# Just an idea, but... Hatchets in shrimp tank?



## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

They're supposed to be shrimp safe fish. I thought about it when stocking my 10 gallon, but nixed it when the pygmy hatchets at my LFS were more expensive than the D. tinwini.


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

I've kept them both in the same tank before, never had any issues. :thumbsup:


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I don't believe they are completely shrimp safe. I am sure they will pick off a shrimplet here and there but you should be able to keep and breed RCS in a tank with hatchet fish. More expensive shrimp or less proliferate shrimp I would not put at risk.


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## Squrl888 (Oct 3, 2014)

I too was worried about the same thing. I bought the shrimp giving little thought to my silver hatchetfish.
The silver hatchetfish are actually quite bigger than the marbled hatchets I've seen.
My Sakura RCS are doing just fine with the hatchets. They even go up to the top of the tank to graze on a small moss wall, floating plants, and a breeding box I have for some baby corydoras. The hatchet's don't bother my shrimp when they're up there and the shrimp seem comfortable.
However, it is yet to be seen for me how babies will fair in this tank. My first female is berried now  Exciting!


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

The hatchets mostly feed on thrashing insects on top of the water... They aren't made to go after bottom-dwelling creatures. Makes quite a lot of sense!
Hmm. Know what would be cool? 20g or larger tank, marble hatchets on top, cherry shrimp on the bottom. 
Hey, how does one breed hatchetfish? Perhaps a lot of moss would allow it to be a hatchet/cherry breeding tank?


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## Squrl888 (Oct 3, 2014)

That would be super cool!
I don't think many people have bred hatchetfish actually! There are a few reports, but it is pretty rare. It would be really cool to learn how to do that and it is kind of a goal of mine to breed my silver hatchetfish .
Just an fyi - I was keeping some buckets of water outside and sure enough mosquitoes came and laid eggs in there this summer. This was unintended by me, but very nice as I got FREE live food very often. I would just go to the buckets every 2-4 days and scoop up a bunch of mosquito larvae with a fish net and just dump them in my tank. The hatchets LOVED it! The mosquito larvae also swim up to the surface where the hatchets eat them so all of them were eaten and none hatched 

I'm working on keeping wingless fruit fly cultures for the hatchets now as I feel kinda bad no longer giving them live food!

I just googled breeding hatchetfish:
From http://www.mafishguy.com/2012/02/how-to-breed-hatchet-fish-sexing.html


MAfishguy said:


> Hatchet Fish can be difficult to breed unless you pick the right kind. If you want to breed hatchet fish but not sure how to do it then keep reading. Marbled hatchet fish are easy to breed out of all the other hatchets varieties. To breed them start conditioning them on insects wether it's fruit flies or black mosquiito larvae. These mimics the wild.
> 
> Next the water should be around 5.5-6.5 PH, I keep my water around 74 degrees and raise it a little to 76-78F when I want to breed. Also you will need to add Peat Extract to the water to help condition them.You will also need to keep these guys and girls in groups of 4 or more, I like to do 6 or more. Sexing hatchets can be a little difficult, females from above just look plumper that's why I go with 6 in a group.
> 
> The will lay the eggs on palnts, roots, leaves. The eggs will hatch after about 32 hours, they become free swimming in usually 3 days. I feed my hatchet fry baby brine shrimp. Make sure to take the parents out after breeding because they will eat the babies. Have any questions on how to breed hatchet fish leave it in the comments.


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