# shrimp in a community tank?



## Betta Maniac

Cherry shrimp are pretty hardy, and yes, they breed like snails (though a lot of the babies will be eaten a community tank). If you end up with too many, sell them or give them away. 

I have Crystal shrimp in my community tank and hoover around and clean up extra food and algae.


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## driftwoodhunter

see, they sound very useful to me. I'll have to look into cherry shrimp. The clear ones at Petsmart are cheap, but I can't really see them! lol If I'm going to get a few shrimp, I'd at least like to be able to see them...


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## Betta Maniac

Look in the SnS here. There are almost always cheap cherry shrimp for sale.


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## driftwoodhunter

Yes, I've been seeing a lot on SnS - but I need to learn what shrimp need to be healthy & happy!


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## chiefroastbeef

Cherry shrimp are very easy to keep, they adapt to all sorts of water temps and ph levels. Start with a colony of 30 or so, they should then breed like crazy, outbreeding deaths of predators if any. Feed them a shrimp wafer everyday or so and that is it. Of course, they love a well planted tank, with plenty of moss to graze the algae, micro organisms off of.


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## Danimals

driftwoodhunter said:


> see, they sound very useful to me. I'll have to look into cherry shrimp. The clear ones at Petsmart are cheap, but I can't really see them! lol If I'm going to get a few shrimp, I'd at least like to be able to see them...


Those are Ghost Shrimp, generally just used as feeder shrimp and IMO not too pleasing to look at.

Amanos and Cherrys will do a significantly better job of cleaning up your tank and are amazing to look at to boot :icon_smil

I actually think Cherrys (PFR's especially) are very aesthetically pleasing.


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## driftwoodhunter

Who is PFR?
Someone did pm me with an offer for cherry shrimp, but I don't even have water in my tanks yet! I'm thinking ahead...lol
I didn't think about whether or not some shrimp are better at cleaning a tank than others...


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## Danimals

driftwoodhunter said:


> Who is PFR?
> Someone did pm me with an offer for cherry shrimp, but I don't even have water in my tanks yet! I'm thinking ahead...lol
> I didn't think about whether or not some shrimp are better at cleaning a tank than others...


PFR's (Paint Fire Red) are a specially bred strain of Cherry Shrimps that are significantly redder and the coloration is usually covering their entire body as opposed to patches of it.

Cherry's are an excellent starter shrimp that will readily propagate in any tank with good water parameters so you'll only need to buy a few too!

I actually used to have several Ghosts in my community tank as a clean up crew as well but they only really seem to go after the leftover food and not really algae. That and they grow to be fairly large and look more unattractive with every molt =[


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## driftwoodhunter

Hmm
Molting. How often do they molt, and if I don't get the molts (what do you call them?) vacuumed out will they ruin the water quality?


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## Danimals

Can't really say on how often they molt, they do do it on a regular basis tho and you should always leave the shell in the tank so that they can re-absorb the calcium/nutrients


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## driftwoodhunter

well that makes clean up easier!
I hate to say it, but all of this talk about shrimp is making me want lobster - lol


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## jameslibtech

Cherry shrimp are fairly bomb proof, they clean fairly well, but most of all they are pretty awesome and are a nice contrast to all of the greens in a planted tank. They will breed and most of the off spring will probably get picked off by any sort of fish. However some may survive if you have a pretty heavily planted tank or thick carpet of some sort. There are some killer deals for descent cherrys around. Good luck!


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## jameslibtech

Oh by the way, as far as molts I have never taken them out they seem to actually like eating their own molts. I've never had an issue with the water quality, so I'd assume its not a issue. Also with about 20 shrimp in a tank previously I noticed a molt every other day or so. From what I've read and learned molting is a good sign and is speculated to be part of the process prior to reproduction for females.


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## driftwoodhunter

This sounds very interesting - when the tanks mature, I'll def try some!
thanks for all the info!


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## wetworks

If you want shrimps that will not breed and will be good tank mates for a community tank, I really like Amano Shrimps. Amanos need saltwater to breed, so they will not over-populate your tank. They also get to be a bit larger than Cherry Shrimps, and this makes it a lot less likely for the shrimps to fall victim to hungry fishes. Or, you could add both Cherry Shrimps and Amano Shrimps. I have several tanks set up for both, and they are my favorite display tanks. Just make sure that there is plenty of hiding spaces.


