Guppy Tank With Shrimp??

So ive been contemplating hard about adding some shrimp to my tanks. Very hard. Actually ive convinced myself already lol. I am unsure which exact shrimp I will get. I know a lot of people have Cherry Reds in with their guppies. I personally like the Blue Velvets, and others. I have done enough research I think I can safely add some Neocardina shrimp to my tank when I get home in about 2 weeks. I like the looks of the Caridina shrimp a lot better, but I understand they are a lot harder to raise and more sensitive than the neo's. Is this true? Just looking for some input and suggestions on raising shrimp with guppy. If the water parameters allow Caridina with guppy I may go that route instead. Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Jerry

 

This is based solely on my own research, not on personal experience. Start with the red cherry shrimp. They're the cheapest. Be sure you know how to do this before you plunk down a lot of money on shrimp that won't last due to your inexperience. Once you have a healthy, sustainable colony of RCS, then consider the blue velvets or other varieties.

If you mix shrimp with any fish and you want the shrimp colony to survive long term, you have to provide lots of hiding places for the baby shrimp. If you want the shrimp colony to really take off, best to keep them separated until their numbers are such that you're in need of population control.

My understanding is guppies are pretty undemanding when it comes to water parameters so you can probably do caridina with them. I'd still start with the RCS just to be sure you get the experience before spending a lot of money on shrimp.

 

They say the wild type Neocaridinas are the hardiest. So far I have had Red Cherries, Blue Velvet, and Goldenback Yellow. The yellows have been the ones that have lived the longest. The Cherries the shortest. None have ever bred successfully but 2 yellow females did get berried but gradually lost the eggs. If you don't care about breeding and want shrimp that are inexpensive and hardy, get a few Ghost Shrimp. They are hardy and eat anything and everything. Personally, I have given up on the breeding part. If they do it, great, if not, that's okay too. They don't live very long though, under a year mostly, so get the smallest, youngest ones you can. When the 5 I have now die off, I will probably just go the 39 cent Ghost Shrimp route at PetSmart.

 

HI Jerry you were quick off the mark to start this thread after speaking to you, anyway as guppies follow females around eating young as they are born they will have their fill of shrimplets as well so before going that route it's best to have a colony then add fish or if your putting them in a guppy tank as I think you are then put some larger ones in first so the guppies are distracted by their size, they will live for 18 to 24 months so it will still give them time to have young, but make sure you have plenty of cover to help with their survival, important part to start is make sure your tank is at least 4 months old that will have stability which shrimp must have, you will need to drip acclimate them for a minimum 3hrs, water temp 22.5 to 24c any higher than this and your shrimp will have a reduced lifespan but will breed faster, Gh very important anything below 5 and the shrimp will have moult issues and die, I advise on GH8 but this can go up to GH12, I have seen GH19 but I don't like it, as you are using tap water I'd look at a TDS around 200, keep to these simple guides and you'll not have problems, a TDS meter and GH/KH test kit is needed, now that was for Neocaradina.
If you want to keep Caradina you can but this time no fish at all and you will need a RO water system and minerals gh+ to bring the water to the desired level for caradina, I have guided many people in theory and practical on caradina keeping and if you follow the guides laid down you will not loose any, the secret is simple don't mess with things once its working it the most important part, water changes don't do any more than 15%unless you know what your doing some do 25% it's ok but you can shock your shrimp more easily, and do not do big water changes because you thought it would be good, quite the opposite you'll kill everything unless you do it right

 

HI Jerry you were quick off the mark to start this thread after speaking to you, anyway as guppies follow females around eating young as they are born they will have their fill of shrimplets as well so before going that route it's best to have a colony then add fish or if your putting them in a guppy tank as I think you are then put some larger ones in first so the guppies are distracted by their size, they will live for 18 to 24 months so it will still give them time to have young, but make sure you have plenty of cover to help with their survival, important part to start is make sure your tank is at least 4 months old that will have stability which shrimp must have, you will need to drip acclimate them for a minimum 3hrs, water temp 22.5 to 24c any higher than this and your shrimp will have a reduced lifespan but will breed faster, Gh very important anything below 5 and the shrimp will have moult issues and die, I advise on GH8 but this can go up to GH12, I have seen GH19 but I don't like it, as you are using tap water I'd look at a TDS around 200, keep to these simple guides and you'll not have problems, a TDS meter and GH/KH test kit is needed, now that was for Neocaradina.
If you want to keep Caradina you can but this time no fish at all and you will need a RO water system and minerals gh+ to bring the water to the desired level for caradina, I have guided many people in theory and practical on caradina keeping and if you follow the guides laid down you will not loose any, the secret is simple don't mess with things once its working it the most important part, water changes don't do any more than 15%unless you know what your doing some do 25% it's ok but you can shock your shrimp more easily, and do not do big water changes because you thought it would be good, quite the opposite you'll kill everything unless you do it right

Richie wow that is some great information. I may wait a bit to get some shrimp. I will likely start with Neo's and buy larger shrimp about 2 dozen and introduce to guppy tank. I will start cycling some tanks for Caridina only for a few months. I am definitely interested in the breeding aspect of shrimp, and in guppy tanks there's a ton of cover due to fry needing cover as well. Of course I would keep a select tank separate for fry and shrimp and remove the fry as they hit adult stage back to the normal guppy tank. I separate all my guppies to strain specific. What is a decent size tank for shrimp only?

 

30 to 50 Ltr is a perfect tank you can opt for something along the line of these two with different filter setups, and a picture of my black bee

Remember most and I say all caradina need RO water and reminerilisde. I use it in all my tanks for both species

 

Great looking set ups. And even greater looking black bees! How many shrimp can you keep in a tank of that size?

Remember most and I say all caradina need RO water and reminerilisde. I use it in all my tanks for both species

Yes I already do this so not an issue. What do you remineralize with? Also what substrate is the black bee's on?

 

Substrait is flora base pro that brings the PH to 6.5 one lot as been going 3 years and is still stable
Minerals bee shrimp I use in all 8 tanks but each tank is different, once you've got your GH whare you want it take a tds reading then it's a simple task of mixing ro and use a TDS meter to that value, I still check my gh but not as often

 

Substrait is flora base pro that brings the PH to 6.5 one lot as been going 3 years and is still stable
Minerals bee shrimp I use in all 8 tanks but each tank is different, once you've got your GH whare you want it take a tds reading then it's a simple task of mixing ro and use a TDS meter to that value, I still check my gh but not as often

Richie, thanks for all of this info. When I am ready to organize and set up for my shrimp I will definitely be messaging you. Thank you!

 

Not a problem Jerry I'm always connected along with other shrimpers

 

I just started with rcs in my guppy tank and they have tons of hiding space and they are multiplying quickly! And to be honest, we lost the younger ones quickly but the older ones stuck around. I stared with 5 and now have about 14 with 4 berries females. When they berry, my guppies keep the population in control. So of each berried females about 2-3 babies make it. They are great food supply for my guppies and great entertainment for us. Good luck! Keep us posted on you choices!