in captivity.

If you take good care of your Rili shrimp, your pet shrimp may reach its adult stage. On average, Rili shrimp can live up to 2 years in the wild and captivity.

16 Pro Care Tips To Maximize Your Rili Shrimp’s Lifespan

1. Acclimating Your Rili Shrimp

The beginners often become shocked when their newly brought shrimp die within a few hours or days. Poor acclimatization may cause the short lifespan of your newly-brought Rili shrimp. Because of being aquatic creatures, you can not dump your new Rili shrimp readily in the previously set-up tank.

If you want to maximize your Rili shrimp’s lifespan, you should acclimate your newly arrived Rili shrimp first. The acclimation process will allow your Rili shrimp to adjust to the temperature and other water parameters.

Besides, your Rili shrimp will not get shocked if you acclimatize your Rili shrimp before introducing them into the new tank. You can choose a drip acclimation process for your Rili shrimp. Otherwise, you can keep the non-breathing bag with your Rili shrimp over the tank to adapt to the temperature.

2. Maturing The Rili Shrimp Tank

A pro tip to maximize your Rili shrimp’s lifespan is to introduce your shrimp in a matured tank. While setting up your Rili shrimp tank, you should remain patient to make the aquarium mature. For this, you may have to wait for 4-6 weeks.

The experts suggest not adding any plants or livestock before maturing the tank. Firstly, you should run the filter of your Rili shrimp tank. Keep the lighting off. These will trigger the growth of microbes in the filter, substrate, and overall tank.

The benefit of adding your Rili shrimp into a matured tank is ensuring their long lifespan. After all, a matured tank is a healthy tank where beneficial microorganisms develop in the tank. These beneficial bacteria can kill off the disease pathogens and other harmful organisms.

When you add Rili shrimp to the tank, these shrimp must start releasing biological wastes. The danger occurs with decomposing of the wastes. When these wastes start decaying, these wastes will add ammonia to the tank water.

In a matured tank, this ammonia will break down into nitrite. Further, another group of nitrifying bacteria will turn this nitrite into nitrate. Not to mention, these nitrates are safe for your Rili shrimp. So, your Rili shrimp will not fall into the life risk in a matured tank due to the growth of beneficial microorganisms.

3. Keeping Ideal Water Parameters

Generally, shrimp lovers tend to choose Rili shrimp when they look for low-maintenance shrimp. These stunning Rili shrimp can thrive in soft or hard water.

But, you shouldn’t take their hardy nature for granted. To maximize the lifespan of your Rili shrimp, you should keep ideal water parameters in the tank.

Let’s check out the optimal water parameters for your Rili shrimp at a glance.

Categories	Features
pH	7-8
Temperature	64-84 degrees Fahrenheit
GH	4-8 dGH
KH	3-15 dKH
TDS	200-300 ppm
Ammonia	0-0.03 ppm
Nitrite	0-0.03 ppm
Nitrate	Less than 20 ppm
Chlorine	0 ppm

pH

Since Rili shrimp belong to Neocaridina species, these shrimp prefer a bit of alkali water. You should try to keep the water neutral or slightly alkali. Hence, the ideal pH for Rili shrimp ranges from 7 to 8.

The experts suggest a pro tip to keep the pH 7.5 to help your Rili shrimp thrive well in captivity. You should keep pH test kits to check out the pH level of your Rili shrimp tank.

GH

You might know Rili shrimp as hard water shrimp species. These shrimp prefer high GH to thrive in a closed enclosure. Generally, GH indicates the measurement of calcium and magnesium in the water. In this degree of hardness, Rili shrimp prefer 4-8 dGH.

KH

The amount of carbonate and bicarbonates dissolved in water is expressed as KH. For Neocaridina shrimp, the optimal KH range should be within 1-10. Make sure that the KH and GH ranges do not fluctuate much in your Rili shrimp tank.

Ammonia

To maximize the lifespan of your Rili shrimp, you should keep the ammonia level in check. A large number of Rili shrimp die due to ammonia burn in captivity. To keep your Rili shrimp safe, you should keep the ammonia level 0-0.03 ppm in the water of your shrimp tank.

Chlorine

The lifespan of your Rili shrimp may get shortened due to the presence of chlorine, chloramine, copper, etc. You should ensure that there are no such heavy compounds in the water of your Rili shrimp tank.

If you are confused about adding RO water to your Rili shrimp tank, this article will help you clear your confusion.

