# SHRIMP SAFE LIST (was: Is there a list of shrimp predators somewhere?)



## cookfromscratch

Turning this thread into a SHRIMP SAFE list. This would mean at the very least juvis but it would be better to have adults, I'm sure. Please add your experiences with shrimp-safe fish. 

neons
cardinals
otos
guppies





ORIGINAL POST: I am very interested in keeping shrimp but my hubby is vehemently apposed to our house being over-run with tanks, LOL! So I am trying to keep the number of tanks that I set up to a minimum. I have a 46g display tank in our living room with cardinals,otos, cories, a BN. It will eventually house a school of praecox rainbows and a pair of rams. From what I am reading, it is best to have the shrimp in first before the rams, if I put them in there at all. But I wanna do all the research first and then get them.  So what I am getting at here is how do I find out about the fish I have without asking about every single fish (which I am sure is annoying to shrimp keepers!)


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## esarkipato

from all my reading here, googling, and at www.shrimpnow.net, there exists no such list. I think that even the smallest tetra is capable of devouring a baby shrimp (they accept brine shrimp, right?), so a list of possible predators would be waaaaay too long!

Aside from avoiding the obvious shrimp loving fish, I think the only way to go about it is trial and error. If you are wanting to keep a more *expensive* shrimp, I and others would suggest throwing in some ghost/glass shrimp first, which can be had for like $0.30 apiece at petsmart *shudder*.

In order for shrimp to survive with ANY fish (predators), I would think they need an immense amount of ground cover (I assume you have plants )

Example: I want some cherry shrimp in my community 29 w/ rams, and angel, tetras and rasporas and cories. I don't want to lose $20 on some expensive food, so I set up a 10 gallon tank to house them in, maybe get them to breed, plus I put some ghosts in the community tank. I realize another tank is not an option (unless you beg? ), so all I can really suggest is the less expensive substitute.


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## Urkevitz

Your 46g will be good if you don't add the rams, I am not sure about the rainbows. I am pretty sure the Rams will actively hunt down cherries, especially babies. My cardinals never seem to look at the cherries.

Something else to consider is that when you purchase cherries they will be small juveniles when they arrive. Having grow out / breeding tank is still the best way to go.


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## turbosaurus

I think we should come up with a shrimp safe list instead becasue fish who WON't eath them are the exception rather than the rule. 

I have had ottos that don't seem to bother the shrimp, some have good luck with bn pleco- anyone else?


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## hir0

ottos and neons here. They seem to not bother any shrimp. I have a couple male guppies too who never really leave the upper half of the tank, and I've never seen them go for any shrimp. My panda cories didn't seem to bother them, but they are no longer in there.
I've had apistogramma cacatuoides attack shrimp, endlers nip at shrimp and killies that went for them too (Aphyosemion australe).


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## jeep8rus

I'm going the same way as Ernie mentioned. I set up a 10 gallon tank to breed cherry shrimp because I didn't want them to become snacks.

I also had put a few ghost shrimp in my tanks as tester shrimp and they're still alive (with my discus). I think the ghosts might actually be breeding.

Is there space underneath your bowfront for a 10 gallon? I'm keeping mine without a heater or a filter (but I do have plants and lighting). That's just an option to keep a tank out of sight and out of mind. Plus a 10 gallon tank isn't expensive.

HTH,
-Russ


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## cookfromscratch

I like the idea of a shrimp safe list. Please anyone and everyone chime on in. I really want a pair of rams in there so I may try to find a place for a small shrimp tank. Wish I could find some around here. Looks like some of us in my area will be getting together later this month. That may be a great time to acquire some!


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## briandmiles

My danios will nip at my cherries from time to time and I'm certain they keep the baby/juvenile population down but I've never seen them actually attack or kill any adults. My neons and guppies were completely shrimp neutral and I've had no problems with my oto's.

Brian


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## esarkipato

I might test out my harlequin rasporas in my 10gal shrimp tank. That seems the only way to "scientifically" create this kind of list: introduce a few of a species to a tank FULL of shrimp. If they ignore the shrimp, they can be "shrimp-safe"!


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## manxcatssc

I have guppies, cories, ottos, and a pleco with my cherry and ghost shrimp and they don't bother them.


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## aquamoon

My Harlequin and black rasboras have never touch my ghost shrimp(added after the fish)...


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## lumpyfunk

Enders are moderatly shrimp safe, I have them with mine and shrimp population has increased, but I have seen a larger female take down a 1/2 inch shrimp.


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## jimmydrsv

I had neons in my shrimp tank and I notice a lot more of them out and about now without the tetras. Also i can see much smaller shrimp moving around on the glass.

I think when they are that small, any fish will affect them to some degree.


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## oceanaqua

Neons do well, but how about cardinal?


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## yoink

I keep my cherry's with black neons, neons, various cory cats, otos, guppy fry, and a rainbow shark. Never seen anyone bother them, although I'm sure the tetras and guppy fry will eat the babies. I have a ton of the tiniest cherry shrimp in with otos and corys, they pay them no attention.


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## esarkipato

So it sounds like a useful list would be one of fish that do not impair the growing of a shrimp population . . . . IOW they don't eat babies . . .. .


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## vinnymac

Fish will eat anything they can fit in their mouths...that's the rule of thumb.

Just about anything will eat baby shrimp. I've seen Cardinal Tetras chase shrimp around my tanks.


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## Ken

I never had a problem with Harlequin Rasboras attacking my ghost shrimp in a 10G. 

And I'm willing to bet the Pygmy Rasboras I have in my 1G won't bother the Cherry Shrimp I plan to add tonite (considering the shrimp are as big or bigger than the fish).


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## mrbelvedere

add Hengel's rasboras to that list.


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## Steven_Chong

Here's a list of true shrimp safe fish:

-Otos (probably)
-Other pure-algae eaters (ie, SAE are not shrimp safe) . . . (maybe)

almost any shrimp can eat shrimp babies-- if you want to keep fish with shrimp, be prepared for casualties.

Warning: Even if your fish isn't big enough to eat a shrimp, it's certainly big enough to harass one in the shadows of plants where you can't see.


