# Keeping fish with shrimp



## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

Here are some user experiences.

Spypet (banned)
“For the past 2 weeks I put six M&F 2cm RCS in my densely planted
nano size 60 fish member community tank and all six have survived. 
Here are the list of fish I keep in this 30g tank you can use 
as reference when choosing your shrimp and fish community;

dwarf cory - Corydoras hastatus
bumblebee goby - Brachygobius aggregatus
danio - Chela dadyburjori
botia - Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki 
porkchop rasbora - Trigonostigma hengeli
Endler's livebearer guppy - Poecilia Reticulata * MALES ONLY *
dwarf sucker-mouth catfish - Otocinclus affinis

I first removed this fish due to it's persistent predatory tendency;
dwarf sparkling gourami - Trichopsis pumilus

I should note that shrimp were regularly seen out in the open, but
preferred to spend the majority of their time deep inside my plant cover.
since all these fish gladly eat my live brine shrimp, it's certain they will
eat any shrimp fry they can find, with the exception being the Otto's.

New Experiment: I put a single cory and goby in my RCS breeding tank
with many shrimp fry of various tiny sizes. This tank has many micro
organisms I hope these fish will clean without eating the fry all up 

Update: After 2 weeks, the cory and goby ignored even the smallest of
my shrimp fry, so I'm satisfied that they are as shrimp safe as my Ottos.
they cleaned up some moving organisms, and ate live Brine shrimp I put
in the tank, yet they still did not disturb even newborn 2mm shrimp fry.”


Hiro says killies go for shrimp


Lumpyfunk says 
Enders are moderatly shrimp safe, I have them with mine and shrimp population has increased, but I have seen a larger female take down a 1/2 inch shrimp.


Roan art says I've Amanos with my Boesemani in my 75g and no problems. However, when the Goo obos get a little bigger, I'm sure they will start hunting them down.

Ghost shrimp -- I've had these with several kinds of rainbowfish: Boeseman's, Flame, Millenium, and Crimson-Spotted, also with platys, plecos, neon and glowlite tetras, kuhlii loaches, clown loaches*, silver dollars, rasboras, rummy nose tetras and even a Hammer's Cobalt Blue lobster -- no problems.

* Clowns WILL chase them, and any fish that is smaller than a tetra, but I usually see this during feeding time and I'm almost positive it's because they can't tell the difference between a flake or a worm and a small fish. I think they have really bad eyesight 


Kayakbabe reports 
I have cherry shrimp breeding successfully in my planted community tank.. started with 30 now have about 300 in all size classes from newbies 3 mm to 1.25 inch long old dark red females

10 Otocinclus various sizes up to about 1.5 inches
5 Japonica Shrimp aka "Amano Shrimp" 1.5 inches
20 Cardinal tetras pretty large ones
5 Zebra Danios (glofish cultivar)
6 Corydoras Sterbei
12 White Clouds
10 Brilliant Rasboras

When I first put the 30 baby Cherry shrimp into my tank, I didn't have a lot of cover and I did have two Dwarf Neon Rainbow which picked at the baby shrimp. I had all the other fish on the list above though.. everythign did fine except the neon rainbows. I didn't give the neon rainbows a chance to eat them in ernest and took them out into another tank. I haven't bothered to reintroduce them to my show tank... but now the H.M and E. tennelus have really tight matts of roots that provide cover for them. The newer 1-5 day old baby red cherries hang out in that stuff. The momma shrimp seem to know to go there when the eggs are hatching. They hover over or in the tightly massed plants and the babies drop down into it. I'm thinking it would probably be okay to reintroduct the neon rainbows now especially since I've got an estimated population of around 300 cherry shrimp now and cover for them. I don't mind if a few get "sacrificed" so long as some survive to adult hood.

I follow the "if a fish can stick it in it's mouth" it will try to eat it rule of thumb... so knowing I was going to put shrimp in my tank, I stuck to smaller mouthed fishes.. and detritivores.. and also fish which have eating habits that don't coincide too much with the shrimps like the danios which are top feeders, the tetras and rasboras are open midwater feeders... it's worked pretty well. The corydoras sterbei are a smaller variety of cory.. they get to be about 2 inches long.. and they don't bother my other fish or shrimp at all. When I feed hikari sinking wafers.. I even see the cories and shrimp feeding off the same wafers at the same time.

