# keeping small fish (tetras) with shrimp?



## plantetra (May 17, 2014)

I have Neons and RCS and GS and Otto all in a 20G tank. But it is heavily planted. that could be a reason why they survive. Keeping GS will traumatize the Neons from attacking any Shrimps.


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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

I've seen ghost shrimp kill neons. It doesn't happen often, but it happens. They sneak up on them and attack when the fish are sleeping.


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

any fish will eat shrimp, given the chance


however - the more heavily planted the tank - the better chance you have of building a huge shrimp colony. I honestly have no idea how many shrimp are in my 120g, too many to count - and the babies are so small. The population grows very quickly, for my RCS colony that is.

If you're looking into higher end, more expensive shrimp....I would be very weary of having any fish.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

I keep cherry shrimp with tetra's but also keep thriving colony of the shrimp by themselves in smaller 20 gal tank.
I seldom see tiny shrimp in the community tank ,mostly adult's .


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

You always hear about how people say its safe for this fish or that fish to be with shrimp. Don't believe it. I used to watch videos a lot of this guy on youtube who kept a 90 gallon tank with lots of Neons and loads of Cherry Shrimp and they coexisted just fine, but that wasn't the case for me. Recently my Neons devoured the few cherries I had in there. 

I would say keep Amano Shrimp or get a separate tank for shrimp. I have one Amano in my tank and no-one messes with him. He's too big.


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

Blackheart said:


> You always hear about how people say its safe for this fish or that fish to be with shrimp. Don't believe it. I used to watch videos a lot of this guy on youtube who kept a 90 gallon tank with lots of Neons and loads of Cherry Shrimp and they coexisted just fine, but that wasn't the case for me. Recently my Neons devoured the few cherries I had in there.
> 
> I would say keep Amano Shrimp or get a separate tank for shrimp. I have one Amano in my tank and no-one messes with him. He's too big.



it's alllllll about the hiding spots. I checked your tank journal - and while it looks GREAT - there aren't enough hiding spots for the shrimp to keep their distance from the tetras.

Tetras will definitely eat shrimp - I'm just saying that; given enough hiding spots (heavily planted foreground, forests of stems, moss patches attached to driftwood, etc) it can work. When I had to break down my 92g corner, with a full school of Congo and Diamond (big) tetras - I lost a lot of shrimp simply due to not being able to catch all the babies.

but as with everything in the aquarium world....results may vary


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Thank you. Also that may be so, but why put shrimp in a tank that has to have hiding spots so you never see them at all? I dont see the point of that. It would be much better to just have them coexist peacefully by choosing species accordingly or setting up a separate tank.


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## mootay (Feb 16, 2015)

The LFS's around here that run shrimp tanks seem to keep micro rasboras and CPDs with them. These are small tanks, probably in the 5-10 gallon range. Whether it's a good idea or not is beyond me as most fish stores make tank stocking errors due to lack of real estate or just plain ignorance.


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## schnebbles (Jan 10, 2015)

I have cherries and amanos and 2 bamboo - of course no one messes with the bamboos. They are very big.

When I had 2 bolivian rams, I lost amanos. 

Got rid of them and I currently have 3 serpae tetras, 2 celebes rainbows, 2 flame tetras and a guppy - oh and otos and some panda cats who had babies recently. My female betta was in there but she has popeye and I can't get it fixed but she has been in there with these.

My amanos are fine and I see my cherries frequently, even quite small ones. I have lots of java moss, some water sprite, blyxa and pogo erectus that I see them hanging out on most. They go all over but those are where I most frequently see them. Good plants to hide in.

Everyone says eventually one day the fish will get a taste and that will be it. I hope not. I'm sure i have quite a few that do stay well hidden in the mosses and under the wood that the moss is attatched to. I love my shrimp. More than my fish although I'd like a couple more fish, I don't want anything that will be eating my shrimp!


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Microrasboras can't pick off any shrimp larger than babies, they're pretty decent shrimp tankmates. CPDs occasionally gang up on shrimp- they are danios, after all. Micros are your best bet.


