Shrimp Compatability?

[Nosphaer]

I'm looking into keeping some shrimp in the tank I'll be getting in roughly a week. I can't be sure, but I'm really leaning toward cherry shrimp, and I wanted an opinion from experienced keepers on whether they would be safe among the following tankmates: harlequin rasboras, cory catfish (a 3" max-size variety), kuhli loaches, apple snails.

As for the tank, I'm pondering upon a 29 or 36 gallon freshwater, and my preferred substrate would be some black sand.

My larger concerns, rather, are the rasboras and loaches. I would like to get maybe 5 or 6 of the little shrimp, and I think it would be great for them to create a controlled legacy of offspring, but I know all too little, and I wish to grow off of any knowledge I could be provided with. Thanks, everyone.

 

[Baccus]

I have cherry shrimp living with my khuli loaches and as far as I can tell the population of shrimp is not decreasing, and that is with guppies, and sparkling gouramis throwen into the mix as well. As far as I have seen the Bristle noses don't bother the shrimp either. My cory's don't eat the shrimp, but I have no doubt that they would clean up any dead shrimp.

If you get cherry shrimp don't be tempted to mix yellows, blues or reds in the one tank, they will all interbreed and you will end up with offspring that don't show good colour in any of the parents colours.

I have whie sand in my tanks and the shrimp are still lovely and dark but that maybe because of the dark green foliage plants I also have in my tanks. There is special shrimp substrate that looks like little brown/ black balls, it is only just becoming available in Australia but people overseas that have it in their shrimp tanks swear by it.

I would also look at having some timber in the tank for the shrimp they seem to really love cleaning the timber and probably eating minute particles of it.

 

[Nosphaer]

I have cherry shrimp living with my khuli loaches and as far as I can tell the population of shrimp is not decreasing, and that is with guppies, and sparkling gouramis throwen into the mix as well. As far as I have seen the Bristle noses don't bother the shrimp either. My cory's don't eat the shrimp, but I have no doubt that they would clean up any dead shrimp.

If you get cherry shrimp don't be tempted to mix yellows, blues or reds in the one tank, they will all interbreed and you will end up with offspring that don't show good colour in any of the parents colours.

I have whie sand in my tanks and the shrimp are still lovely and dark but that maybe because of the dark green foliage plants I also have in my tanks. There is special shrimp substrate that looks like little brown/ black balls, it is only just becoming available in Australia but people overseas that have it in their shrimp tanks swear by it.

I would also look at having some timber in the tank for the shrimp they seem to really love cleaning the timber and probably eating minute particles of it.

Oh, thank you for the response. It's good to know that the lot of the tankmates that I want are all kind to the shrimp. By timber, would any typically safe driftwood do adequately? I was planning on keeping driftwood in the tank, for sure. If you recommend a specific kind of wood, however, I'll keep my eyes open for such.

I'm seeing things like the substrate you mentioned being called "shrimp soil". I would like to try using such someday, though I might reserve my tank's space for sand, as a beginner. I'll definitely make sure to keep some dark, sheltering plants around for the shrimp, so they can blend in with the seemingly dark environment.

I hadn't considered keeping multiple colors of shrimp around, though I have to wonder, would red and yellow have an offspring of an orange color, and might blues and reds create some odd violet? I know biochemistry isn't so cut and dry, however, so I won't be running any such experiments soon. (EDIT) Oh, forgive me. You specifically said that interbred shrimp would -not- show strong traits from either parent.

Thanks again, for responding. I appreciate it!

 

[Baccus]

By drfitwood I guess it all depends on a persons interpretation (and a shops for that matter) to me driftwood is the floatsum wood found on the high tide mark of beaches, this wood can have a lot of salt in it depending upon who collected it and how (if at all) it was treated. I don't think cherry shrimp would be overly concerned with some salt leached out of timber, but your loaches wont like it and I am pretty sure Harlequin Rasbora wont like salts and I know the corys wont like excess salts either.

In my tanks I use dead died out branches of trees that I know are not toxic (to humans/ my birds or my fish) such as bottlebrush and euclyptus, I also have some mopani wood, which is very dense and wont break down in a hurry. Mopani I find is great to tie bunches of Java Moss to as well as Anubis. The shrimp really love the moss because it gets thick and shelters them and traps food for them to eat.

From my understanding of shrimp soil it actually has important essential minerals that many of the fussier to keep shrimp will need, also from my understanding of shrimp soils they need to be replaced/ replenished on some sort of yearly (?) schedule. I have been tempted to try some of this "shrimp soil" but its only fairly limited so far over here and its very expensive for just small bags. Since most of my shrimp are in 4ft tanks down to 2ft tanks this would get awefully expensive.


Since cherry shrimp can very quickly breed up into near plague numbers I would look at adding something mildly predatory like a male fighter down the track, that way it will pick off the odd baby but in no way demolish the entire stocks.

 

[Nosphaer]

Ah, this is good to hear. I had been advised toward mopani wood, and it seems like it could be kept with the plants to keep the shrimp safe and happy, which I like.

You're right about the special substrates, though. I'll have to keep an eye out for such, since they seem quite valuable and rare. Thanks again for your replies.

By a "male fighter", do you refer to a fish, or a larger, more aggressive shrimp?

 

[Baccus]

A male Siamese fighter, they come in many amazing colours and the fins are getting more and more decorative. Since you can only keep one male on his own if you liked them a lot you could just get a group of 4-6 females they are usually well behaved together, BUT don't be tempted to add a male to females or a female in with the male.

