Quick Shrimp Question

[starlitsunrise]

Hi there, 
 
I am currently setting up a 5 gallon tank for my mystery snail and I want to also add in some cherry shrimp.
 
I was wondering, would it be best to try to get a small group of one gender or would it be fine to have a mixture of both genders? I don't want to get over run by baby shrimp. I don't know if this will make sense, but would the shrimp be able to tell "hey we're running out of space here, lets not have more babies"? Haha. If that didn't make any sense let me know and I'll try and rephrase xD. Thanks! 

 

[stanleo]

They will overpopulate the tank in time but with 5gl you could get 75-100 RCS and it will be fine. Shrimp have a low bio load. Then when they do start to get too numerous you can take them to the LFS and they will usually take them off your hands.
 
Or do what I did. Once they get to a certain number, get a betta and he will start to cull the heard. If the tank is dense enough in vegetation, 1 or 2 shrimplets should survive from every hatching and the numbers stay in check. Keep in mind though, you may get a particularly mean betta that will just kill them all for the heck of it.

 

[Mamashack]

I have had a bad experience with a betta and cherry type shrimp - I wouldn't risk it unless you are prepared to lose most of your shrimp.
Amanos are easier to keep and can get out of the way of bettas quite easily. 
They also won't breed in freshwater tanks. They'll get berried, but their young need brackish water to survive so no population explosions.
They maybe don't look as pretty as cherry shrimp, but they would be much better companions for a betta imo.
If you want to stick with cherries I personally would get a small batch of young mixed gender shrimp then you'll have the satisfaction of watching them grow to maturity (2-3 months). Make sure you research their needs first as they aren't always as straight forward to keep as some would think.

 

[Alasse]

If you want cherries with a betta, you need a really well planted tank. I have cherries in with my betta, and i still need to clean out the cherry population ocassionally. The betta does actively hunt them though, he just cant catch often them because they have plenty of hiding spots

 

[starlitsunrise]

Thanks to all of you that replied  
 
I won't be putting a betta in the 5 gallon, I already have one in my 10 and she is the reason I got the new tank (she wanted to eat my mystery snail), but thank you for the suggestion . 
 
The amano shrimp is a good idea, but personally I wouldn't be able to have them knowing the babies would be born and then just die. 
 
I think I'll go with my original plan of attempting to get all one gender of cherries, and if I get a mix then I'll do what Stanleo suggested and sell/give them to the LFS.
 
Thanks guys

 

[Mamashack]

Good luck - let us know how you get on!