10 x Primary Skittle Shrimp – Red, Blue, Yellow & Orange Neocaridina Mix – Ayr Aquatics

10 x Primary Skittle Shrimp Red Blue Yellow Orange – Bred in Ayr, Scotland

Our Primary Skittle pack is a bold four-colour mix of Neocaridina davidi shrimp in Red Cherry, Blue Diamond, Yellow Golden Back and Orange Sakura, with no browns, blacks or patterned shrimp. It gives you the brightest, cleanest rainbow you can put in a planted tank. Every shrimp is home-bred by Ayr Aquatics in Ayr, South Ayrshire from our own graded colonies.

This listing is for a pack of 10 Primary Skittle shrimp, our most popular size. Ten shrimp is the sweet spot for starting a breeding colony. It almost always includes a healthy mix of males and females, and it gives you enough shrimp to see them out and about grazing in a 20–40 litre planted tank. Once they settle, most keepers see berried (egg-carrying) females within a few weeks.

Colour and grade

We pick as even a split of the four colours as possible: a 20-pack is five of each, and a 10-pack is balanced as closely as the numbers allow (three of two colours, two of the others). The shrimp come from the same lines we sell as single-colour packs, so you get properly solid reds, deep glossy blues, bright yellows and vivid oranges, not washed-out culls.

Why choose Primary Skittle shrimp?

Red, blue, yellow and orange are the four colours that stand out most against green plants, so this pack gives the biggest visual impact for a display, aquascape, office or children's tank. It is also a great way to find out which colour you love most before committing to a single-colour colony.

Breeding a mixed colony: All four colours are the same species, so they will interbreed. The first generations give a fun mix of babies, and over time the colony drifts towards brown, wild-type colour. To keep the colours bright, top up with fresh shrimp now and then, or move your favourite colour into its own tank.

Water parameters

• Species: Neocaridina davidi
• Temperature: 18–26°C (no heater needed in most UK homes)
• pH: 6.5–8.0
• GH: 6–10 · KH: 2–8
• TDS: 150–300 ppm
• Adult size: approx 2–3cm
• Lifespan: 1–2 years

Caring for your Primary Skittle shrimp

Add them to a fully cycled tank only, with zero ammonia and nitrite. Shrimp are sensitive to copper, so check any plant fertilisers or medications before using them. Use dechlorinated tap water and do small, regular water changes of 10–20% a week rather than large ones. Moss, plants, cholla wood and Indian almond leaves give them biofilm to graze on and hiding places when moulting. Feed a quality shrimp food every day or two, in amounts they finish within a couple of hours, plus the occasional blanched vegetable.

Acclimatisation

Float the bag for 20–30 minutes to match temperature, then drip-acclimatise slowly over 1–2 hours before netting the shrimp into the tank. Do not pour the bag water into your aquarium. Keep the lights low for the first day and do not worry if they hide at first. That is normal.

Primary skittle shrimp FAQs

Is it an equal mix?
As close as we can make it. A 20-pack is five of each colour, and a 10-pack is split as evenly as the numbers allow.

Are they suitable for beginners?
Yes. They are as hardy as Red Cherry shrimp and easy to keep in a cycled tank.

Will I get males and females?
With 10 or 20 shrimp you almost always get a good mix of both.

Delivery

Sent Royal Mail Tracked 24, Monday to Wednesday only so nothing sits in a depot over the weekend. Insulated packaging with heat or cool packs depending on the weather, marked LIVE ANIMALS. Buy more than one pack and you only pay postage once. Collection from Ayr is also available.

DOA guarantee

Live animals cannot be returned. Dead on arrival guarantee: if any shrimp arrive dead, send us a photo of the unopened bag within 2 hours of delivery and we will refund or replace them.

You will receive 10 healthy, mixed-sex juvenile to young adult Primary Skittle shrimp, approx 1–2cm. Also available in packs of 10 and 20 from Ayr Aquatics on UK Shrimp.