Open the Notes With the Rule That Shrimp Need Less
The first line of your cherry shrimp sitter notes should reset expectations: this colony largely feeds itself. Cherry shrimp spend the day grazing biofilm and algae from moss, leaves and wood, so the sitter's job is a light supplement on set days, not a daily meal service. Name the food, show the amount in words a non-shrimp-keeper understands, such as a piece the size of a grain of rice, and state which days it is offered. Explain that anything uneaten after a couple of hours should be lifted out with the small net you leave beside the tank, because a rotting pellet in a shrimp setup pollutes the exact surfaces the colony grazes.
Ban the Big Water Change in Writing
Water care is where a helpful sitter can harm cherry shrimp fastest, so your notes should say explicitly that no large water change happens while you are away. Cherry shrimp are sensitive to sudden shifts in temperature and water composition, and a well-meant bucket swap can trigger failed moults across the colony within days. Instead, describe the top-up routine: use only the bottle of conditioned water you prepared and labelled, pour it in slowly over several minutes, and stop at the fill line you have marked on the glass. Add that hands go into the tank only after being rinsed in plain water, and that no cleaning sprays, air fresheners or insect products are used in the room, since residues that a fish would shrug off can be lethal at shrimp scale.
Explain Moults, Berried Females and Honest Counting
A sitter who finds a perfect empty shrimp shell will assume a death unless your notes get there first, so describe moulting plainly: cherry shrimp shed their shells as they grow, the clear cast stays where it fell, and it can be left for the colony to graze. Mention that some females may be carrying a fan of yellow-green eggs beneath the tail and should simply be left alone, and that tiny shrimplets hide in the moss and are a good sign, not something to hunt for. Set counting expectations honestly too: the visible number varies through the day, so a lower count at one glance is normal, while a shrimp lying on its side moving its legs weakly is a genuine reason to message you.
List the Few Real Emergencies and Your Number
Keep the emergency list for a cherry shrimp colony short and specific so the sitter trusts it. A message to you is warranted if several shrimp cluster at the surface or the filter outlet, if the water turns milky, if the filter stops, or if a dead shrimp is found pink and opaque rather than a clear empty shell. Beside each item, the action is the same: do nothing to the water, take a photo, and contact you, because remote diagnosis beats a guessed remedy poured into a delicate tank. Leave the name of the local aquatic shop you use as a backup contact, and say which prepared water and foods are the only things allowed into the aquarium, full stop.
File the Notes So the Colony's Rules Survive the Trip
After you return, adjust the notes with anything the sitter found unclear, especially around feeding amounts, since overfeeding is the mistake every new shrimp sitter makes once. Keep the feeding days, the top-up bottle instructions and the emergency list as a single document that travels with the booking rather than living in a chat thread. Saving that document in your KinsLe Care Pass lets you hand a trusted sitter temporary, clear access to the colony's routine, and it means the restraint cherry shrimp depend on is written down rather than remembered.