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## comet

I also have both Amano and Cherry shrimp in a community tank. The Amano shrimp population has actually increased in my tank. Not by much, but some are surviving to adulthood. 
Amano shrimp are great for helping keep the tank clean, are bigger and put on a great show when they zoom around the tank together. They are less likely to be eaten by fish, unless the fish is much bigger and aggressive.
Red Cherry shrimp are good tank cleaners also, add some color to the tank, but they are much smaller. With Cherries, I would start up their own tank (they love java moss) and as the population grows add some to your community tank. You'll always have a supply of them to add if some get eaten.
Both do well in water temps from 72 to 82 for me. 
What is the Ph of your water? Mine do very well at 7.6.
And you will definitely want a sponge to cover your filter inlet.


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## driftwoodhunter

Very good info - thanks everyone!
My ph runs at 8 usually. 
If I get cherries, the idea of a 10g tank to raise what I need to replenish the tanks is a good one. So is the sponge for my intakes - I forgot about that.
I'll look up Amanos tonight, too.

Thanks everyone!


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## deleted_user_12

i know this is so off topic but i love seeing my shrimp molt the day before they do it they wont be moving very often and hide in plants, then the next day the are back to swimming around and if the cories don't mess with the shell it looks like a second hollow shrimp.
i love it when they molt its like a snakeskin


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## driftwoodhunter

So now let me ask about suitable tank mates...
Here is a list of the fish I already have, and the fish I hope to be stocking with as I get tanks set up. Let me know if there are any red flags!

Harlequin rasbora, Black tetra, Neon tetra, Cardinal tetra, Diamond tetra, Eyepot rasbora, Celebes Rainbow, Tiger barbs (I can figure out this might be a red flag! lol) Rummynose, Cherry barbs, otos, and lastly corys.


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## Chrisinator

I was say to pick just two of those schooling fish, as multiple groups of fish just look kind of untidy


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## deleted_user_12

yeah what he said and tiger barbs are aggressive and will probably eat shrimp, also cherry barbs however are very peaceful but dont school well


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## driftwoodhunter

sorry, I wasn't clear - always in a hurry! lol
I have 5 tanks to fill, a 40b, two 29s, and two 55s. I'm only planning on two schools per tank, with otos & corys in each...some of these fish are already in the 40b, and the celebes & black tetras are going in one of the 29s.


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## CrazyCatPeekin

Just a note on Tiger barbs: If you want tiger barbs, I would suggest using one of the 55s for them. They are very active. They can be aggressive and nippy, but will generally limit their antics to themselves when the group is big enough. You can put like 20 of 'em in a 55 easily and you can mix different varieties if you like (regular, albino and greens). If you want two schools in the tank, serpae tetras make excellent tankmates for tigers. I've got 8 albino TB, 7 regular TB and 9 serpae tetras in a 55 and it is a great tank. Definitely no shrimp in this tank though...they will get eaten!


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## driftwoodhunter

I have tiger barbs in the 40b, and I must have the weirdest tigers around. I've talked about this on some other threads, but mine do nothing. They hang out together under the leaves of the amazon swords, or under the limbs of the driftwood. The tank was a noobie mistake in that I have a smattering of fish in it - that's why I want to do two species max tanks. The 40 has (besides the tigers) neons, black tetras, rosy barbs, and yes, male guppies. (what was I thinking! LOL) One lone cory, since I didn't know they prefer to be in groups.
The tigers were the first fish in the tank, yet they never have set up a territory or acted as if they even know other fish are in there with them...I'd like to make the 40b the tiger barb tank & get a nice group - I only have 4 - 5 of each species of fish in there now.


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## somewhatshocked

Cherries will look great in your tanks, I think. Especially the fancy new rock backgrounded rigs.

You could order a couple batches from the SnS to start - maybe 20 from 2 different sellers. Then let them do their thing. Could mix in a few PFRs and super reds to help beef up the red genes.

As far as tank mates? If they can fit a shrimp in their mouth, down their gullet they'll go. About the only fish I've had that won't try eating cherries - and this is only because they're bigger than the fish - are Chili Rasboras. Even they still try but are usually unsuccessful. If you keep a large shrimp colony, though, you probably won't have much of an issue losing too many.

I give it three months and every tank you've got will be loaded down with cherries.


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## KarlF

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning to add some Amano and Cherry Shrimps in my community tank.