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## Roan Art

I've Amanos with my Boesemani in my 75g and no problems. However, when the Goo obos get a little bigger, I'm sure they will start hunting them down.

Ghost shrimp -- I've had these with several kinds of rainbowfish: Boeseman's, Flame, Millenium, and Crimson-Spotted, also with platys, plecos, neon and glowlite tetras, kuhlii loaches, clown loaches*, silver dollars, rasboras, rummy nose tetras and even a Hammer's Cobalt Blue lobster -- no problems.

Also, when you buy ghost shrimp, you really have to be careful that they ARE ghost shrimp. There are several species of _Macrobrachium_ (long arm) shrimp that look a lot like ghosts and do not have the long arms that most _macrobrachium_ have. I purchased 5 "ghosts" last year from LiveAquaria.com and they are not ghost shrimp. I've seen them attack my kuhliis, platys, neon tetras, you name it. When I put my new Millenium rainbow fish in the 36g I was using to QT them, one of the fish darted to the bottom and got trapped between a rock and the glass (he wasn't really trapped, just too scared to figure out to back up and swim upwards) and I watched one of the ghost shrimp swim down and visciously attack it! I stuck a net in there and chased the shrimp off, but she came back immediately and attacked the rainbow again. Needless to say that my pufferfish had a great meal that night.

Roan

* Clowns WILL chase them, and any fish that is smaller than a tetra, but I usually see this during feeding time and I'm almost positive it's because they can't tell the difference between a flake or a worm and a small fish. I think they have really bad eyesight


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## hybrid8

You can add Siamese Algae Eater (SAE) to that list without issue. I have both 1.25" and a 2.5" SAEs in my tank right now and they don't bother anyone.

I also think it's relative to consider what kinds of shrimp. The Amanos in my tank are much bigger than the Cheries for instance). Plus whether or not you'll be dealing with aggressive shrimp like Macrobrachium sp. Then you'd be better off finding out which fish IT won't eat. 

I would also expect something like Bolivian or Blue Rams to be fine. But I haven't personally verified those (yet).

Current stocking info in 29G:

7x Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi "Black Neon Tetra" (3x 1.5" & 4x 3/4")
5x Otocinclus affinis "Oto Cat" (3/4" & 1")
2x Crossocheilus siamensis "Siamese Algae Eater / SAE" (2.5" & 1.25")
10x Cardina Japonica "Amano Algae Eating Shrimp" (3/4" to 1.5")
10x Neocaridina denticulata sinensis "Red Cherry Shrimp" (All < 1/2")
10x Zebra Nerite Snails (3/16" to 3/4")
??x Malasyian Trumpet Snails (3/16" to 3/4")
??x Small Ramshorn Snails (3/16" and smaller)

Bruno


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## Kayakbabe

I have cherry shrimp breeding successfully in my planted community tank.. started with 30 now have about 300 in all size classes from newbies 3 mm to 1.25 inch long old dark red females

10 Otocinclus various sizes up to about 1.5 inches
5 Japonica Shrimp aka "Amano Shrimp" 1.5 inches
20 Cardinal tetras pretty large ones
5 Zebra Danios (glofish cultivar)
6 Corydoras Sterbei
12 White Clouds
10 Brilliant Rasboras

When I first put the 30 baby Cherry shrimp into my tank, I didn't have a lot of cover and I did have two Dwarf Neon Rainbow which picked at the baby shrimp. I had all the other fish on the list above though.. everythign did fine except the neon rainbows. I didn't give the neon rainbows a chance to eat them in ernest and took them out into another tank. I haven't bothered to reintroduce them to my show tank... but now the H.M and E. tennelus have really tight matts of roots that provide cover for them. The newer 1-5 day old baby red cherries hang out in that stuff. The momma shrimp seem to know to go there when the eggs are hatching. They hover over or in the tightly massed plants and the babies drop down into it. I'm thinking it would probably be okay to reintroduct the neon rainbows now especially since I've got an estimated population of around 300 cherry shrimp now and cover for them. I don't mind if a few get "sacrificed" so long as some survive to adult hood.

I follow the "if a fish can stick it in it's mouth" it will try to eat it rule of thumb... so knowing I was going to put shrimp in my tank, I stuck to smaller mouthed fishes.. and detritivores.. and also fish which have eating habits that don't coincide too much with the shrimps like the danios which are top feeders, the tetras and rasboras are open midwater feeders... it's worked pretty well. The corydoras sterbei are a smaller variety of cory.. they get to be about 2 inches long.. and they don't bother my other fish or shrimp at all. When I feed hikari sinking wafers.. I even see the cories and shrimp feeding off the same wafers at the same time.

I've been thinking of getting some snail eaters - gots tons of baby snails that I pick out all the time.. but I"m pretty sure anything that would like to eat snails would like to eat baby shrimp too... so unless someone know of a snail lover that hates shrimp type of fish.. I"ll just pick them out.


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## 66 north

Dwarf rasboras are great, mine are full grown and actually smaller than the cherries.


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## turbosaurus

Why not just go all out and do a "little guys" tank... It doesn't have to be shrimp only... 

I had angel fry and bought the shrimp as a clean up crew. The temps are kinda high for cherries (78F) and low for Angel fry- but everybodies doing well, I saw my first couple cherry babies (cherry Baby! chEr-er-EEEry-Ba-aa- bie- Cherry Baby! now that song will be stuck in my head!) and no one eats anyone....


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## Solace

I am partial to thinking that once you have an established breeding tank for shrimp, that you could double its use as a hatchery for fish fry, such as guppies, tetras, etc.. Baby guppies love baby brine shrimp, but baby cherry shrimp are much bigger (I hope), and therefor the guppies that would be able to eat them would be large enough that they would be fairly trained on surface feeding. Guppies do peck around the bottom, but not often, and if they did manage to chew up a few babies -- once you have an established breeding community i dont think a few casualties will hurt. Considering it will help the fry!


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## dschmeh

how about dwarf gouramis i realize they will eat babies what about adult?
anyone??


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## Mustang5L5

Kuhli loaches leave shrimp alone for the most part. At lease as far as i can tell. They are too slow anyway. 