I've been thinking of getting some snail eaters - gots tons of baby snails that I pick out all the time.. but I"m pretty sure anything that would like to eat snails would like to eat baby shrimp too... so unless someone know of a snail lover that hates shrimp type of fish.. I"ll just pick them out

And I've keep a planted tank with cherry shrimp for 3 years now. I do have a lot of dense cover planted areas where shimp babies can hide. Where it is hard for larger fish to get to the babies. so I have lots of babies surviving in my tank. I keep dwarf neon rainbows, brilliant rasboras, cardinal tetras, white clounds and otocinclus with the shrimp. I know my shrimp are thriving as I often take about 30 of them out of the tank at a time and exchange them for credit as my local fish store. I beleive the key is having lots of plants and dense planted areas that babies hide in. Other than that, I feed normally with floating and midwater food and also throw in Hikari 'shimp' pellets (which my shrimp love to eat). I beleive the key is having cover for the babies to hide in.


TheTeh says
Warning!! Do NOT DWARF GOURAMIS (Sparkling/croaking gouramis) with shrimps, they attacked my tiger shrimps until they die!! Boraras brigittae, endler, Otos, Apple snails, Corydora habrosus are ok in my experience.


A good point A hill has is “I think it also depends on what type of shrimp it is... my ghost shrimp dont get bothered by my rummy nose tetras in the 55g, but im going to be taking them out before i put cherries in...”
Crazie eddie says 
I put platy fry (about 12) in my 29 gallon RCS tank. The fry were way smaller than most juveniles, so I figured the fry would leave the shrimps. I made sure the fish/shrimps were well fed, with FBW, flakes, zuchini, algae discs, etc. I noticed the fry would eat away at dead shrimp. As the fish got bigger, I noticed no shrimplets or even new borns. When the platy got closer to adult size, I noticed the RCS did not freely swim around in the tank. I think they were fearful of the platy predators. When I removed the platies, my RCS started to multiply again.

I now put cardinal tetras in the tank. I did see a cardinal chase a shrimp, but it (cardinal) stopped after the quick burst

Fishscale says 
Cardinals will eat shrimplets, but not adults. Dwarf puffers are a gamble. They will either ignore the shrimp or tear them apart and perhaps not even eat them (they can be mean little critters). I keep adult diamond tetras in a tank with a cherry population (not my shrimp tank, but they are still breeding). The population grows very slowly because even though it is heavily planted, when I do water changes or any kind of maintenance, I flush the shrimp out of hiding, and the tetras have a feast on shrimplets. Rainbowfish will definitely hunt shrimplets, perhaps even adults. I had a molly that I donated back to the LFS because it was not eating any algae and it was highly aggressive. Probably the single most shrimp unfriendly fish I have ever had.


I will continue to update, add to and revise this thread. Any suggestions just pm me or post here. But I prefer pm to not clog this thread up. 

Thanks and good luck! Fishsandwitch


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Awesome..!:icon_cool


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

Thanks! I wanna keep improving it and then hopefully a mod/admin will make it a sticky


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

nice research. i vote for sticky!


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## nonamesleft47 (Feb 2, 2008)

I have been able to confirm that both Cherry barbs and A. australe killies are killers, even at small size. One batch of moss that I put in my shrimp tank had a good bunch of Cherry barb eggs in it. I knew about the eggs and wanted to raise a few. The tank is so heavily planted I didn't notice fry until they were 1/4 inch long and my supply of small shrimp took a nose dive. Fished those guys out and put them in the turtle tank (don't worry, they're still there, the turtles are hatchlings). 

I picked up a batch of plants at an auction and floated them in my shrimp tank, the shrimp population had rebounded and was making progress. These plants had A. australe killie eggs in them and I've been hunting them down and catching them out ever since. I know at least 6 hatched and I've caught 4 of them and put them in another tank. They also actively hunted down the small shrimp and while they were in the tank I had few females berry although the killies didn't seem to bother the large shrimp. 

I have endlers and threadfin rainbow species tanks that contain cherry shrimp, the shrimp are always out but are not old enough yet to breed but I suspect the young would be easy pickings.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

Good info!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Not bad information, but there is another 10+ page thread I keep bumping up for people. Why not just add to that?

Another thing.

Ghost shrimp aren't a good test for a bunch of reasons. One reason is they're much larger than pretty much any dwarf shrimp. Second off they're usually about to die when you get them so if the fish are fine with them you won't ever know because dead shrimp are always eaten. Third, ghost shrimp aren't always the same, some may get prawns etc.

One last thing to consider.

STRESS.