4. Do Not Encourage Ammonia Spike

The safe level of ammonia should remain within 0-0.03 ppm in your Rili shrimp tank. When the ammonia level goes higher than 0.25 ppm, there happens ammonia spike in your Rili shrimp tank. Such an ammonia spike can take the lives of your Rili shrimp.

To maximize your Rili shrimp’s lifespan, you should eliminate the encouraging factors for ammonia spike.

• Minimize the nitrogenous wastes in the tank. For this, you should control the population of your Rili shrimp.
• A large amount of decomposing shrimp waste triggers the ammonia spike.
• You should remove the uneaten foods before the foods start to decompose.
• Ammonia spike can happen when the nitrifying bacteria of the filter do not work properly. Hence, you should maintain proper cycling of the Rili shrimp tank.
• If you add tap water to your Rili shrimp tank, you should use a de-chlorinator.
• Do not forget to remove dead Rili shrimp. You can also pay a visit to this article: Is it okay to leave dead shrimp in the tank?

5. Do Not Make Large Water Change

Like other shrimp, Rili shrimp are also sensitive to water parameters. If you keep your Rili shrimp in stable water parameters, your Rili shrimp will live for a long period. A thumb rule is to make a 10% water change every two weeks.

Such small water changes prevent the water parameters of the water getting too bad. But, you must avoid making large water change in your Rili shrimp tank. Large water changes can cause shock to your Rili shrimp which leads to the premature death of your shrimp.

When your Rili shrimp can not adjust to the sudden changes in water, these creatures may get stressed. To maximize your Rili shrimp lifespan, you should avoid doing such a mistake.

6. Make The Water Contaminants Free

Due to piping and water sources, there can be contamination in the tank water. The presence of chloramine, copper and other heavy metals can be responsible for the short lifespan of your Rili shrimp.

If these contaminants do not take the lives of your Rili shrimp, they may cause deformities in your shrimp. So, you must keep water test kits to measure the copper or chloramine level. To maximize the lifespan of your Rili shrimp, you should take proper steps to make the water contaminants-free.

7. Keeping A Suitable Filtration System

Many shrimp owners follow a mechanical filtration system to keep their Rili shrimp healthy. In this process, they keep their Rili shrimp in a heavily planted tank.

But, a good filtration system can help your Rili shrimp live longer. Generally, the experts suggest buying such a filter that continues the mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration process.

A good filter cleans the leftovers, debris, and other waste. Besides, there remain beneficial bacteria in the filter media. These beneficial bacteria will turn out the ammonia into safe nitrate.

Since Rili shrimp survive in the water, a suitable filtration system is a must to keep the water quality good. Without a filter, your Rili shrimp may die due to poor oxygenation, high stress, or ammonia burn.

Also, you should be careful about the power of the filtration system. If you choose too powerful a filter, your baby Rili shrimp may get stuck into the filter intake.

8. Do Not Keep The Temperature Too High

Temperature is a significant environmental factor for the sound health of Rili shrimp. Cold water can slow the growth rate of Rili shrimp. On the other hand, Rili shrimp can reach maturity faster in higher temperatures.

Several surveys show that a warmer environment can shorten the lifespan of shrimp by making their growth rate faster. If you consistently keep the temperature higher than the ideal range, the lifespan of Rili shrimp will get shortened.

To maximize the lifespan of your shrimp, you should keep the temperature range within 64-84 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides, you must avoid temperature fluctuations to save your Rili shrimp.

9. Providing A Nutritious Diet

Another secret of shrimp’s long lifespan is their healthy diet. Because of being scavengers, many shrimp owners neglect the diet of their pet shrimp. If you want to maximize the lifespan of your Rili shrimp, you must provide a nutritious diet for your shrimp.

Usually, the main source of food comes from algae and biofilm of the Rili shrimp tank. Besides, you should feed homemade foods to keep your Rili shrimp healthy. You can choose several types of vegetables. Such as kale, cucumber, sweet potato, broccoli, carrot, etc.

But, you can not feed these raw veggies directly to your Rili shrimp. Firstly, you should chop these veggies into small pieces 1.25 cm thick. Then, you should boil these pieces for 2 minutes. Afterward, you should let these boiled veggies sink at the bottom of the tank.

You can make various types of recipes for homemade shrimp food. If you make a large badge of homemade foods, you can fridge these foods for later.

To ensure a nutritious diet, you can add commercial foods to your Rili shrimp diet. You can choose meatier or plant-based commercial foods for Rili shrimp. Besides, you can keep leaf litter for your Rili shrimp to munch on.