Tiger barbs are not shrimp safe. Don't even think about it! I keep cheap shrimp in my 37G which is planted well enough that the shrimp survive as long as they stay in the plants. If one of them is stupid enough to swim up away from cover the barbs surround and attack like a pack of sharks. 

As a result, if i want to see my shrimp, i need to put my face to the glass and peer into the deepest plant thickets in my tank. They have bred, but i can usually only see 1-3 at any 1 time.


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## esarkipato

Solace said:


> I am partial to thinking that once you have an established breeding tank for shrimp, that you could double its use as a hatchery for fish fry, such as guppies, tetras, etc.. Baby guppies love baby brine shrimp, but baby cherry shrimp are much bigger (I hope), and therefor the guppies that would be able to eat them would be large enough that they would be fairly trained on surface feeding. Guppies do peck around the bottom, but not often, and if they did manage to chew up a few babies -- once you have an established breeding community i dont think a few casualties will hurt. Considering it will help the fry!


I am probably going to try this with my 10 gallon cherry tank if my Blue Rams keep eating their eggs!

BUT, the temperature thing comes to mind agian, ram eggs like it HOT!


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## dschmeh

i got platties and dwarf groumies they will get the small ones and they harass the adults. i only see mine come out after lights out.


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## GreenerSideofLIfe

I have them with endlers... but I think the male endlers are going after the shirmp and harassing the bigger ones. So I would put this in the 'risky' catagory.


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## ja__

anyone tried Heterandria formosa with shrimps?

Im currently keeping platties and they dont bother the shrimps at all


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## TheTeh

Warning!! Do NOT DWARF GOURAMIS (Sparkling/croaking gouramis) with shrimps, they attacked my tiger shrimps until they die!! Boraras brigittae, endler, Otos, Apple snails, Corydora habrosus are ok in my experience.
Evidence:


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## 247Plants

wow its probably because i have a bigger tank but my dwarf gouramis spend most of their time up near the surface of the water and hardly ever come to the bottom of the tank.......I see my dwarf crawdads and their fry all over the place....


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## bpm2000

GreenerSideofLIfe said:


> I have them with endlers... but I think the male endlers are going after the shirmp and harassing the bigger ones. So I would put this in the 'risky' catagory.


My larger female endler definitely ate a couple of shrimp I housed with them - now I have separate endler and shrimp tanks.


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## dakotaice

Guppies are definitely NOT always shrimp safe.

I added 20 or so shrimp to a heavily planted 10 gallon with just THREE guppies and the guppies hunted down the shrimp. I've never seen guppies so lion-like. I had to remove the guppies to their own 5 gallon.


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## TheTeh

Guppies are larger than Endler which is thought to be a different species. Endlers are ok with adult shrimps in my experience. Not sure about baby shrimps though as Endler's mouth is larger than baby shrimp!


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## A Hill

i think it also depends on what type of shrimp it is... my ghost shrimp dont get bothered by my rummy nose tetras in the 55g, but im going to be taking them out before i put cherries in...

- fish newb


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## esarkipato

Well my photography skills are light years behind "TheTeh"'s, but here's proof that "dojo loaches" can peacefully coexist with cherries:



Yep, they share food! :biggrin:


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## NeonShrimp

Don't be so modest, your pic is always appreciated and helpful to the rest of us. Thanks!


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## Hoobahans

I have endlers, featherfin rainbowfish, kuhli loaches, ottos, true flying foxed, siamese flying foxes, woodshrimp, vampire shrimp, dwarf crayfish, nitrite snails, rasboros (ones with the a black triangle on red bodies), a "twig" catfishand, two dwarf plecos (one full grown at 4 inches and one baby), and neon tetras all living together. They are all together in a 95 gallon tank with a lot of moss and a good amount of plants and the literely hundreds of baby shrimp show that they all get along. I've never seen any agression whatsoever, and the shrimp feel safe enough to swim around in the open middle and upper levels of the tank without harrassment.


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## the_noobinator

my danios don't bother my shrimp at all. keep in mind that i have a tall tank and a fair amount of hiding coverage, so my schoolers don't really have a lot of contact with them. 

i have a huge cory, but he's a scaredy-cat (get it?) and swims away from anything that touches him, even shrimp. 

the only problem i've had with my shrimp is that they climb up my tall plants on the side where current is low, and then if a fish touches them they shoot away backwards and get stuck on the glass above the waterline, where they promptly fry from the heat of my lamps and then are a pain to clean off. 

also keep in mind that i just have ghost shrimp, which are 12 cents a piece at my LFS. i bought them for my claw frog to eat, but i got 2 big egg-laden ghost shrimp in that batch. when the first one laid its eggs, mr. claw frog stuffed himself with the eggs and hasn't eaten a shrimp since. now my shrimp have no enemies in the tank and probably will be there forever.


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## kotoeloncat

keeps discus with my cherries, from time to time the discus will get curious and check the cherries out but once they realize its not food, they dont eat it


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## eklikewhoa

Boraras Merah
Boraras Brigittae
Boraras Maculata
Boraras Uropthalmoides
Microrasboras scissor tails


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## Cydric

esarkipato said:


> Well my photography skills are light years behind "TheTeh"'s, but here's proof that "dojo loaches" can peacefully coexist with cherries:
> 
> 
> 
> Yep, they share food! :biggrin:


Awesome picture, thanks.  That loach is just sick looking! (in a good way)


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## Shadow

esarkipato said:


> Well my photography skills are light years behind "TheTeh"'s, but here's proof that "dojo loaches" can peacefully coexist with cherries:
> 
> 
> 
> Yep, they share food! :biggrin:


Thats a kuhli loach not a dojo loach. They are my absolute favorite fish. I have 10+


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## sandiegoryu

In Japan, dojo loaches aren't pet fish. They're food :-D. And those Kuhli loaches don't look edible to me :-D.


