Gourami With Wood Shrimp?

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

I think I already know the answer, but I will ask anyway because I hope I am wrong.

I am setting up a 26 gallon tank that is very densly planted (plastic and silk, no live). I am planning on having a blue gourami, some danios, some cories, and some loaches. Could I have some wood shrimp? I saw them at PetSmart today and they were just lovely!

I am thinking the gourami would love them for dinner, though, wouldn't he? Even with pleanty of hiding places?

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

Advice, please?

 

[J4MES]

I think the loaches would hunt him down faster than the gourami!

J4MES

 

[kniesh]

What kind of loaches? I have had a wood shrimp in with dwarf blue gouramis and honey gouramis for a long time. No harm ever came to them. I doubt very much he would be in any danger, they actually grow quite large (for shrimp) anyway. You just need to be careful of the size of loaches.

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

coolie loaches, probably about 5 of them

 

[J4MES]

hmm welL yes they should be fine then

J4MES

 

[chilledtim]

Id stick my neck out and say they would be fine too (i want afew wood shrimp too). Aslong as there already near medium size when you add them to the tank

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

The shrimp at PetSmart were pretty large- at least 3 inches or so.

Are they fairly hardy shirmp, as far as water quality goes? I have issues with my water, and sometimes it gets a little iffy. (My city water has ammonia in it, enough to kill the fish, so I have to take coolers out to a realtive who lives in the country and has well water, and fill up the coolers and take back to the house to do water changes.)

 

[dthoffsett]

Where do you live that they have readable amounts of ammonia in the city water? Have you considered an R/O system?

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

Where do you live that they have readable amounts of ammonia in the city water? Have you considered an R/O system?

North Florida. We talked to one of the people at the water treatment place, and he said that they run ammonia to take care of algae in one of the lines, or something like that.

I have seen people mention R/O systems here, but to be honest, I am not sure what that is.

 

[dthoffsett]

Here are some good FAQ's about reverse osmosis. http/www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=842

And some articles: http/www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=424 http/www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=360

 

[three-fingers]

Yes, I'm afraid that any ammonia in a shrimp tank is big trouble, you should go RO water, just remember you need to re-mineralise it. You could also use bottled SPRING or MINERAL water. Table water is ok as long as you use a water conditioner. RO water will work out cheaper in the long run.

As for the wood shrimp, unless your tank is at least 6 months old, you will have to be prepared to specially feed it daily with liquifry or marine invert food using a pipette/syringe, which can be tricky and if your not careful foul the water conditions. You can also powder flake food and mix it with tank water with a syringe/pipette if you cant buy invert food.

And your shrimp will be safe from the loaches...until it needs to shed it's skin. You will needs lots of good hiding places like flowerpots with a partially blocked entrance (just big enough for the shrimp to get in). When they shed their skin, they are very very weak and any fish could have a go at them. Adding a marine calcium supplement will speed up the time it takes for the shell to harden and improve the strength of the shell. A marine iodine supplement is good too, but secondary to calcium .