It kills people and shrimp. Just because a shrimp can't fit in the mouth of a fish doesn't mean it is safe. I've watched fish just nip at the shrimp then taking all their appendages off. Granted, they didn't eat it whole 

All in all as you said and I've been saying along with many others ottos are the only 100% safe fish with shrimp. Another OK bet is dwarf corry cats. Full sized corry cats have been reported hunting shrimp once they figure out they're good food.

-Andrew


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

A Hill said:


> Not bad information, but there is another 10+ page thread I keep bumping up for people. Why not just add to that?


Because there is no one clear post in that, and you have to read through so many pages in order to learn just as much. This is much simpler and easy to read.

I know ghost shrimp are not perfect, but I think they are worth trying. It can save your better shrimp from getting eaten. I will edit the OP though to make this more clear how they are not a perfect test.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

A Hill said:


> STRESS.
> 
> It kills people and shrimp. Just because a shrimp can't fit in the mouth of a fish doesn't mean it is safe. I've watched fish just nip at the shrimp then taking all their appendages off. Granted, they didn't eat it whole
> 
> ...


Yeah, I will edit the OP and make a note about stress as soon as I have time. I did mention that dwarf corries are ok. 


Thanks for the suggestions that is what I am looking for and this is really kind of rough at this point.



EDIT-
I did some editing to the OP, and will continue to add and change as I get suggestions and have time to do a revision.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

To be perfectly honest ghosts aren't a good test at all these days.

Especially if you can get Cherries locally. Or a few from someone for shipping. At say $5 for a few its not too much cheaper and much more accurate.

Just thinking some more...

About the other thread. Paitence is THE MOST important thing in this hobby. IMO if you can't take the time to read the whole thread or at least a few pages of it if you want to have a shrimp tank with fish or a fish tank with some shrimp there is a decent chance you're not going to have success. 

-Andrew


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

A Hill said:


> To be perfectly honest ghosts aren't a good test at all these days.
> 
> Especially if you can get Cherries locally. Or a few from someone for shipping. At say $5 for a few its not too much cheaper and much more accurate.
> 
> ...


I think there is a lot left to be desired with the other thread, and I think clear, concise info is valuable although I do partly agree with you.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

no one else has anything to add?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

bump


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## sea-horsea (Apr 4, 2008)

bmp


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

keeping since feb.~
corydoras habrosus
kuhli loaches
hara jerdoni
axelrodi rasboras
just added p.gertrudae
with CRS, blue pearl, amano, green lace shrimp


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

Do you notice many shrimplets?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

bump


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## Idontknowplants (May 29, 2008)

From what I have seen you can't have german rams with cherries? what about keyhole cichlids? or are the other rams that might be shrimp safe?


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## HatchetHaven (Mar 9, 2008)

Dwarf cichlids are a bad bet I would say. Most are fairly large (Compared to a baby shrimplet at least!) and Dwarfs are bottom dwellers. Can you see the complications? Yeah - it is a great big blow and I hate it to. 

I've been keeping a baby bamboo and 5 Amanos with for months in the 47gal Planted community with these:
Platys
Cherry barbs
BN Pleco
SAE (Only had him about a month, but he has not attacked)
Hatchets
Dwarf gouramis (GONE!)
Sterba cory juveniles (3cm)
Panda apistos (Only had about a month - no aggression so far)

The amanos are currently about 2 cm long, and are hiding a lot. I don't really see them in the open at all! Planning on moving them to my RCS breeder so they can have a nicer existence.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

Idontknowplants said:


> From what I have seen you can't have german rams with cherries? what about keyhole cichlids? or are the other rams that might be shrimp safe?


they can eat adult shrimp


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## newlyearthbound (May 26, 2008)

Next fish to question: Upside-down catfish. they stay almost constantly at the top of the tank. also are other surface dwellers safe as they don't ever really get low enough to interact with the shrimp?


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## DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR (Apr 25, 2008)

i HAD 6 amano shrimp at one time. in a Densely planted 55.

it is hard to tell but i think there are only 3 left after i think 2 months.


i have an adult bolivian ram i suspect as the culprit.
he has become aggressive. whenever i feed he nips at the sides of my discus.
doesnt do any damage but it is starting to bug me. anyway i have a really nice blue ram in the quarantine tank right now im going to add. for some reason i am inclined to think the bolivian will not get along with him. so we move bolivia to another tank.

i really want some cherry shrimp but i know they will be eaten 
i am hoping my lfs will get some (they recently started with amanos)
and hopefully they will get the idea that these cherry shrimp are cool. 



i want to raise them in massive amounts and just dump in a netfull of them each month  

good info.
i have a large synodontis that exists in a tank with ghost shrimp without eating them.