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## spypet

For the past 2 weeks I put six M&F 2cm RCS in my densely planted
nano size 60 fish member community tank and all six have survived. 
Here are the list of fish I keep in this 30g tank you can use 
as reference when choosing your shrimp and fish community;

dwarf cory - Corydoras hastatus
bumblebee goby - Brachygobius aggregatus
danio - Chela dadyburjori
botia - Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki 
porkchop rasbora - Trigonostigma hengeli
Endler's livebearer guppy - Poecilia Reticulata * MALES ONLY *
dwarf sucker-mouth catfish - Otocinclus affinis

I first removed this fish due to it's persistent predatory tendency;
dwarf sparkling gourami - Trichopsis pumilus

I should note that shrimp were regularly seen out in the open, but
preferred to spend the majority of their time deep inside my plant cover.
since all these fish gladly eat my live brine shrimp, it's certain they will
eat any shrimp fry they can find, with the exception being the Otto's.

New Experiment: I put a single cory and goby in my RCS breeding tank
with many shrimp fry of various tiny sizes. This tank has many micro
organisms I hope these fish will clean without eating the fry all up :icon_eek:

Update: After 2 weeks, the cory and goby ignored even the smallest of
my shrimp fry, so I'm satisfied that they are as shrimp safe as my Ottos.
they cleaned up some moving organisms, and ate live Brine shrimp I put
in the tank, yet they still did not disturb even newborn 2mm shrimp fry.


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## phanizzle

otos, rummy nose tetras, and cories ignore my juvie cherries.


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## Cattius

Anyone know anything about cherry shrimp and mollies compatibility?


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## Urkevitz

Cattius said:


> Anyone know anything about cherry shrimp and mollies compatibility?


I've heard they aren't compatible, I haven't tried them myself.


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## dekstr

phanizzle said:


> otos, rummy nose tetras, and cories ignore my juvie cherries.


I keep cories + rummynoses with cherry shrimps too.
Cories leave the shrimps online. The only time they might do any harm is if the shrimp is in the way. The cory will just swim through the shrimp. No damage there.

I noticed today, if there is food, and the cherries and tetras both want it, tetras will win 100% of the time. If the cherries get in the way, the rummynose WILL nip at them. I don't know if this does significant damage, but for the most part the cherries will jump away and hide, resorting to eating detritus again. 

Again, I guess most carnivorous / omivorous fish will eat the shrimp if given the chance. Even if it's not big enough to fit into the mouth, they will nip at them.


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## phanizzle

dekstr said:


> I keep cories + rummynoses with cherry shrimps too.
> Cories leave the shrimps online. The only time they might do any harm is if the shrimp is in the way. The cory will just swim through the shrimp. No damage there.
> 
> I noticed today, if there is food, and the cherries and tetras both want it, tetras will win 100% of the time. If the cherries get in the way, the rummynose WILL nip at them. I don't know if this does significant damage, but for the most part the cherries will jump away and hide, resorting to eating detritus again.
> 
> Again, I guess most carnivorous / omivorous fish will eat the shrimp if given the chance. Even if it's not big enough to fit into the mouth, they will nip at them.


i also have seen this happen when my shrimp was swimming to the surface and had a piece of the flake the rummy nose nipped it or pushed the shrimp away or something but didnt do any damage so thats a good thing but most of the time they ignore them.


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## edacsac

I see a lot of posts saying tetras and cherry shrimp do fine (rummy nose, neon), but what about cardinal tetra? I have one in my 10 gallon tank with 5 cherry shrimp, and I counted 3 of the (largest adult) shrimp yesterday with no corpses after a couple of weeks. My tank is well planted with java moss, so I'm hoping the other two where hiding. I would like to move about 25 more shrimp (65% juvies) to that tank and shut down the shrimp tank, but they've been slow to multiply and I don't want to lose to many.


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## dekstr

edacsac said:


> I see a lot of posts saying tetras and cherry shrimp do fine (rummy nose, neon), but what about cardinal tetra? I have one in my 10 gallon tank with 5 cherry shrimp, and I counted 3 of the (largest adult) shrimp yesterday with no corpses after a couple of weeks. My tank is well planted with java moss, so I'm hoping the other two where hiding. I would like to move about 25 more shrimp (65% juvies) to that tank and shut down the shrimp tank, but they've been slow to multiply and I don't want to lose to many.


Well since cardinal tetras are almost 2x (around 3cm versus 5cm+) as small as rummynoses, they shouldn't be a problem. Most species of shrimps are quite hardy. For cherry shrimps, I guess as long as you have a nice bed of java moss, they will survive just fine. There's lots of micro-food within the java moss that they can feed on and survive.


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## crazie.eddie

I put platy fry (about 12) in my 29 gallon RCS tank. The fry were way smaller than most juveniles, so I figured the fry would leave the shrimps. I made sure the fish/shrimps were well fed, with FBW, flakes, zuchini, algae discs, etc. I noticed the fry would eat away at dead shrimp. As the fish got bigger, I noticed no shrimplets or even new borns. When the platy got closer to adult size, I noticed the RCS did not freely swim around in the tank. I think they were fearful of the platy predators. When I removed the platies, my RCS started to multiply again.

I now put cardinal tetras in the tank. I did see a cardinal chase a shrimp, but it (cardinal) stopped after the quick burst.


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## kzr750r1

I'd suspect my cardinals and white cloud minnows are munching on any baby Cherry shrimp available in the 55g. I rarely see the cards (sneaky boogers) and the minnows are always scouting the tank.

Interesting that my 10g with an eight year old Platydoras Costatus (Striped rafael) is a cherry farm in the making.

The cat has been in this kitchen tank for four years. We had several other fish in and out of this tank. But the cat has always been here since our move.

This shrimp farm started with six shrimp at the beginning of the summer for the 55... First canister cleaning all the refugees went into the 10g. Now there are countless off spring of varying sizes. At some point if the cat is getting any fine. I feed him/her and the shrimp well. The tank gets WC weekly with RO.

Packed with moss and other low light plants. It's been a neat colony to start up.


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## waterfaller1

I keep a dwarf puffer with my shrimp.


