Cherry Shrimp and a Ghost Shrimp

[jossswonk]

Hello, I have recently set up a 5 gallon tank for shrimp. I'm thinking about getting one or two ghost shrimp to make sure that the tank is ready before getting cherry shrimp. Would one or two ghost shrimp get along with a colony of cherry shrimp?

 

[MaloK]

The information is contradictory, but there's mention of Ghost shrimp praying on Cherry shrimps fry by more than one aquarist.

 

[jossswonk]

But do you think just 1 would do a lot of damage to a cherry shrimp population?

 

[MaloK]

But do you think just 1 would do a lot of damage to a cherry shrimp population?

No, not that much, I don't think Ghost shrimps literally pray on cherry fry, but since they are also attracted to food at very small size, It's where the Ghosts could pick some by inadvertence, but if it fits in their mouth it's a deal.

 

[jossswonk]

I think I might just wait till my tank is ready and get cherries. Does anyone know how to tell if a tank is ready for cherry shrimp? There's a healthy coating of algae on every thing and my plants seem to have steady growth.

 

[MaloK]

If you add leaf litter like slightly boiled catappa leaves, it will kick start your biofilm production.

If you have the "good" bacteria starter, and are beginning with a low number of shrimps, the tank doesn't need to be cycled at all. Just a slow and careful progression with food is enough to prevent any spike in a well planted tank.

But you need to use small quantities and seed the tank with bacteria regularly for a while. Keep thing in check and avoid large water changes.

Once balanced the tank will hardly need any water changes to keep in specs. All the food I give to around 200 shrimps per weeks holds in a 1/8 of a teaspoon.

In a 5 gallon tank you will see that it is a lot.