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## torque6 (Jun 7, 2008)

It depends on what you wish to have, if you are heading for a breeder tank, then just setup as a "shrimp only tank". However if you want something else, you can consider keeping small/slow swimming fishes with them. Its common to keep tetras/ottos with them.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

newlyearthbound said:


> Next fish to question: Upside-down catfish. they stay almost constantly at the top of the tank. also are other surface dwellers safe as they don't ever really get low enough to interact with the shrimp?


definitely a no


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## HatchetHaven (Mar 9, 2008)

Anyone know what Peacock Gobys/Gudgeons would think of RCS? My research says peaceful, but it also indicates live food may not be taken with gusto...


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## HatchetHaven (Mar 9, 2008)

DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR said:


> i want to raise them in massive amounts and just dump in a netfull of them each month



10gal tank + lots of cover + no fish + 10 - 15 RCS + a few months = what you want.


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## mavisky (Jun 18, 2008)

For the record I keep 2 male Red Claw Shrimp in my planted/wooded tank along with yo-yo,clown, and zebra loaches, 2 red tail sharks, and 3 3"+ gourami's. The red-claws spend most of the day under some of my wood, but roam the tank during feeding time or at night. If any of the fish get near them they'll raise their claws at them which usually either chases the fish away or they end up jetting to a safe distance as the fish passes by. At times my cae's and my batik botia will try to borrow their little nooks under the wood at which point the shrimp retreat to another hidey hole. 

I would like to note that neither of them seem to give two craps about the moss covered coconut hut I set in the tank for them.

I did lose one amano (first shrimp) who went out the top of the tank, and one green lace shrimp (1/2" long fan feeder) after the first night. Both red claws are around 1" long from tail to claw.


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## customdrumfinishes (Apr 4, 2008)

i have a heavy planted 29g with 40 ember tetras and 20+ shrimp. had a minami have babys in the tank and i see juvis still. hard to tell how man but i counted 10 at one time maybe 20 for all i know. the fish may have got a few baby shrimplets but there were survivors for sure. embers are 1" max size and peaceful.
any semi aggresive or aggresive fish will eat shrimp, sometimes your lucky with the right fish that doesnt eat them.


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## mavisky (Jun 18, 2008)

I would like to add that my shrimp are larger than any of my silver tip tetras so I imagine they'll get thinned out before the shrimp.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

this is some seriously good info. thanks fishsandwitch!


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## kittytango (May 7, 2008)

Love the thread.


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## jelisoner (Mar 27, 2008)

my harlequin rasboras albino cories and of course ottos do/did fine with my rcs then i added 6 rummy nose tetras and im down to 2 shrimp out of about 20 adults and no more juvies


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

bump


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

my betta does fine with ghost shrimp. sometimes stares at them endlessly but never eats them. even leaves the tiny ghost shrimplets alone. but thats my betta, your results may vary.


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## oakleyhoma (Aug 13, 2008)

Love to see more about Endler's and say, RCS. Really want to set up something with both, in a 20 gal. Maybe I should find a way to keep a 10 dedicated RCS tank, to resupply juvs/adults to the Endler's tank, compensate for losses?? More about endler's and rcs?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

A lot of people claim endlers are safe, but I belive they are not.
People say they will hunt for shrimp in java moss at night, and males will eat them by tearing them up if they are too large


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## vance71975 (Jun 4, 2008)

Placo's should be safe they after all are an algae eater like Ottos right? Mine never bothered ghost shrimp and the Placo was about 10 inches, only one he ever bothered was my GF, he Would dart to the top and flip water at her with his tail every time she got near the tank, i just think he didn't like her lol. But then again if i told you the complete list that was in that tank with the ghost shrimp you would either call me a liar or be as confused as i was i had some pretty aggressive fish, i would say about as aggressive as you can get and still be community safe.I firmly believe that me being a Chronic overfeeder kept those shrimp alive, the fish were always too full to hunt lol.