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## fishscale

Cardinals will eat shrimplets, but not adults. Dwarf puffers are a gamble. They will either ignore the shrimp or tear them apart and perhaps not even eat them (they can be mean little critters). I keep adult diamond tetras in a tank with a cherry population (not my shrimp tank, but they are still breeding). The population grows very slowly because even though it is heavily planted, when I do water changes or any kind of maintenance, I flush the shrimp out of hiding, and the tetras have a feast on shrimplets. Rainbowfish will definitely hunt shrimplets, perhaps even adults. I had a molly that I donated back to the LFS because it was not eating any algae and it was highly aggressive. Probably the single most shrimp unfriendly fish I have ever had.


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## snakeskin

I have kept guppies, endlers, cories, pearl groumis, discus, and ottos with the shrimp with no problems. Bolivian rams on the other hand nipped at them and seemed to actively hunt them. Stay away from Bolivian rams!


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## louiscoolboy

Hillstream Loach should have no problem with shrimps even the babies


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## waterfaller1

eklikewhoa said:


> Boraras Merah
> Boraras Brigittae
> Boraras Maculata
> Boraras Uropthalmoides
> Microrasboras scissor tails


Which one of these is the prettiest/brightest? Schools? Smallest? It is hard to judge from photos only.


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## soundtweakers

How about snails? anyone ever caught a snail hunting live baby shrimplets? I have.


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## neilfishguy

I dont see how a snail could hold a LIVE shrimp long enough to eat it...


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## NeonShrimp

neilfishguy said:


> I dont see how a snail could hold a LIVE shrimp long enough to eat it...


I agree with you on this one. Only true fish safe around even babies are Ottos and BNP's.


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## zergling

It might be slightly OT, but just want to say to NOT add cardinal tetras, glo-light tetras, and white cloud mountain minnows to the shrimp safe list. 

The 3 species mentioned ate all but one of the 35 RCS that I recently bought (yes it is my fault as the shrimp had nowhere to hide in my iwagumi attempt of a scape). They swallowed anything up to 1cm big, and the few that were not big enough to swallow whole, they kept on biting and harassing until they tore them to pieces. 20 cardinals, 20 glo-lights, and 5 white clouds made short work of my $25 order :angryfire

Yes, I fed the tank heavily 5 minutes before I added the RCS, and yes the lights were also turned off when I added the RCS. If they had places to hide though (translation: if I didn't rescape), they would have survived and my gut feeling is that they will eventually give up on the RCS (well, not the shrimplets though LOL).


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## crazie.eddie

I'm just curious for those who have trouble with fish eating the shrimplets, how much do you feed your fish? I recently added cardinals to my 29 gallon tank and I'm thinking of heavily feeding the cardinals so they would not be interested with the shrimplets.


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## NeonShrimp

I don't think it is just a care of hunger, it is natural instinct for lots of fish to go after small swimming/floating objects. Over feeding can be a negative result of keeping the fish full.


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## neilfishguy

Fish would rather eat live food than flakes though.


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## kzr750r1

NeonShrimp said:


> I don't think it is just a care of hunger, it is natural instinct for lots of fish to go after small swimming/floating objects. Over feeding can be a negative result of keeping the fish full.


I would tend to agree with this for any of the small fish aside from an otto or cory... Even as a large mouth is attracted to a lure. They will instinctavly whant to mouth somthing moving.

The interesting thing is learned behavior. Once they get a taste... It's all over.

I'm convinced the small schools of Cards and WCM are preventing the small ones to live in the 55. Early on there were shrimplets but these days nada. All of the survivors grow out without harm.

In all I don't see this as a bad thing. Free live food is provided to your fish.

So as a general rule. Don't expect a long term colony explosion. Early it may happen, but then the fish figure outthey are tasty.

Keep a shrimp only tank for the support colony to replenish the preditory fish tanks. Sooner or later shrimp do get old. As we see large or small they act with the same basic instincts.


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## crazie.eddie

Fish usually prefers live food, because it's a predatory instinct for them to chase food. I remember when I used to breed guppies. I've read that guppies will eat their fry, so I would catch the fry and place them in a breeder trap. But it got tedious, so I left the fry alone with the parents. The adults would maybe give a quick chase for the fry, but rarely. That's because I kept the adults well fed. I know if I didn't feed them, they would give their babies a second look for survival.

I'm sure it would be also a different story with tank bred fish vs. wild fish in the tanks with shrimps. Tank bred fish are used to eating what we feed them and normally can recognize us and wait for us for food. So eating other inhabitants in the tank would not interest them. Unlike wild fish, which are more opportunistic and would prefer anything that could fit in it's mouth.


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## retoid

I currently have a couple tanks with RCS in them. Both are breeding fine.

One tank is strictly shrimp and snails.
The other consists of several tetras, a hillstream loach, two yoyo loaches, one full size and one juvenile. And one smaller pleco.
I was concerned at first about the yoyo's but they dont bother the shrimp. The seem to swim into them, scaring the shrimp causing them to jmp but thats it.


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## Kayakbabe

I've keep a planted tank with cherry shrimp for 3 years now. I do have a lot of dense cover planted areas where shimp babies can hide. Where it is hard for larger fish to get to the babies. so I have lots of babies surviving in my tank. I keep dwarf neon rainbows, brilliant rasboras, cardinal tetras, white clounds and otocinclus with the shrimp. I know my shrimp are thriving as I often take about 30 of them out of the tank at a time and exchange them for credit as my local fish store. I beleive the key is having lots of plants and dense planted areas that babies hide in. Other than that, I feed normally with floating and midwater food and also throw in Hikari 'shimp' pellets (which my shrimp love to eat). I beleive the key is having cover for the babies to hide in.


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## fishscale

Rams and other dwarf cichlids will definitely eat shrimp, even attack adults. I have just learned the celestial pearl danios (galaxy rasboras) are not shrimp safe. Apparently, they will pick at adult shrimp, even though they are roughly the same size.


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## @[email protected]

waterfaller1 said:


> Which one of these is the prettiest/brightest? Schools? Smallest? It is hard to judge from photos only.


 
i've only seen photos but i plan on getting boras merah for my 10 gal, they look like they have the most intense colors. i also hope to keep them with RCS, so im really glad they are not shrimp predators.



i have kept amano shrimp in a community 20 gal with boesemani rainbows, SAE, gold clouds, dwarf guppies (a strain me and my dad created by leaving only runts and giving away the rest), german blue rams, black neon tetra, neon tetra, and a bumble bee goby.