10. Encouraging Algae Growth In Rili Shrimp Tank

Like all shrimp, Rili shrimp like to nibble and eat soft algae growing in the tank. According to the researchers, algae takes up the largest share of the natural diet of shrimp. To create a well-balanced ecosystem, you should encourage the growth of algae, biofilm, and detritus in your Rili shrimp tank.

Several factors encourage algae growth in the Rili shrimp tank. Such as lighting intensity, water movement, nitrate and phosphate level in the water, warmer temperature, etc.

11. Adding Supplementation In Rili Shrimp’s Food

Several studies show that the outer shell of shrimp consists of 95-98% calcium carbonate. Due to calcium deficiency, your Rili shrimp may face trouble in molting. In worse cases, Rili shrimp may die if their exoskeleton is stuck in molting.

If you notice your Rili shrimp having trouble molting, you can check out this article to find proper instructions.

To maximize the lifespan of your Rili shrimp, you should add supplementation containing minerals, calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. The experts recommend Shrimp King Mineral, Hikari Crab Cuisine, Sungrow White Mineral powder, etc.

Instead of commercial supplementation, you can add cuttlefish bones, chicken eggshell powder, crushed oyster shells, crushed coral powder, wonder shells, etc.

12. Do Not Overfeed Your Rili Shrimp

Another secret to maximizing the lifespan of Rili shrimp is not to overfeed your Rili shrimp. Shrimp do not eat in large amounts. So, these Rili shrimp do not require regular feeding.

When you overfeed your Rili shrimp, there will be a large number of leftovers at the tank’s bottom. It’ll cause a great bioload in your Rili shrimp tank. As a result, there will be an ammonia spike in the tank.

Besides, overfeeding will cause various types of health issues in your Rili shrimp. Your pet shrimp may face digestion problems, bloating, etc. There can cause a breakout of parasites and bacteria in your Rili shrimp’s tank. So, you shouldn’t overfeed your Rili shrimp to ensure a healthy environment that can help these shrimp live longer.

13. Keeping Compatible Tank Mates For Rili Shrimp

Tank mates play a crucial role in maximizing the lifespan of your Rili shrimp. Your Rili shrimp may become prey to their larger tank mates due to their tiny size. You should avoid fish with fancy tails, goldfish, African dwarf frogs, Rainbowfish, cichlids, etc.

Moreover, aggressive tank mates tend to bully or nibble your Rili shrimp. Such acts make your Rili shrimp stressed, which may cause quick death before the average lifespan.

So, you must choose compatible tank mates for your Rili shrimp that may cause no harm to your shrimp. Make sure that your chosen tank mates do not fight for food with your Rili shrimp. To keep harmony in your Rili shrimp tank, you can choose any tank mates from the following list.

• Peaceful nano fish
• Amano shrimp
• Chili rasboras
• Endler’s livebearer
• Neon tetra
• Kuhli loach
• Pencil fish
• Thai Mico Crabs
• Clown killifish
• Aquarium snails
• Small invertebrates

14. Do Not Add Too Many Male Rili Shrimp

Talking about temperament, the Rili shrimp is one of the most peaceful shrimp. Despite their sociable nature, the male Rili shrimp tend to show territory over the female Rili shrimp.

It’s their natural behavior to compete for mating and food. Meanwhile, the female Rili shrimp may become stressed because of the competition caused by male shrimps. To create a balanced aquarium, you should keep an ideal ratio of male and female Rili shrimp.

15. Do Not Add Plants Directly To The Tank

Although the experts suggest keeping your Rili shrimp in a planted tank, you should not add plants directly to the tank. Generally, the shopkeepers tend to use chemicals in the aquatic plants to repel snails.

If you add plants without washing them thoroughly, these chemicals will kill your Rili shrimp. So, you should rinse plants a few times before placing them in the tank. It’ll add a few more years to your Rili shrimp’s lifespan.

16. Do Not Use Fish Medicines In Rili Shrimp’s Tank

If you coexist with fish and Rili shrimp, you may make the mistake of applying for fish medicines in the combined tank. But, this act will be lethal for your Rili shrimp.

In such cases, you should remove your Rili shrimp from a separate tank. You can place your Rili shrimp back into the tank when the treatment for your fish comes to an end.

Before You Go

I hope you got so many pro tips to maximize the lifespan of your Rili shrimp. Like Rili shrimp, there is another breathtakingly beautiful shrimp named the Red Fancy Tiger shrimp. If you want to keep these unique shrimp as pets, you should take a look at the following article.

The Ultimate Red Fancy Tiger Shrimp Care [Checklist]