Red Cherry Shrimp

I picked up an order for 5 shrimp about a week ago. All five made it home safely, drip acclimated safely, and made it into their tank with my male betta safely.
They are adorable juveniles who I can't wait to watch mature and populate my tank. I don't see them often, but when I do, they ZOOM around. I've already purchased more that I'll be picking up soon.

These shrimp are part of the second order we’ve received for our aquarium. Every creature we’ve gotten has arrived in a timely manner and in wonderful condition. (Shipped to WI) We’ll probably buy exclusively from Windy City just due to quality of communication, stock, and shipping practices!

Great experience with WCA. Gabriella answered my questions quickly. The shrimp were well-packed in the box and I was happy to see ~11 juveniles in the bag. Not a one was dead! Color-wise they were pretty translucent when I took them out of the box. I added prime to the bag as instructed and drip acclimated them for ~30-40 minutes and put them in my tank. Hours later they colored up and the redness only got bolder over the next few days. Nice. I saw all of them today when I put a boiled spinach leaf in there. I’d order more shrimp from WCA. The little dudes are a lot of fun to watch zoom around the tank. 😊

Great all around experience with Windy City Aquariums. Easily placed an order for 10 cherry red shrimp, setup a pickup time (local for me), and had responsive communication throughout. I especially liked that they also provided the water parameters in which they keep and raise the shrimp. Would not hesitate ordering from them again.

Imagine this, picking up the same aquarium hobby you had as a kid. However things have changed you’re an adult now and not only can you have an actual tank instead of a bowl but the world of fish keeping and aquatic plants are way more vast than that half dead gold fish your dad won you at the town fair.

This was me six months ago or so, I picked this hobby back up on a complete and utter whim. I was doing the usual shop here and there at big brand pet stores. But there was something missing from this hobby of mine and I didn’t know what it was at first. Throughout my endless hours of watching YouTube videos and chatting with people on fish groups in Facebook I met the owner of Windy City Aquarium. She started telling me about her business and what she has to offer me, then it hit me, this is what was missing! A local fish store! A store that not only cares about what products they are pushing but also making sure their customers are happy.

Fast forward a couple pay checks and I wind up purchasing a decent quantity of plants of all varieties, which by the way are excellently priced and all still alive in my tank! I ordered some Java moss, a handful of dwarf hair grass, handful of dwarf Sagittarius, guppy grass, hornwort, a couple of petite Anubis. I was excited as all get up to get this planted tank going. A day or two go by and they arrived on my door step alive and well, which was impressive for it being the middle of summer. Gabriella is outstanding she sent me a message asking how the plants were when I received them, if they were alive and healthy. A couple of weeks go by and I reached out to Gabriella asking what I can only explain as silly novice questions about guppy grass. She responded that same afternoon and with the knowledge I was looking for. I couldn’t pay for this kind of care and passion at a big brand pet store. This kind of care and passion only comes from local fish stores and from someone who actually cares.

After some convincing of my better half I wound up ordering some shrimp from WCA as well. Just a handful of cherry shrimp and a couple of Amano to spruce up the tank a little. After a short delay (I believe they were moving, completely understandable I hate moving) they were shipped out. She must of been tracking the package as hard as I was because once I got them she was asking me all the same questions again “are they alive? How are they?” And yes they were all alive and kicking. I drip acclimated them for a few hours and in the tank they went. All shrimp survived!! I couldn’t believe it. I kept in touch with her updating her throughout the week showing her the shrimp to which she always responded with positivity. Then tonight I notice while gazing at my tank right down in the substrate hiding peacefully under all the hair grass and Sagittarius is one lone itty bitty baby cherry shrimp. These suckers are doing so well they are reproducing and if that ain’t the coolest thing to ever happen in any tank then I don’t know what is. For not only is the cherry shrimp successfully reproducing but the Amano is also buried as well. Obviously Amano need a bit more work to help their reproduction but this review ain’t about that.

This review is to prove that deep dish pizza ain’t the only good thing to come out of Chicago. Out on the Chitown streets there is a local fish store that is willing to sell you not just a vast quantity of products but they are grade A quality too. They will answer any silly old question you have and make sure that your products get to you in a timely fashion and will get a hold of you to make sure everything is well with them on arrival. Honestly I’m impressed with every interaction I have with this store. I personally can not wait until I buy a bigger tank just so I can buy even more shrimp and plants from them. 12 out of 10 would recommend!!!