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## jazzlvr123

ottos are the only fish 100% known not to pick off babies, this has been extensively argued on aquatic plant central as well


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## A Hill

fishscale said:


> Rams and other dwarf cichlids will definitely eat shrimp, even attack adults. I have just learned the celestial pearl danios (galaxy rasboras) are not shrimp safe. Apparently, they will pick at adult shrimp, even though they are roughly the same size.


How big was the tank you've gotten both of them in?

-Andrew


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## @[email protected]

i saw a pre-setup tank in an LFS with cpds, a rasbora (not sure which), and a ton for RCS. the RCS were not being harrassed by the fish.


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## Papas76

I have 10 out of 16 Amano shrimp. I couldnt figure out why they were dying until one day when I saw my red eye tetras taking small bites out of them. I took out my four red eyes and put them in one of my 20 gallons and my Amano's are thriving...


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## Chucknorris

Rainbow Sharks leave my shrimp alone, Im guessing red tails do too


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## mithrandir

I have 4 Bloodfin Tetra's, 3 Neon's, 4 endlers, 4 ottos and 3 ghost catfish and my cherry shrimp population does not seem to grow... any ideas? my amono's are quite happy but never see any of them with eggs


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## jazzlvr123

blood fins and neons will definately pic off baby shrimp you might not see it happen but it does. even though they are generally calm anything they can fit in their mouth they will attack. have you ever seen a group of neon get fed brine shrimp, they go crazy. A baby RCS is about the same size as an adult brine. I would suggest just keeping them with ottos or providing a lot of areas for the shrimp to hide in


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## Papas76

In short most fish will either eat or nip at shrimp from what Ive seen in my experience. I have bamboo shimp and even my whiteclouds take a nip at them from time to time lol...


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## wood

Since this question is asked a lot I decided to write a small article with a small list: http://www.planetinverts.com/safe_tankmates_for_shrimp.html

Please give your input on this article and anything you think I should add. I am not expert on safe tankmates since I would have to keep all different kinds of fish with my shrimps in order to know for sure.


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## A Hill

wood said:


> Since this question is asked a lot I decided to write a small article with a small list: http://www.planetinverts.com/safe_tankmates_for_shrimp.html
> 
> Please give your input on this article and anything you think I should add. I am not expert on safe tankmates since I would have to keep all different kinds of fish with my shrimps in order to know for sure.


Plecos aren't "SAFE" they can eat shrimp no problem, sometimes people get them actively feeding on the shrimp. 

Ottos are the only 100% safe fish. This is based on how their mouths work. Also the size of these mouths. 

After that its just luck. Some people have no problems with betas, others hunt shrimp same for all other fish. On the same note, some people, keep angles and discus with cherries and don't have many problems. It is very variable per tank and fish. Ottos are shrimp safe because they can not get them, its impossible. 

-Andrew


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## wood

Can someone verify that plecos eat shrimp? I have not heard of this but could be wrong.


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## A Hill

wood said:


> Can someone verify that plecos eat shrimp? I have not heard of this but could be wrong.


I've seen it with common plecos. Their mouths are quiet large. This one didn't "Hunt" but I did see him gobble some up. 

With that being said, in my 55g I'm going to have a pair of bushy nose plecos. I don't really care if they take some shrimp.

-Andrew


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## wood

Yea I edited the list to be otto only. I think ottos are much better than plecos anyway as far as algae is concerned.


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## Are-Jay

In your article, it might be worth mentioning that certain fish like Celestial Pearl Danios, Boraras briggitae, and Boraras maculatus, may pose a small threat to shrimplets, but not to adult shrimp. I have these fish in my 29g, and while I cant say for certain that they dont eat the babys, I've never witnessed them eating baby's or chasing them, I have never once seen them "curious" about my adult cherrys. In fact, the shrimp arent stressed at all. My cherry population is in fact growing at a great rate, with many berried females =)

While it might just be my personal experience, I want people to know that it is possible to house fish/shrimp somewhat successfully in the same tank instead of getting the usual answer of "your fish will love you for the tasty snack" or the just plain blunt "NO!" lol Another aspect that can help too, is to have a well planted tank to provide them with coverage, so they don't feel overly exposed.

I'm not sure this information is helpful, just wanted to share, so take it for what you will =)

Are-Jay


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## forddna

I just read this whole thread, and it seems like everyone who mentioned Rasboras said they did not bother their shrimp.

Has anyone had any Rasbora bother their shrimp??


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## efish

what about a Japanese Male Betta? I was going to throw one in my 5.5G once I fill it.


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## shawnmcc

How about a cherry barb are they compatible with cherry shrimp?


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## kzr750r1

This is a long thread.  But remember if it's small enough to fit in their mouth it will be eaten. Adults may fare ok with betas or barbs. But the offspring will likely not survive.

The other thing to consider is aggressive fish will mess with adults, sometimes to death.

I think we have covered here is the Otto is the only real shrimp safe fish.


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## starsunmoon

I have a 45 gallon heavily planted swords, and other plants, I have 25 glo-light tetras in there !! amazingly I have watched for hours......never seen a attack, hell they sit right there and put there lips down , the cherry jumps out the way and the fish look into what ever the cherry shrimp was eating on, the fish swims away, the shrimp goes right back to eating thietr snack, (usually shrimp pellet, or sprlina wafer) and my cherrys are producing very well!! I do wanna get one of my females full of eggs and put her into a breeding net just to see if i can count on how many, and that way I can let them grow out for a juvi sell.... I do think I will move the glo-lights into my other 90 community tank when I get it ready , but for now.. all looks great , and hell I would kinda hate having a 45 gallon eco, with only shrimp and snails.... I do have many ivory briggs, and red remshorn snails. But I love the fish swimming around, they make a aqaurium complete' to me. I dunno. IMO< but we shall see, I may move them , might not .. LOL.. OO < I am wondering about my true sae, he is getting big in there, anyone seen these guys eating juvis???


