Tropical Shrimps

[Jamowens]

I was told that shrmps will eat anything small enough that will fit in its mouth , I don't want to put shrimps in a tank with young fish is there any shrimp that is safe to go in with young/small fish .

 

[Ch4rlie]

Not sure which shrimps you are referring to here, but i think either amanos or macrobachium tends to be the main culprits.
 
Most shrimps are good with fish, it tends to be the fish that are the threats to small shrimps really.

 

[RRaquariums]

I had ghost shrimp in with endler fry and they never touched them.

 

[fluttermoth]

My son had some ghost shrimps in with his Endler's, and they never touched the fry.
 
They will take dead, or even dying, fish which I think is mostly where they bad reputation comes from, people see them with the fish and think they've killed it, when they're just cleaning up.
 
I have blue jelly shrimps in with some dwarf emerald danios, which are pretty small, and they're fine.

 

[Jamowens]

Red Cherry Shrimp & Red Bee Shrimp saw some in a shop today I wanted to get some but was told they'll eat everthing , not had shrimps before so need to check 1st .

 

[Ellieabbott4]

Red cherry shrimp and red bee shrimp do eat everything, just not fish lol. They are a good little clean up crew and eat leftover food for example

 

[Jamowens]

Thanks will get some tomorrow

 

[l_l_l]

If you never had shrimp, I highly suggest getting some cherry shrimp to begin with as bee shrimp are harder to keep.

 

[looking-glass]

great little tank cleaners

 

[csfishkeeper]

I watched and photographed my ghost shrimp grab and eat a guppy fry as it was swimming by. There are plenty of videos on youtube of ghost shrimp attacking and eating fry, small fish and other shrimp. Now I still have 12 shrimp in my tank and in 8 months have only lost 1 fry, so it's not something I worry about too much. I do not hesitate to add new ghost shrimp to my tank and most of my fish are tiny.
 
Whisker Shrimp on the other hand can be very aggressive and will actively hunt.

 

[tunagirll]

Sure it was not a macro?

 

[Jamowens]

I watched and photographed my ghost shrimp grab and eat a guppy fry as it was swimming by. There are plenty of videos on youtube of ghost shrimp attacking and eating fry, small fish and other shrimp. Now I still have 12 shrimp in my tank and in 8 months have only lost 1 fry, so it's not something I worry about too much. I do not hesitate to add new ghost shrimp to my tank and most of my fish are tiny.
 
Whisker Shrimp on the other hand can be very aggressive and will actively hunt.

I've seen those shrimp eat fry on youtube before , I want some but watching things like that does put me off a little . I'll try them in the community tanks with bigger fish 1st & keep an eye on them .

 

[csfishkeeper]

I saw the videos before I bought my ghost shrimp, but it wasn't enough to keep me from trying them. I have celestial danios and endlers and none of the dozen shrimp in the tank has bothered them. I've only lost the one fry in 8 months and with all the fry I get each month it doesn't concern me at all.
 
I would recommend getting a couple and just watch to see if they go into hunt mode.

Here is my big ghost shrimp eating the fry:
 

 

[Jamowens]

Don't want to put them in with my livebearers until I'm 100% certain , was going for some to put in the community tanks tomorrow but read a little bit more about them tonight & might have found another problem , I have 6in Clown Loaches in those tanks & YoYo Loaches & I've read that the shrimp might not be safe with them . I really don't want to put shrimps in with them if there going to be killed its not fair on the shrimp unless someone tells me they'll be safe with the loaches , any info on that would be much appreciated .

 

[Baccus]

Shrimp seem very safe with Borneo Suckers ( a loach) I keep the two together without issues, I also have Darwin Algae shrimp with Dwarf chain loaches and that seems to be working out just fine. I did have Pakastani loaches (yo-yo) with my cherry shrimp when the loaches where small, but I wouldn't trust the adult loaches with small shrimp species now. Khuli loaches are also fine with shrimp, but then Khuli loaches are one of the easiest going fish species around.