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

Plecos will eat young shrimp, probably not hunt them down but will accidentally just eat them up. 
Endlers are certainly not safe. Endlers are very greedy and will pretty much pick at whatever they can. Large females will harrass and KILL any size shrimp. The smaller, the easier the target. The only RCS that can live with endlers are ones that are like, 6months+ of age. Where they've already reached max size. Even then, the chances of them getting harrassed to death is still fairly up there.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

most herbivorus plecos wil be ok unless they accidently get one


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## Goanna (Jan 23, 2008)

Any other experiances with Betta's and small shrimp? I only saw one post so far about that. I want to do a small 2 gallon nano setup with some crystal red shrimp, and thought a betta might be okay as they dont usually bother anything other then another betta, but I'd like to hear some other opinions on this before I introduce a betta to some little snacks that cost $11 or more each before shipping, lol.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

most bettas pwn shrimp

try cherris if u want 

NOT Crs


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## Goanna (Jan 23, 2008)

fishsandwitch said:


> most bettas pwn shrimp
> 
> try cherris if u want
> 
> NOT Crs


Thanks for the info. Maybe I will do a test with some ghost shrimp like someone recomended in another thread, or I'll just forget about the betta. Maybe put a couple Otto's instead down the line.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

haha I recomend that in the first thread.
Althout cherrys are a better test, it is usually less convienient and cheaper


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## dgphelps (Aug 8, 2008)

I have 11 Rasbora Maculata and 4 Celestial Pearl Danios in my main tank (37 gallons). They all will munch happily on shrimplets. During the day only the danios feast on babies and most baby shrimp hide out then, but at night if I turn the lights on the shrimp are everywhere and all the fish are in hunting mode.

Despite that I still went from 12 RCS to over 200 in 6 months since my tank is heavily planted. 

I strongly feel the danios eat only RCS, it is very rare to see them come out for flake food feedings.


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## coley24 (Dec 10, 2007)

How about SAE's? I didn't see them mentioned in this thread yet.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

not shrimp safe


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## annette (Jun 18, 2008)

I have neon tetra's and rummy nose tetra's and 2 oto's in my little 20 gal tank with amanos and ghost shrimp and they are fine. i have driftwood and lots of plants in tank also. my amano's don't take any flack from the fish but the fish don't bother them at all.
also don't loaches eat snails? if so why not shrimp? just wondering here.


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## bulrush (May 7, 2007)

I use a clown loach to eat snails in various tanks, most of which also contain red cherry shrimp. I have never seen my clown loach eat a shrimp, and I never notice the shrimp population going down, so I really question if he eats them or not. I suspect not, but individual fish personalities can vary. Clown loaches have a reputation for eating snails and shrimp is what I read.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

Dwarf pencilfish - Nannostomus marginatus 

shrimp slaughterers? anyone with experience? 

do they hunt shrimp or just pick at babies?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

no exp I would guess they would eat some small babys but some would make it to be adults


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

does anyone know how their mouth size compares to cardinals? microrasboras? threadfins? it looks quite small. 

not too many people seem to have these unfortunately


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

what about white cloud mountain minnows? lol


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

can and will eat shrimp


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## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

Excellent thread!
I vote for making it a sticky.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

is there a consensus on dwarf pencils?


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Boraras Maculatus/Briggitae?

Dwarf Chain Loach?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

chris127 said:


> is there a consensus on dwarf pencils?


definitly not. They are a rarer fish so you shouldbecome the expert on keeping them with fish.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Boraras Maculatus/Briggitae?
> 
> Dwarf Chain Loach?


iffy. Could ignore shrimp all together, could eat all adults and babys.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

lescarpentier said:


> Excellent thread!
> I vote for making it a sticky.


Thanks! This shows people truly can put their filter differences aside and agree:hihi:


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

fishsandwitch said:


> definitly not. They are a rarer fish so you shouldbecome the expert on keeping them with fish.


argh. i think i may have to  want to donate some cherries for the cause? :hihi:

i vote for sticky too. saves some expensive snacks


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

couple more to ask..
furcata rainbows, 
threadfin rainbows,
Gertrudae rainbows

safe?


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

chris127 said:


> couple more to ask..
> furcata rainbows,
> threadfin rainbows,
> Gertrudae rainbows
> ...


The babies are not, but with enough moss or some kind of cover, it's fine.
I keep a bunch of breeding cherries in my 40 breeder filled with a dozen gertrudae, 4 furcata and a bunch of boraras merah. I have seen babies get ripped by the gertrudae when I first added the colony in. However, my cherries are breeding and I see newborns and juvies constantly, so they are growing. I have baseball sized subwessertang ball in there that baby shrimp love to hide in. Also, pellia helps and clumps of rotala verticillaris. The fine leaves are popular hiding spots. Once they hit the juvie stage, they're fish safe and walk out without a care. 

