It comes down to who you talk to. I found cherries are not big algae eaters and prefer almond leaf litter , my opinion. But yes not necessary.
Also before Katrina My plant tank was more a show tank and based it on this :
http://fishtankadvisor.com/first-high-t ... nted-tank/After awhile I added shrimp. To me I found a health planted tank creates a beneficial environment for shrimp ! You can also do it with a bare bottom tank , simple , if just for a food source. Lots of shrimp require different setup from the easiest to the super hard. Ghost and Cherries are easy.
The High Tec comes into play more for the plants and one can get carried away with that. You may like me start off as a food source but will end up with a show tank . Today being older I let nature do most of the work , I keep it very simple being for a food source only.
Did you see this good read :
http://aquariuminfo.org/shrimptank.htmlAny shrimp in a planted tank you should only inject CO2 during lighted hours when they use it or you could have PH swings. Any solenoid type works but the easiest is a bubble counter at a low dose , I found works well and it's cheap.
If you go with a planted tank Finnex makes some great plant lights !
Also easy to get carried away with , as I did a few years ago , and wanting show tanks just keep the maintenance in mind , more work along with Sedge's tank.