# Can I keep red cherry shrimp with ghost shrimp?



## Vladdy

I bought some red cherry shrimp off of eBay and I was wondering if I can keep them with my ghost shrimp. Yeah, I know, I should have asked this question before getting the red cherry shrimp. There are 18 red cherry shrimp and 9 ghost shrimp. Would that work out well? Has anyone had experience with keeping both species together? Thanks for helping me.


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## newlyearthbound

it's a close thing. Some people say it's fine, but most swear that the bigger ghost shrimp will attack the RCS which I have found to be true in my old tank. At a small population and a good size tank of each it isn't that bad, but as they reproduce they'll start getting at the RCS. seen many a RCS eaten by ghost shrimp

edit. also the stress of the ghost shrimp on the RCS will dull their color some.


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## suebe333

I just watched a ghost shrimp attack and eat a smaller ghost shrimp ,, I say NO those things are vicious


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## newlyearthbound

suebe333 said:


> I just watched a ghost shrimp attack and eat a smaller ghost shrimp ,, I say NO those things are vicious


exactly. ghost shrimp can be quite territorial. anything smaller than them is in trouble. only way to dodge it is small populations and a large tank so the RCS and ghosts have their own territory. also lots of plants. always need plants.


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## theemon

i do it and its fine. but my ghosts are very calm, they do however take all the food


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## Superedwin

newlyearthbound said:


> it's a close thing. Some people say it's fine, but most swear that the bigger ghost shrimp will attack the RCS which I have found to be true in my old tank. At a small population and a good size tank of each it isn't that bad, but as they reproduce they'll start getting at the RCS. seen many a RCS eaten by ghost shrimp
> 
> edit. also the stress of the ghost shrimp on the RCS will dull their color some.


Actually sometimes if a shrimp is in danger or is trying to hide there color would actually be even darker, since they are trying to blend in and they don't know that they are red or whatever color the neo is.

But yeah agreed you shouldn't risk it just let them be in a separate tank.


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## saltynay

Ghost shrimp is a generic name what is the species name. Palaemonetes sp. can be kept with atyid shrimp but Macrobrachium will destroy them in an instant.


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## metageologist

i have to agree that i have witnesses many GS kill RCS i thought they were just eating previously deceased shrimp until i watched one come over top of one and kill it. all my GS now reside in a in my danio tank.


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## dindin

Welllll I hate to disagree with all those folks who probably know a lot more than I do. But I have ghosts and cherries together, and they are not only fine but regularly reproducing. 

It's a heavily planted tank, tho. And I'm pretty sure my ghosts are Palaemonetes sp.


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## Scottso

Late to the post but I have a 24 nano and a 10 gallon that has both RCS and ghost shrimp and they coexist and reproduce just fine without any issues. My ghost shrimp are definitely Palaemonetes sp. though.


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## adrianng1996

its ok unless your tank is at least 15-20gallons...and has a lot of plants and places to hide...but if your RCS start to breed,then your ghost shrimp is gonna have a very satisfiying meal on your babies


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## Dr.Duff

I breed neo shrimp and I got a pregnant cherry that was kept with ghosts at the pet store. THEY BREED ! Creating a larger cherry shrimp that swims like and has ghost shrimp legs. They DO attack the lure cherry shrimp and I'm having to constantly capture them and my cherry shrimp 20 gallon planted tank is ruined by the cross breeding. Alot of time and money lost and future sales lost as well. 
(The cross breed shrimp are pretty cool though but I'd keep them separate too).
Dr.Duff


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## Yukiharu

Dr. Duff I'd like to see these crossbreeds. It's physically impossible biologically for ghost shrimp and cherries to interbreed (palaemonetes or macrobrachium vs neocaridina) and they don't even have the same development cycle - Bioengineering education

But anyway I would worry about the cherries, especially if you're adding them to an established ghost shrimp tank. They might take the cherries as rivals or food and eat them.
Then again, they might not. I just don't trust them.


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## JustJen

I personally wouldn't trust ghost shrimp with cherries. Mine weren't "aggressive" per say, but they were certainly very active and would routinely snatch food away from fish that were 3 times their size. I never tried it, so can't speak from experience, but I would have a hard time believing my ghost shrimp wouldn't have snacked on cherries given the opportunity.


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## Aplomado

A friend tried this. The ghost shrimp ate a cherry.

NOM NOM NOM.


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## drewsuf82

I agree with a lot of this…Ghost Shrimp outgrow neos, they can out compete them for food, and I've seen them nom nom on smaller shrimp. I'd trust the two together just about as much as I trust that lotto ticket I spent a dollar for will make me a millionaire….


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## Veritas

mine don't really seem to have problems with each other, granted they have plenty of space/territory.


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## krsmerreedercove

saltynay said:


> Ghost shrimp is a generic name what is the species name. Palaemonetes sp. can be kept with atyid shrimp but Macrobrachium will destroy them in an instant.


I think that the bigger ones (macrobrachium) aren't actually real ghost shrimp, they just are mislabeled as such. don't they get like three inches long? (lol that's big enough to eat!)
At any rate, I personally think that true ghost shrimp would be ok with, just not great with RCS.


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## Zoidburg

Macros are generally Indian Whisker Shrimp... and no, they are not ghost shrimp, but they are often mistaken for ghost shrimp.

Ghost shrimp species that may exist within captivity can include...

Palaemonetes kadiakensis (Mississippi Grass Shrimp)
Palaemonetes paludosus (Eastern Grass Shrimp)
Palaemonetes vulgaris (Marsh/Common Grass Shrimp)
Palaemonetes atrinubes


And who knows how many other species...


Here's a thread where it shows two species.

https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/...s/711817-ghost-shrimp-aggression-founded.html


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## taylor.h.vance

Yukiharu said:


> Dr. Duff I'd like to see these crossbreeds. It's physically impossible biologically for ghost shrimp and cherries to interbreed (palaemonetes or macrobrachium vs neocaridina) and they don't even have the same development cycle - Bioengineering education But anyway I would worry about the cherries, especially if you're adding them to an established ghost shrimp tank. They might take the cherries as rivals or food and eat them. Then again, they might not. I just don't trust them.


 I can also confirm that I got some generic "ghost shrimp" from the pet store and stuck them in with my cherries. They DO 100% reproduce but I'm not sure if the offspring are fertile or not. I do have a bachelors in Biology if that matters but at the end of the day all I can say is that I have photos of each and the offspring they produce. They look very much like a ghost shrimp. Smaller though with like a reddish tinge. They are both much larger than the cherry shrimp and much smaller than the ghost shrimp. They couldn't have come from anywhere else. I had the RCS separate for a very long time before I dumped them into my community tank. Same with the ghost shrimp. I only had two of them and they were in the community tank for a long time with no weird happenings.


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## somewhatshocked

taylor.h.vance said:


> I can also confirm that I got some generic "ghost shrimp" from the pet store and stuck them in with my cherries. They DO 100% reproduce but I'm not sure if the offspring are fertile or not. I do have a bachelors in Biology if that matters but at the end of the day all I can say is that I have photos of each and the offspring they produce. They look very much like a ghost shrimp. Smaller though with like a reddish tinge. They are both much larger than the cherry shrimp and much smaller than the ghost shrimp. They couldn't have come from anywhere else. I had the RCS separate for a very long time before I dumped them into my community tank. Same with the ghost shrimp. I only had two of them and they were in the community tank for a long time with no weird happenings.


There are 17 different species of "ghost" shrimp. None of them can breed with Neocaridina. If your cherries bred with another shrimp that was clear-ish? It, too, was a Neocaridina species.

Post photos. Show us the parent shrimp and the offspring.


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