 

[snowflake311]

Cherry shrimp breed like crazy. They are hardy little buggers. I keep mine in a 20gsl long heavily planted with 8 galaxy danio and 6 dwarf Cory cats. They pick off a few here are there I think mainly the danios get the babies. The Cory cats have to be Right on top of the babie before they know it's food so I don't think they are a big threat.

I had sparkling gouramis with my shrimp and that was bad. The gouramis would nip at the shrimp stress them out I never saw babies. My adult shrimp would not even come out of hiding. So I got rid of them and things were much better after.

So it depends on your fish. I would not add a betts to a shrimp tank unless you hate your shrimp. Or you have a really big tank. Bettas will hunt down shrimp and will pick on adults. Adults are very soft after they molt and become and easy meal. No fish bigger then the adults should be I the tank. Add a larger predator to the shrimp tank and you will never get to enjoy the shrimp. They are very entertaining and lots of fun to watch.

 

[Nosphaer]

A male Siamese fighter, they come in many amazing colours and the fins are getting more and more decorative. Since you can only keep one male on his own if you liked them a lot you could just get a group of 4-6 females they are usually well behaved together, BUT don't be tempted to add a male to females or a female in with the male.

Ah, those sound a bit like bettas, in behavior. As long as they're somewhat gentle with the other fish, and aren't murderous with savagery toward the shrimp, I think I will look into keeping them. Are there any other common names for them?

(EDIT) Okay, now that I know that Siamese Fighters are, in fact, bettas, I also know that reading through posts twice before replying is wise.

Cherry shrimp breed like crazy. They are hardy little buggers. I keep mine in a 20gsl long heavily planted with 8 galaxy danio and 6 dwarf Cory cats. They pick off a few here are there I think mainly the danios get the babies. The Cory cats have to be Right on top of the babie before they know it's food so I don't think they are a big threat.

I had sparkling gouramis with my shrimp and that was bad. The gouramis would nip at the shrimp stress them out I never saw babies. My adult shrimp would not even come out of hiding. So I got rid of them and things were much better after.

So it depends on your fish. I would not add a betts to a shrimp tank unless you hate your shrimp. Or you have a really big tank. Bettas will hunt down shrimp and will pick on adults. Adults are very soft after they molt and become and easy meal. No fish bigger then the adults should be I the tank. Add a larger predator to the shrimp tank and you will never get to enjoy the shrimp. They are very entertaining and lots of fun to watch.

That's all good info, rather. I hope they will feel safe among the fish that I planned to get...

It may seem nerdy, but I'm partially planning my aquarium's stocking around, or to the needs of, the shrimp. They're so adorable.

On a random note, do they even like running on treadmills, or is that just a silly joke?

(EDIT - Commas)

 

[snowflake311]

It's not nerdy to make a tank for shrimp. Well maybe I am a huge nerd then.. I have 2 tanks with shrimp only and special substrate for them. I buy RO water for them too. Shrimp are awesome I am very hooked on them. I have a 10gal and 7 gal for shrimp only. I have a 20gal long for shrimp mainly I have 8 galaxy danios, 5 dwarf cory cats, and 2 oto with over 25 shrimp tigers and cherries the population is growing well but not out of control. My galaxy danios do get some babies but they never touch or even look at the adults or sub adults. They are fairly shrimp friendly. The Cory cats are great.

You might be happier just setting up a tank for shrimp only. They are entertaining and easy to breed. When I look at my 20gal I hardly ever watch the fish any more.

 

[Nosphaer]

I think you have a point, since I know that some fish treatment, especially with medicine, can be detrimental to the survival of the shrimp altogether.

Still, if you think that I can pull it off as a beginner, I'd really like to keep a few fish, like rasboras and cory catfish (someday otos, perhaps), among the shrimp, since I want a little something to talk about, now and again.

When I have more money, I'd adore getting a 10 or 15 gallon and just entirely devoting it to shrimp, for sure.

I know that this is off of the main topic, but do you know how lobster and shrimp interact among each other? I'm assuming that the lobster would either ignore or terrorize the shrimp.

(EDIT - Verb tense, conjunctions)

Thanks again, for answering all of these questions I'm asking, which all have answers rooted in common sense. I appreciate it.

 

[Baccus]

Depending on the species of lobster (I think what you are calling a lobster I would call a yabbie, crawtchie and some people call crawdads - lobsters in Australia are strictly saltwater), is so these guys would most likely eat any shrimp they can catch, heck most of them can't be trusted with fish either. In Australia we have some Macrobrachium species of shrimp that get HUGE and are excellent fish and shrimp hunters. So when mixing different types of shrimp/ crustacean be sure if the correct identity and probably best to stick to the dwarf shrimp types. Also a lot of shrimp are sold in the hobby as fresh water but that is only the adults, the young will have larval stages that require pretty specific foods and exact brackish conditions. Cherry Shrimp (neocaridina heterpoda) are true fresh and they will breed readily.

 

[snowflake311]

Lots of plants good places for shrimp to find from the fish is key. I have dwarf baby tears and a nice thick carpet of it. My shrimp lets find cover in there from hungry fish.

I think cory cats and otos are pretty safe when it comes to shrimp. I stick with the rule no fish larger then adult shrimp. Look into some type of danio they are great schooling fish active and don't hunt much. Or get fish that tend to stay at the top of the tank since your shrimp babies will be on the bottom. Hatchet fish could be good.

I have 2 marble crayfish in another tank. They eat plants hog food and will Make a mess. They are also much larger then shrimp and could bully them. I have seen one of my Amano shrimp steal food from a cherry. I don't think crayfish and shrimp are a good mix but it could work.