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## customdrumfinishes

starsunmoon,i read earlier in this post one memer saying the sae ate some juvis and one say they didnt


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## ZooTycoonMaster

I'm keeping RCS with a Platy, Zebra Danios, Neon Tetras, and Endler's Livebearers. They don't bother the adult shrimp, but they may eat the newly hatched shrimp.


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## mahoro

i tried mine with zebra danios, they just rip the shrimp apart in few seconds... they were all taking turns riping it apart like bullets from mechine guns..


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## fishymatty

Ive always kept cherry shrimp in my show tank with discus and apistos. But my tanks are heavily planted. The last spawn I had from my apistos had to be removed and the only tank I had to put them in was my shrimp tank. 10 gal with 100 + shrimp and 6 tiny apistos. They were no longer than 1mm. For the next 5months I didn't see a single shrimplet. Now a month after they were removed from the shrimp tank I have tons of babies. The point is sometimes you can get away with semi aggressive fish and shrimp and even the smallest of fish can dine on juvi shrimp.


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## A Hill

Bumpity bump.

Seems this is in need again.

-Andrew


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## pealow

I have 4 endlers, 3 males and one juvi female. I also have 4 fry and the fry were more curious initially towards the shrimp than the adults. They will try to take what the shrimp are eating sometimes but usually leave then alone. The dwarf crays are afraid of the shrimp and threaten the fish. I must add though that my shrimp hide 90% of the time. Not much fun to watch.


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## A Hill

A Hill said:


> Bumpity bump.
> 
> Seems this is in need again.
> 
> -Andrew


Another bump for this useful thread.

-Andrew


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## southerndesert

I'm thinking this should be a sticky perhaps.....

Cheers Bill


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## fishsandwitch

I agree but I think it needs to be cleaned up. I will make a new thread that has just the good info and not the 7 pages that someone needs to sort through. Hopefully a mod will make it a sticky. Expect to see it by the end to tomarrow. Does that sound good?


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## crazie.eddie

fishsandwitch said:


> I agree but I think it needs to be cleaned up. I will make a new thread that has just the good info and not the 7 pages that someone needs to sort through. Hopefully a mod will make it a sticky. Expect to see it by the end to tomarrow. Does that sound good?


Sounds good. I didn't want to clutter it up, but I also want to include to the list...

1. Farlowellas. Similar to otos.

2. L-046 and L-183 plecos. I keep them in my RCS tanks. Although, it would probably be safe to say all plecos, since they're pretty much scavengers. Their body and mouths do not really support as a predatory type fish.


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## fishsandwitch

crazie.eddie said:


> Sounds good. I didn't want to clutter it up, but I also want to include to the list...
> 
> 1. Farlowellas. Similar to otos.
> 
> 2. L-046 and L-183 plecos. I keep them in my RCS tanks. Although, it would probably be safe to say all plecos, since they're pretty much scavengers. Their body and mouths do not really support as a predatory type fish.


I made the thread. I dont wanna include plecos because I have seen a lda08 take a RCS and a hill saw a common take a shrimp too.
I dont know about farowelas but you can feel free to comment.


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## A Hill

southerndesert said:


> I'm thinking this should be a sticky perhaps.....
> 
> Cheers Bill


I agree. 

I think that just reading a page or two is good for most people to get the idea. No new topic needed...

-Andrew


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## TheCryptKeeper

I have a few rcs in my 75 gal planted tank and I have had no problems. I have 2 kribs and a ton of roseline sharks... no issues of being eaten... but they are too large for them to be fit into their mouths!


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## monkeyruler90

yeah definitely make this into a sticky. 

and the debate needs to be cleared up
are rams okay or not?
do the shrimp have to be introduced first or are they dead meat either way?
are there any dwarf south american cichlids that will co exist with them?


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## A Hill

monkeyruler90 said:


> yeah definitely make this into a sticky.
> 
> and the debate needs to be cleared up
> are rams okay or not?
> do the shrimp have to be introduced first or are they dead meat either way?
> are there any dwarf south american cichlids that will co exist with them?


The questions you asked where never really part of the "debate" 

Rams eat shrimp.

-Andrew


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## ZooTycoonMaster

Has anyone tried Clown Killifish? I like them, but not sure if I should add them to a shrimp tank


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## fishsandwitch

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Has anyone tried Clown Killifish? I like them, but not sure if I should add them to a shrimp tank


they are not safe


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## ZooTycoonMaster

Thought I might as well bump this thread so other people can read it...

What about Bumblebee Gobies or Celestial Pearl Danio?


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## FrostyNYC

Zoo,
Not sure about either of those but I wouldnt trust the gobies, as they prefer live food.


I'll add my experience with ENDLERS, for anyone thinking of keeping them with shrimp. My endlers learned to swim underneath my pregnant amanos and pick the eggs off her belly. One tiny male in particular did nothing but follow a 3" pregnant amano around for a week, taking every opportunity to twist himself upside down and try to pick an egg off. I cant imagine this happening with smaller shrimp, of course, but should be considered when housing them.


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## ZooTycoonMaster

My Endlers _seem_ to not bother the shrimp, but I think they do eat some baby shrimp, but not as much as other fish.

Sorry for so many shrimp-safe fish questions (I tried searching the thread, but nothing came up), but are Threadfin Rainbowfish safe? They have small throats, are they small enough to not swallow baby shrimp?


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## Cardinal Tetra

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Thought I might as well bump this thread so other people can read it...
> 
> What about Bumblebee Gobies or Celestial Pearl Danio?


They are not safe...tried both...

Bumblebees will eat shrimplets and try to large juveniles and small male dwarf shrimp.

CPDs are awful and will hunt down any shrimplet in your tank. They wiped out maybe a hundred baby RCS in a 20 gallon tank I had within a couple of weeks.

Threadfin rainbows might be safe...I haven't tried these guys yet. They seem like they feed on small floating particles floating in mid-water or at least that's what they do at the lfs. 