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## schnebbles (Jan 10, 2015)

what about scarlet badis? I was thinking of some in my 40. they are cute little guys!


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

schnebbles said:


> what about scarlet badis? I was thinking of some in my 40. they are cute little guys!



mine leave the adult shrimp alone - but hunt the babies.


Overall, I feel that if you have a great foreground plant - and most of us have little mini-jungles - your shrimp will be fine with tetras. My shrimp are always out and about, and my danios don't bother them the majority of the time.

occasionally they will school up and get some fresh food, but with how prolific the RCS breed - I kind of just consider it population control


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## davido (Jul 9, 2014)

I agree its all about the level of cover you provide for your shrimp. If done right, you will be rewarded with a beautiful combination of tetras and shrimp, co-existing in harmony.

Mine's a 50 gallon (3 footer). I have about 80 tetras in there (mixture of Cardinal, Green Neons and Ember Tetras). And a few hundred shrimps (I cannot count them) also a mixture of RCS, CRS, Amanos and Tiger shrimp. The Tetras never attack the shrimp, not even the baby shrimp.

But there's lots of hiding places. Its also not true that given the abundant hiding places, you will not see your shrimp. They are always out and about, in the moss, beneath the rock, on the leaf, grazing on the carpet grass, and on the substrate - going about their business. The tetras never bother them at all.


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## pauly (Oct 20, 2015)

thanks everyone for the feedback it was great.80 tetras!!! wow my tank is a 3ft 45g now i know my fish load.


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## bassbuster23 (Jan 7, 2008)

Hi, Pauly! I have a 75 gallon, medium planted tank....with a few pieces of small to medium driftwood. My fish are Black Phantom tetras, Black Neon tetras, Neon tetras, glowlight tetras, harlequin rasboras, guppies, and a few cories. I, too, love the shrimp and wanted to add some to my tank. So, I ordered 25 red cherry shrimp to put them in my tank. Well....it was like a buffet! I went from 25 down to 6 in about 13 seconds! The 6 found some decent hiding spots & they play hide-and-seek very well! Since then, I constantly looked for any shrimp and would never see no more than 1 or 2 at a time. The Black Phantoms & Black Neons were like pirahna....they were always the initiators to shrimp attacks! Once they started, the other fish would join the frenzy. Normally, none of the fish bother the shrimp unless the Black Phantoms start the agitating. But it seems that since I started feeding a DIY gel food about 2 weeks ago, the shrimp are starting to gain some ground on their population. Just yesterday, I counted 12-13 adults, about 7 juveniles, and at least 6 very small babies! The shrimp are also starting to be more visible in the open with not nearly the interference from the fish as in the beginning. I even found one adult shrimp dead yesterday with no visible signs of fish attack (legs missing, antennae missing, body torn apart, etc). I have 20 Caridina sp. Rainbow shrimp on order that I'm expecting this week to add to this tank also. I'm sure that some of the juveniles and babies have been eaten, but my population is on the uprise.....from 6.


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## bsherwood (Nov 22, 2007)

if it fits in their mouth, they will eat it


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## schnebbles (Jan 10, 2015)

davido said:


> I agree its all about the level of cover you provide for your shrimp. If done right, you will be rewarded with a beautiful combination of tetras and shrimp, co-existing in harmony.
> 
> Mine's a 50 gallon (3 footer). I have about 80 tetras in there (mixture of Cardinal, Green Neons and Ember Tetras). And a few hundred shrimps (I cannot count them) also a mixture of RCS, CRS, Amanos and Tiger shrimp. The Tetras never attack the shrimp, not even the baby shrimp.
> 
> But there's lots of hiding places. Its also not true that given the abundant hiding places, you will not see your shrimp. They are always out and about, in the moss, beneath the rock, on the leaf, grazing on the carpet grass, and on the substrate - going about their business. The tetras never bother them at all.


Your tank sounds a lot like mine. I love the shrimp, they are my favorite. 

I'm going to order some ember tetras or lambchop, I can't decide so I posted a new thread  My shrimp were all over the place before lights went out for day break. My twig catfish is even out eating on some cucumber. I rarely see him.


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