# can you mix goldfish and shrimp?



## attack11

i'm asking on behalf of someone, and i really have no clue. i've never kept goldfish. :icon_eek: 

i assume if the shrimp and fish size are drastically different the shrimp will be eaten.


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## YuccaPatrol

As a general rule, fish think that anything that fits into their mouth is food.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as some small fish which only eat algae.


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## nathan515

I would say it is best that he never kept them together in the first place. Maybe at first if the fish was purchased really small and the shrimps full grown, maybe there wouldn't be much of a problem. However, not to mention baby shrimps later, goldfish do grow bigger, some quite big. I had a feeder goldfish get to be 8+ inches, ended up raising one after my other fish refuse to eat it or weren't able to catch it. 

So if he did put them together, wouldn't be too long until he would have to seperate them anyhow, so it is better just to find a more compatible longer lasting match in the first place than to set it up and end up fishing them out.


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## jimjimson

somehow i always manage to get goldfish that won't touch shrimp. just throw in a cherry to test it out.


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## SammyP

i've heard apple snails are good 'cleaner' type tankmates for goldfish. (if that was the reason why he wanted the shrimps)


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## BlueRam

There are a lot of goldfish from fancy to huge and a lot of shrimp so I do not know if an "always or never" can be issued but consider:
*Size (Many fish will eat what fits in their mouth)
*Habitat (Goldies often pick at the gravel)
*Temperment (I have seen pictures of a prawn catch and eat a tetra. It would suck if the blue lobster ate a prized fish)
*Water chemisty (some of the feeders like cold water)
*Waste (goldies are not the most efficient eaters so prepare for an ongoing nitrogen problem)

So basically you might have to experiment. Start with something cheep like glass shrimp.



attack11 said:


> I assume if the shrimp and fish size are drastically different the shrimp will be eaten.


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## attack11

i recommended that yesterday (testing with cheap shrimp) a little after i started the thread since it was a vague question to start with. thanks for the replies.


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## ringram

YuccaPatrol said:


> As a general rule, fish think that anything that fits into their mouth is food.
> 
> There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as some small fish which only eat algae.



...such as otocinclus, although Siamese algae eaters (SAEs) will eat flakes, sinking pellets and small shrimp.


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## stcyrwm

You could always get larger shrimp. Plant people tend to think of shrimp as "algae eating shrimp" but there are always the larger filter feeders like bamboo shrimp and the biggest I've seen and my personal favorite Atya gabonensis which is about 3 inches long. Mine is the coolest and sweetest guy in my tank.

Bill


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## livebearer

i have a moor goldfish with ghost shrimp he doesnt even pay them any attention.


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