I've noticed that the size of the mouth isn't as important as how the fish feeds in determining how safe a fish is. A bristle nose pleco has a very big mouth but won't eat shrimp because its mouth isn't designed for capturing food but for rasping at non-moving items like algae. While something like a scarlet badis has a very small mouth but it forages around for small invertebrates and such to feed on in aquariums and they relish live foods. Shrimp count as small invertebrates! A fish such as a hatchet fish is designed to take food floating at the surface and will readily take live fruitflies but a shrimp is safe because they usually don't go up there too often and are fast enough to flick away and I'm speaking from experience.


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## fusQer

Will 3-4" roseline sharks eat cherry shrimp or crystal shrimp?


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## ZooTycoonMaster

fusQer said:


> Will 3-4" roseline sharks eat cherry shrimp or crystal shrimp?


Hey, it (was) Torpedobarb's avatar:hihi:









They'll definitely eat the babies, but I couldn't see their mouth to determine if it was big enough to eat the adults.


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## fishsandwitch

fusQer said:


> Will 3-4" roseline sharks eat cherry shrimp or crystal shrimp?


yes


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## Down_Shift

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Has anyone tried Clown Killifish? I like them, but not sure if I should add them to a shrimp tank





fishsandwitch said:


> they are not safe


My friend had 1 of these guys.. and they never touched the shrimp. They would just hang out up by the floaters all day. Every fish is diff though.


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## Down_Shift

i recently put a few RCS into my 60P.. 6 guppies and 25 cardinals.. and my RCS population has increased already (it's only been 2 weeks).. I see alot of babies hanging out in the moss etc.. the fish don't seem to really care for them.


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## bklyndrvr

@[email protected] said:


> i've only seen photos but i plan on getting boras merah for my 10 gal, they look like they have the most intense colors. i also hope to keep them with RCS, so im really glad they are not shrimp predators.
> 
> 
> 
> i have kept amano shrimp in a community 20 gal with boesemani rainbows, SAE, gold clouds, dwarf guppies (a strain me and my dad created by leaving only runts and giving away the rest), german blue rams, black neon tetra, neon tetra, and a bumble bee goby.


Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I too want looking at boras merah for my 10 gallon RCS tank. 

@[email protected]: Did you ever get them? How do they look, and did you notice any attacks on the shrimp?


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## TroutfishOhio

I couldn't resist posting this photo of one of my clown killifish eating an adult RCS. The image has been photoshopped to hide an embarrasing amount of hair algae, but the fish eating the shrimp is real. The fish's mouth was streched extremely wide open, and it struggled to swim with the shrimp stuck hanging out for a minute or two. I was about to attempt surgery when the killi managed to bite the tail off the shrimp.

Clown Killifish are certainly not shrimp safe, mine even spent more time prowling the bottom for juvi shrimp, than hovering at the surface like good clown killi's do.


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## fishbguy1

bklyndrvr said:


> Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I too want looking at boras merah for my 10 gallon RCS tank.
> 
> @[email protected]: Did you ever get them? How do they look, and did you notice any attacks on the shrimp?


I keep B. merah with cherry shrimp and have never noticed anything wrong with them and the shrimp.


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## AquaVu

All 3 types of my rams actively hunt and eat shrimps of all sizes.....All day long!


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## cyberhog05

I must be lucky. I have discus, clown loaches, 60 or so tetras, SAE, corys and a population of RCS. They coexist in a heavily planted 180. In the evening the RCS will come out and ironically eat sinking shrimp pellets with any fish that is eating the pellets. I havnt seen any fish go after the shrimp yet.


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## docsoldlady

Only fish I've kept with shrimp are cory cats, otos, and L-144's (bristlenose plecos)

ATM I put a couple male cherry shrimp in with my marble crays to see how they would fair....2 weeks and the cherry shrimp are going strong I might try and transfer over a berried female and see if they mess with shrimplets.


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## arn24

My Serpae Tetras made short work of some of the smaller ghost shrimp I threw in there. The GB Rams leave them alone, as do the Green Tetras, Whiteclouds, and my pleco and cats.

I think those Serpaes would attack my finger if I left it in there long enough!

Aaron


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## bklyndrvr

so far I have 12 boras macs and 6 pygmy corys in my RCS and CRS tank. I think my adult RCS are bigger then both of those fish. I also have 3 ottos in there also. I've seen a RCS try to pick at an otto while it was eating some food.


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## ~T~

I have had both pygmy corys and galaxy rasbora eat shrimplets. Currently I have shrimp populations in a heavily planted 40 gal tank with some iffy fish (khulie loaches, corys, lampeye killies, galaxy rasbora)and although they dont bother the adults and they are reproducing im sure a fair amount of shrimplets are beaing eaten.


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## Ash Fairless

I have Pitbull Plecos, pygmy cories and panda cories in a 15 gal that has a couple hundred rcs ranging from full grown to new borns and some 20+ tiger shrimp and an amano. No problems so far. 

I used to keep endlers with my shrimp and I never had a problem with them either. I fed the endlers 4 times a day though so they rarely felt the need to hunt. 

I have 10 crs/cbs and 6 yellow shrimp in a 4g cube with a dragon plakat. He hasn't eaten anyone and the crs are berried but the tricks to this are-
a) He's one of the most non-aggressive bettas EVER. I have some cherries in there before I moved more expensive shrimp over and he could honestly care less about them swimming around
b) There's a huge pile of manzanita/cholla wood with christmas moss and java fern that takes up 50% of the bottom of the tank. The CRS have always been shy so they spend their time in that. You'd honestly never think there's shrimp in the tank.

Anyone try chili rasboras with shrimp? As much as I love my tank I'd like something to swim in the middle/top area. And they're smaller than some of my peewee rcs. 10 of them would barely make a dent in the bio-load.


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## 10gallonplanted

Some rasboras


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## ShadowBeast

I've actually had baby shrimp with my Synodontis petricola without them hunting the shrimp down.


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## somewhatshocked

Ash Fairless said:


> Anyone try chili rasboras with shrimp?


They, like Endlers, will definitely chow down on shrimplets if they can fit them into their mouths.

In my experience, I've never found them to make much of a population dent, though, even when I've forgotten to feed them for more than a day.


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## pcthanh85

All fish big enough will eat shrimps small enough to fit in their mouths.


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