Threadfins have tiny mouths so this applies to them as well. Babies = in danger but with enough cover, they'll grow up and be safe.


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## Brandon901 (Oct 15, 2008)

Hey Everyone, 
So i know that some tetras and white clouds definately eat cherry shrimplets.
Do bumblebee gobies?

And i do not mind losing a few shrimplets, but will their population keep increasing? or will all the shrimplets be free food for the fish?
I would guess that how heavily a tank is planted also has a great impact on this in a 10g tank.

brandon


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

bumbleebee gobies could destroy your population.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

once again, this should be a sticky


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## BradH (May 15, 2008)

I have a couple of Mickey Mouse Platies, a school of Pristella Tetras, and an SAE all living with Red Cherry Shrimp in a 29 gallon planted tank. The fish don't even acknowledge that the shrimp are there.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

all those can definitely eat cherry shrimp. I bet they eat the babies and you dont even notice...


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## redfalconf35 (Feb 24, 2008)

i find that my neon tetras and white clouds only pay attention to the shrimp when they are swimming... while on the ground, it's like they're invisible. They can all be eating from the same pellet w/o negative consequences.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

kyleT says that stickys should apply to almost everyone in that particular forum and be popular. I thought it would meet those criteria but oh well...


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

argue that it will save database space by ridding unnecessary new threads from popping up..


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

chris127 said:


> couple more to ask..
> furcata rainbows,
> threadfin rainbows,
> Gertrudae rainbows
> ...


Furcata: defenitely not
Threadfin: Some say they are safe, some say they aren't. I personally think they are, since they (almost) always hang out at the top and have very small throats.
Gertrudae: Never heard of it *researches it*

I don't think so:hihi:



Brandon901 said:


> Hey Everyone,
> So i know that some tetras and white clouds definately eat cherry shrimplets.
> Do bumblebee gobies?
> 
> ...


I think all tetras eat shrimp (maybe not the super small types), and white clouds definitely will.

Let's say that 15 shrimp hatched from the mother. If the fish eat 10, you gain 5 shrimp. Understand?



BradH said:


> I have a couple of Mickey Mouse Platies, a school of Pristella Tetras, and an SAE all living with Red Cherry Shrimp in a 29 gallon planted tank. The fish don't even acknowledge that the shrimp are there.


Platies and SAE's are definitely not safe.

Pristella Tetras are on the small side, but they can eat baby shrimp if they got ahold of them.


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## Azhar (Sep 11, 2008)

Are kuhli loach shrimp safe?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

...


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## tongoo (May 6, 2008)

hey guys i have a 5.5 gallon tank with 1 oto and 20 rcs is there any fish i can add that will not eat adult shrimp?

are ember tetras ok?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

tongoo, 
try reading the first few pages of this thread. Those questions have been disgussed..


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

chris127 said:


> is there a consensus on dwarf pencils?


yes, the babies only.

I have a dozen of them in my 125, they hunt for baby RCS day in day out. But theres always those who made it to adulthood.

here are some interesting pics, please *DO NOT* try this at home you may not be so lucky.










the ram completely ignored its existence, as far as I can tell only the pencil fish makes it a sport to hunt the cherries.


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

Rams generally chase cherries for a little while. If the cherries have enough cover in the tank, they will escape most of the time, if not always. Eventually, rams give up the hunt. My rams don't bother with cherries anymore.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

That is not normal. Rams can decimate shrimp populations. In my heavily planted 55 gallon, 2 rams killed about 70 ghost shrimp in 3days


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

fishsandwitch said:


> That is not normal. Rams can decimate shrimp populations. In my heavily planted 55 gallon, 2 rams killed about 70 ghost shrimp in 3days


this is definetely not normal, not something to try to emulate in other tanks.

I have 6 rams in my 125 and an approximate population of 60 adult shrimps, god knows how many shrimplets. My tank has plenty areas the pencilfish and rams could not reach.


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## ~T~ (Dec 18, 2006)

I have some species of fish in my shrimp tank. I'm sure they do eat shimplets but im now noticing a lot more juvies so plenty are making it. The tank is also very heavily planted with safe havens where the fish cannot go. I currently keep:

Shrimp: Cherry, Tiger, Bee, Bumblebee, palmata, malaya/rainbow and amano

Fish: Galaxy rasbora, lampeye killi, khuli loach, otto, bristlenose pl*co, mango pl*co, cory sterbai

Various snails. 

