Quick Question

[bordercollie05]

Can I keep shrimp in my guppy fry tank? Would either one bother the other? It's a ten gallon.


Thanks,
Laura

 

[shroob]

As long as the water quality is good I don't see any reason why you cant have certain shrimp with guppy fry. Avoid long arm/macro shrimp as these could hunt down the fry, but dwarf shrimp such as red cherry will be fine.

 

[bordercollie05]

Thanks! I think I'd want to try cherry shrimp, as they seem like the best for a shrimp beginner (and possibly the easiest to find too....).

 

[malakye]

Cherry shrimp or amano shrimp will be ok with them, amano get bigger than cherrys and have more character but cherrys will breed.

 

[pippoodle]

tigers and green shrimp are also quite easy to keep if you can get hold of them
they will all be fine in you fry tank

the amanos will quickly clear up any dead bodies if any fry die - which you can usually lose one or two

 

[bordercollie05]

Cool, thanks pippoodle. I'll keep my eye out for those too.


Other than lots of moss, what is involved in caring for shrimp that's different from caring for fish? Also, what do you feed them?

 

[pippoodle]

Cool, thanks pippoodle. I'll keep my eye out for those too.


Other than lots of moss, what is involved in caring for shrimp that's different from caring for fish? Also, what do you feed them?

bogwood - they love roaming around that
java moss and christmas moss
java fern
i have also found they love my amazon frogbit - floating plant they love nibbling the roots that dangle in the water and sitting under the leaves

i add hikari minerals to my tanks thats meant to help them - its a powder of essential minerals
i use sera or hikari shrimp pellets , spirulina wafers , bloodworms , algae wafers , seaweed and veg to feed them

keep them at around 24c with perfect nitrites and ammonia readings and they'll be fine
when adding plant fertilizers to a tank check here first as i wiped out a whole colony of shrimp with plant food - it didnt say it contained copper

no medication can be added to the tank either as this can kill shrimp- but i have found they are ok with white spot med and anti fungus and finrot meds - used a few months ago and they all survived the medication - though it would be up to you if you wanted to risk it

i think thats about it

cheers sarah xx

 

[bordercollie05]

Great, thanks Sarah!

I'll add some wood and a little more moss etc, and be on the lookout for shrimps! Good to know about the mineral additive and also the copper, I'd heard something about copper but couldn't remember if its good or bad. Shouldn't be a problem in a fry tank though, I'm not sure I'd be able to see ich (or anything else) on the babies, they're so small!!

 

[pippoodle]

Great, thanks Sarah!

I'll add some wood and a little more moss etc, and be on the lookout for shrimps! Good to know about the mineral additive and also the copper, I'd heard something about copper but couldn't remember if its good or bad. Shouldn't be a problem in a fry tank though, I'm not sure I'd be able to see ich (or anything else) on the babies, they're so small!!

post some pics when you get some shrimp hun - i love shrimpies

 

[bordercollie05]

Great, thanks Sarah!

I'll add some wood and a little more moss etc, and be on the lookout for shrimps! Good to know about the mineral additive and also the copper, I'd heard something about copper but couldn't remember if its good or bad. Shouldn't be a problem in a fry tank though, I'm not sure I'd be able to see ich (or anything else) on the babies, they're so small!!

post some pics when you get some shrimp hun - i love shrimpies

Will do for sure! Thanks for all of your help

 

[Smokescreen]

Stay away from ghost shrimp for a guppy fry tank. I had some in with my feeder guppies for my clawed frog, and they killed and ate most of them before the frog could get to them, and they ate the few fry that were born into that tank.

 

[bordercollie05]

Thanks for the tip. I saw some of those yesterday and wondered about them. Glad you mentioned that.

What about bamboo shrimp? I know they are bigger, would that be a problem?

 

[shroob]

Bamboo shrimp are filter feeders and wouldn't harm a fly (or fly ).

Though the problem comes from looking after them, they can be tricky as with their specialised feeding method mentioned they can be hard to feed. They will pick up bits of flake from the ground or other food but this can cause damage to their 'fans' and should be avoided. They need a mature tank with plenty of microorganisms to sift out of the water.

Overall I'd say stick to the cherry/tiger shrimp as these will be easier.

Bamboo shrimp info

 

[bordercollie05]

Cool, thanks for the info. I think I will stick to the dwarf shrimps. It's hard to find them around here, but I think I have a couple of places to check before resorting to an online purchase.


Thanks a lot

Laura