I miss having bottom dwellers

[VioletThePurple]

I want something that'll occupy the bottom. I'm interested in shrimp since they barely have any bio load, but I've also heard they're sensitive. I have livebearers, so if they would eat them, I'd have to get Amano shrimp, which I'm not really interested in since they're not as colorful as other shrimp.

I had corydoras before that died, but now I know why and could attend to their needs. I'm just afraid that if I have a school of corydoras and with my livebearers birthing it could easily get overstocked. The tank is 20 gallons.

I don't know how I feel about loaches. I don't know too much about them as they're not that appealing to me, but I think they also need a school which is the same worry I have about cories.

Tank temp is 78F, water parameters are pH 6.5, KH 120, GH 120, and nitrates 20.

 

[Sgooosh]

photo of tank? what type of filter do you have? How many live bearers and what size are they?
if you have a strong filter vampire shrimp are big and colorful (1st picture)
you can also get Bamboo shrimp (2nd picture)

since they are bigger, they have medium bio load

 

[Colin_T]

what about glass/ ghost shrimp?
they are cheap and survive in a range of conditions. if you live near a pond or river you could probably collect your own.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Tank is too small for any loaches except for kuhli loaches or rosy loaches. Kuhl's need a group, suitable substrate and hidey places, and can be great at hiding, so not so visible as things like cories.


I've kept cherry shrimp with guppies and other livebearers with no problems. The guppies would eat the odd tiny baby shrimplet if they spot it, but if you provide a lot of plant cover like mosses and dense bushy plants, then enough of the babies reach adult size to keep the colony going. The adult shrimp are large enough not to be eaten by guppies. They won't overstock the tank either no matter how much they breed - they naturally limit their breeding if the tank is full.

They are sensitive to fluctuating water conditions, or if the tank has ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, but they're tougher than caridina shrimp (cherry shrimp are called neocaridina shrimp) and if the tank is safe for the fish, with zero ammonia/nitrites, and nitrates below 20ppm, then cherry shrimp will be fine in there.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Oh, if you do go with cherry shrimp, use a sponge or fine netting (I use the netting I cut off a fish net) to cover the filter intake -their easily sucked into filter intakes otherwise.