I also have a CRS tank with 10 pygmy corys, so far the CRS are not breeding and when the do the corys will most likely be moved to the bigger mixed tank just in case.

However if shrimp are being kept soley for breeding purposes then only small algae eating suckermouth fish should be the only fish considered.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

You might want to look into narrowing the species you keep in that tank as many of those can interbreed.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

How about we just say if you want a shrimp tank, dont put fish in with them?


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## mickitaz (Oct 7, 2008)

k.. I have completely read this thread and cannot find anything about neons.

Anybody have any objections to dwarf shrimp and neons together?


oops.. just realized the tetra reference. Keep forgetting this. sorry.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

I find that a lot of fish don't do their hunting while the lights are on. I also had the experience that space influences behavior. I kept a school of 9 (it started as 4, but they bred) diamond tetras in a 10g and the RCS population blew up. The only time the RCS showed any fear at all was at feeding time, and not because the tetras were eating them; the RCS were dumb enough to try to eat the flake before the fish could get to it!

But, I moved them to a 55g, and suddenly, the behavior changed. The diamonds schooled all the time, were a lot more active, and started hunting shrimp in a pack. 

If you have enough RCS and your tank is planted heavily enough, you probably won't have much of a problem.


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## Allen121 (Oct 22, 2008)

*Pavlov's dog?*

*"The only time the RCS showed any fear at all was at feeding time, and not because the tetras were eating them; the RCS were dumb enough to try to eat the flake before the fish could get to it!"*

Sounds like the tetra might have become accustom to seeing shrimp at feeding time and figured that when they see shrimp food must be close to them. Kind of like a beta, oscar, or other "personable" fish will rush to the surface when they see your hand over the water, associating the hand with food, so in the new tank it makes sence that they would dart towards shrimp when they see them... Just a thought.


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## Allen121 (Oct 22, 2008)

Wow... It's been like a week now since I posted and no one has had anything to add? Kinda kills the sticky requirement of being popular thread. 

Anyhow, kotoeloncat, what kind of grass is that shrimp hanging out in, in the pic with the ram cruising by?


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## AquaVu (Jan 11, 2008)

One more vote for STICKY


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

bump...I forgot about this thread!


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## loj04 (Apr 21, 2010)

jelisoner said:


> my harlequin rasboras albino cories and of course ottos do/did fine with my rcs then i added 6 rummy nose tetras and im down to 2 shrimp out of about 20 adults and no more juvies


That's interesting....my 4 rummy noses never have even looked at my cherries...


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## killaguppy (Jan 25, 2010)

I have 2 Amano and a Cherry Shrimp co-habitating with 6 Embers, 1 Guppy, 1 Platy, 2 Scarlet Badis, 2 Pygmy Cories and an Oto.


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## bigboij (Jul 24, 2009)

ive kept tetra's (cardinal, bloodfin, blackskirt), endlers, and a pleco, and ottos, with my RCS

out off all of these in order the most dangerous (on top) to my rcs are

blackskirt tetra once the get larger they tend to get a bit aggressive being a larger size tetra, started picking off shrimp. (removed from tank)

endlers, these guys would actively hunt the moss/dhg/substrate for shirmplets all day long they probably killed more in numbers than all the rest combined. (removed from tank)

bloodfins, i had one large one that would harass and chase any free swiming shrimps, im sure they may have got a few but not many, they wont forage/hunt the ground or plants for the babies like the endlers, so the population still grows. (got rid of the largest of them and the whole school mellowed down)

cardinals, kind of like the bloodfins, but even more laid back ive only see them take out a dieing shrimp that was doing the death flop "dance"

ottos and my pleco - they ignore everything but the glass and algae wafers.


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## telephasic (Sep 29, 2009)

My own experience has been as follows. Mind you, nothing but otos is for sure. 

Bumblebee Gobies - Shrimp are totally safe. shrimplets generally seem to be safe, which is odd, considering these guys like live and frozen food so much. 

African Dwarf Frogs - Again, oddly they never seemed to care much about shrimp. The only time I saw one attack a shrimp it was because he got too close to a pile of bloodworms. ADFs hunt by smell, not with vision, and they take forever to eat, so it's damn hard for them to stalk a shrimplet. 

Dwarf Puffers - Mine lived happily in a tank with a few (admittedly pale) cherry shrimp for years. Of course, it seems you have a 50/50 shot with Dwarf Puffers. 

