Clean cherry shrimp tank glass by hand, slowly
Algae comes off the glass of a cherry shrimp tank safest with a soft, aquarium-only sponge or pad used by hand, not with a fast pass of a magnetic cleaner. Cherry shrimp graze the biofilm that grows alongside algae, and shrimplets are small enough to sit unnoticed on the exact strip of glass a scraper is about to cross. A hand-held pad gives the control this colony needs: pressure can ease off instantly, the stroke can stop mid-pane, and the cleaner can see the red shapes scattered across the film before touching that section at all.
Check the glass for shrimp before every stroke
Checking before every stroke is the core skill in a cherry shrimp tank, because the animals blend into algae and moss as they feed. Begin at the top of the front pane, where fewer shrimp graze, and shine a gentle light across the surface to reveal tiny silhouettes, including the nearly transparent juveniles. Move the pad in short, slow strokes, lifting it away rather than dragging sideways when a shrimp sits ahead of the working edge. If a cluster refuses to move, skip that patch entirely and return later; a small island of film is harmless, while a crushed shrimplet is not. Magnetic cleaners deserve special caution here, since their sudden snap together and fast glide are exactly how small shrimp get trapped at the glass.
Leave grazing film where the colony depends on it
Leaving some film is deliberate in a cherry shrimp tank, because algae and biofilm are food, not just mess. Clean the front pane for viewing, tidy the sides only when growth thickens, and leave the back pane largely untouched as a permanent grazing wall for the colony and its babies. This balance also keeps the tank stable, since stripping every surface at once removes part of the shrimp's daily forage and forces them onto foods they may not take as readily. Avoid chemical algae treatments altogether in this tank; products aimed at algae can be harsh on invertebrates, and a shrimp-safe routine has no need for them when hand cleaning keeps the viewing glass clear.
Lift out what you loosen
Loosened algae should leave a cherry shrimp tank during the same session, because the film you scrub free otherwise settles onto moss, plants, and substrate where it decays. After the front pane is wiped, run a siphon just above the bottom to collect the drifting flakes, keeping the intake guarded and slow so curious shrimp are not pulled toward it. Top up or complete the small water change that naturally pairs with this siphoning, adding replacement water gently so the colony is not blasted by a current. Rinse the pad in removed tank water, store it for aquarium use only, and never let it near household detergents, which cling to sponges and are dangerous to invertebrates even in trace amounts.
Watch the colony after cleaning day
A cherry shrimp colony should return to grazing within a short while of the glass being cleaned, with adults fanning and picking across plants and shrimplets reappearing on the back wall. Prolonged hiding, shrimp gathered at the surface, repeated failed moults, or sudden deaths after a cleaning session point to something introduced or disturbed, so test the water and review anything new that touched the tank. If losses continue, seek advice from an aquatic veterinarian or experienced invertebrate specialist promptly. To keep every helper this careful, KinsLe's Care Teams can carry the cherry shrimp tank's glass routine as a named task, marked complete only when the slow, shrimp-checked cleaning is actually finished.