Right now I have:

*Tank:* 15 Gallon
*Filtration:* HOB Dymax SL -240 and UGF
*Substrate:* Gravel w/ broken coral and small shells
*Fish:* 7 Pink Zebra Danios, 7 Tiger Barbs, 1 Angelfish, 1 Common Pleco
*Plants:* Java Moss on a Large and small rock and Hydrilla

_I will be removing the angelfish and common pleco - I found out later that their adult sizes are not meant for my tank_
_So be careful from getting advice from people who just want to sell you fish _ 

Future plans in the next two months:

*Tank:* 15 Gallon
*Filtration:* HOB Dymax SL -240 and mini canister filter
*Substrate:* Sand
*Fish:* 7 Pink Zebra Danios, 7 Tiger Barbs, 4 panda corys, (and hopefully some shrimp)
*Plants:* Java Moss on a Large and small rock and Hydrilla (and hopefully a successful Java moss wall in the background)

I have decided to go for shrimp instead of snails (nerite and MTS) since I will, either have to deal with their eggs sticking to stuff or over population, because I don't have a natural predator in my tank for them.

Please let me know what your thoughts are and possible difficulties so I can plan ahead.


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## Zoidburg

The amanos might be ok in the tank, especially if they don't turn out to be aggressive, but the cherry shrimp might get eaten up...


It's usually recommended to start out with shrimp, and once you've got a healthy population of cherry shrimp breeding, then introduce fish as population control.


If you *really* want cherry shrimp in there, then you may want to consider setting up a shrimp only tank and getting a healthy population going in there. Once you have many adults and juveniles, start transferring some of the adults to the community tank but keep enough in the shrimp tank to keep the population going in there.


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## KarlF

Zoidburg said:


> The amanos might be ok in the tank, especially if they don't turn out to be aggressive, but the cherry shrimp might get eaten up...
> 
> 
> It's usually recommended to start out with shrimp, and once you've got a healthy population of cherry shrimp breeding, then introduce fish as population control.
> 
> 
> If you *really* want cherry shrimp in there, then you may want to consider setting up a shrimp only tank and getting a healthy population going in there. Once you have many adults and juveniles, start transferring some of the adults to the community tank but keep enough in the shrimp tank to keep the population going in there.


This is so helpful @Zoidburg thank you.

BTW

I have finally updated my tank:

*Tank*: 15 Gallon
*Filtration*: HOB Dymax SL -240 and mini canister filter (Boyu EF-05)
*Substrate*: Sand
*Fish*: 7 Pink Zebra Danios, 7 Tiger Barbs, 7 panda corys
*Plants*: Java Moss on a Large and on 2 small rocks, Christmas moss on 2 bogwoods and Hydrilla.

I am yet to make a moss wall (still thinking if I should use Christmas moss or Java moss or a combination of both moss)

I'm beginning to notice some brown algae build up on my aquarium walls and just today I am seeing some green dots, so I better start getting some shrimps.


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## BettaBettas

KarlF said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I'm planning to add some Amano and Cherry Shrimps in my community tank.
> 
> Right now I have:
> 
> *Tank:* 15 Gallon
> *Filtration:* HOB Dymax SL -240 and UGF
> *Substrate:* Gravel w/ broken coral and small shells
> *Fish:* 7 Pink Zebra Danios, 7 Tiger Barbs, 1 Angelfish, 1 Common Pleco
> *Plants:* Java Moss on a Large and small rock and Hydrilla
> 
> _I will be removing the angelfish and common pleco - I found out later that their adult sizes are not meant for my tank_
> _So be careful from getting advice from people who just want to sell you fish _
> 
> Future plans in the next two months:
> 
> *Tank:* 15 Gallon
> *Filtration:* HOB Dymax SL -240 and mini canister filter
> *Substrate:* Sand
> *Fish:* 7 Pink Zebra Danios, 7 Tiger Barbs, 4 panda corys, (and hopefully some shrimp)
> *Plants:* Java Moss on a Large and small rock and Hydrilla (and hopefully a successful Java moss wall in the background)
> 
> I have decided to go for shrimp instead of snails (nerite and MTS) since I will, either have to deal with their eggs sticking to stuff or over population, because I don't have a natural predator in my tank for them.
> 
> Please let me know what your thoughts are and possible difficulties so I can plan ahead.


resurrection >


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## KarlF

BettaBettas said:


> resurrection >


Hahaha, this is the closest topic I came across about shrimps in a community tank. I just wanted to know what shrimps are big enough to go in there and clean and get out before fish gets to them hehehe


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