Pygmy Gouramis - UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES EVER!

Dwarf Chain Loaches - I thought they were fairly shrimp safe initially, as they don't bother adults, but they will find essentially 100% of shrimplets in your tank, so don't keep them around if you want a colony. 

Other fish, it's more difficult to say. Most everything in my community tank seemed to do okay with adult shrimp (never kept anything besides an SAE larger than two inches), and a breeding population maintained itself for quite awhile. That said, I've noticed that danios in particular make shrimp nervous. Might be something to do with the fast jerky movements. 

I've been wondering lately though about keeping shrimp with fish which essentially never leave the water surface, like ricefish and halfbeaks. Of course, I'm sure a few unlucky shrimplets which came near the surface would be snatched, but I can't see a sizable dent being made in a shrimp population with these guys around.


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## tetroid (Oct 2, 2009)

Farlowellas are safe with shrimp and shrimplets. Probably as safe as otos. As for pencilfish, I'll echo what someone up the thread said - they not only eat shrimplets, but they are really good at it. Tiny water creatures are their natural prey. Same goes for darter tetras. Darter tetras will even take a poke at an adult cherry shrimp from time to time, although they're too small to do any damage. It's actually pretty funny to see.


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## dtsuyuki (Nov 16, 2009)

Thanks a bunch for this.. it's really helpful. I also have two treadfin rainbows with my high grade crs and two ottos in my mini L. Everything seems fine but I will take out the treadfin rainbows once my 60p if fully cycled.


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## StygianSteel (Apr 2, 2010)

Ok I've been wanting to post but my computer died on me so here gos. New computer armed and ready :tongue:

I've been keeping Amanos with a solo Bolivian Ram, Guppies, and Otos with zero issues. This is not to say that the Ram would not bother smaller breeds or younger shrimp, but I've had zero problems with this pairing. Actually the shrimp don't even seem intimidated. I've seen the Amanos sharing a cave with the Ram. Inter-species harmony. I have read both reports of Rams & Amanos being kept successfully and stories of this going wrong so take that for what it's worth. Could very well be a case of individual fish personality or even misidentification.

I've also kept a Dwarf Gourami with Amanos with no problems. Again this does not necessarily apply to ALL shrimp.


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## Chrisk-K (Oct 12, 2009)

I don't see how cories can kill RCS and Amano shrimps.


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## ncassells (Jun 19, 2010)

Red Line Torpedo Barbs are a big no.

I have caught mine brutally murdering female RCS on two different occasions... But it wasn't just one of the barbs, it was all eight of them. :angryfire


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## DtEW (Jul 21, 2010)

3x Honey Gouramis (~1.25")

5x Otocinclus vittatus

7x Amano shrimp

...Coexisting peacefully in a 20g-high tank.

All the fish ignore the shrimp. The honey gouramis seem to only notice/bother each other. The Otos seem to only notice/frolic with each other. The shrimps seem to see all, and at first was very apprehensive. They all hid in a porous log for literally weeks... until I was concerned they really weren't eating at all, so I took away the log and forced them to confront the objects of their fear. Initially, there was hiding from the fish and from me whenever I approached. At this point they have learned that nobody is bothering them, and they're now completely bold. They are still a little wary of when the honey gouramis are in close proximity (~1cm), it seems mostly for the fact that a honey gourami is liable to bolt suddenly when another honey gourami challenges it.

YMMV, of course.


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## deleted_user_7 (Jul 7, 2003)

I am confused on the consensus of whether or not cories bother red cherry shrimp? If so, what about dwarf cores (there are several I believe) 

I have a soft spot in my heart for those cute little cories


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

msnikkistar keeps dwarf cories with her shrimp


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## northcoastad (Feb 5, 2010)

I have a trio of bronze cories and they don't even give the shrimp a second glance. Most of the time the shrimp swim too close and it will scare the cories.


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## DANIELSON (Jul 15, 2010)

+1 for dwarf cory's being safe i have 2 panda's in with about 15 RCS and the cory's are more afraid of the shrimp than the other way around...


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## deleted_user_7 (Jul 7, 2003)

Even the tiny newborn baby shrimp? That's my biggest concern is them going after the babies, not the adults. 

Sounds like I may be able to have cories after all. I have always thought of cories as comical and cute.


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## DANIELSON (Jul 15, 2010)

No problems with the newborns either. Mine dont even go into my moss where the babies are.


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