shrimp. should i or shouldnt i?

[tan.b]

if you could have a look below at my signiture, could you please tell me if shrimp would be ok in either or both of my tanks? its the loach and plec that concern me! my loach seems peaceful enough and hasnt bothered my tetras at all....he's far too busy cleaning my tank!!... he's not fully grown though :-\. don't want the tank mates to eat each other! that wouldnt be easy to explain to my 4 yr old! also if they are suitable, how many? are they ok on their own or do they need a friend or 2?

many thanks for your help!
Tan

 

[bbfeckawitts]

My fish ate all my ghost shrimp. I took the 3 survivors out into a smaller tank. My fish are in my signature
-Brianna

 

[atmmachine816]

I would try some ghost shrimp first to see if your fish think of them as food, if they don't then you can buy some other shrimp after you research them. It depends on the fish, my fish are supposed to eat shrimp but they don't. So try some ghosties then go from there.

 

[tan.b]

My fish ate all my ghost shrimp. I took the 3 survivors out into a smaller tank. My fish are in my signature
-Brianna

mmmm, could it have been the barbs? at least the fish ate the shrimp rather than the shrimp eating the fish?!

 

[tan.b]

I would try some ghost shrimp first to see if your fish think of them as food, if they don't then you can buy some other shrimp after you research them.  It depends on the fish, my fish are supposed to eat shrimp but they don't.  So try some ghosties then go from there.

yeah, just get a couple, and see what happens. I really don't want them gobbled up though!! so far my fish have been well behaved! just so long as the shrimp doesn't eat them!!!

 

[bbfeckawitts]

My fish ate all my ghost shrimp. I took the 3 survivors out into a smaller tank. My fish are in my signature
-Brianna

mmmm, could it have been the barbs? at least the fish ate the shrimp rather than the shrimp eating the fish?!

I think it was my Silver dollars, I saw one try to attack a shrimp.

 

[tan.b]

well....took the plunge today! got 2 ghost shrimp for the 15 gal and 2 ghost shrimp for the 28 gal. so far all is good!! ;D one of them is full of eggs. i'd be chuffed if a few of those survived and they could go in my new tank....but my fish are always hungry so they're bound to get gobbled up

 

[susitna-flower]

I want to get shrimp also. The varieties available on the web are really exciting, look like they would help keep the tank clean. But if they did end up food, that would be expensive food! Look like they would be less trouble than snails.

Fish in the frozen north.

 

[atmmachine816]

Shrimp are amazing, and add so little bio-load. I have 20+ ghost shrimp in my 29 and they keep my tank sparkiling clean, besides poop of course. Make sure you have enough hiding places for them and there are no big open areas. angels are supposed to eat ghosties but mine don't probably because of this.

 

[tan.b]

mine are doing well. nobody has eaten them and they haven't bothered anyone. all happy. they make me chuckle though!...they like the algae wafers, and if the loach or plec come over for some algae wafer the shrimps just scuttle off!! they know their place in the pecking order!!! I put 2 in this morn, so they won't get in each others way. they seem to enjoy them! I have 2 shrimps in the 28 gal and 2 in the 15 gal. one of them in the 28 gal was full of eggs when I got her. fish shop man said he thinks the other is male as he's tiny....so that's a breeding pair if the egss don't get gobbled up. the 2 in the other tank were a mystery. he couldnt decide what sex they were. however this morn noticed one of the shrimp in the 15 gal is full of eggs. they are green though, so don't know if that's food its eaten and i'm getting excited over nothing!! the other preg shrimp has grey eggs. do the eggs change colour as they mature in there? they like hiding. the 2 in the bigger tank hide under the log, but the small tank doesn't have any hiding places except behind plants, so will invest in some caves for there sometime. I read somewhere they like to burrow..well these ones haven't yet! maybe mine are lazy and prefer ready made homes!! ;D

 

[VertigoXLR8R222]

I wanted to see if I could keep shrimp too so I put two ghost shrimp in my tank the chick at petsmart is helpful and I think I got a breeding pair one is full of eggs and the other is smaller and more slender either way I know how they came by their name not only do they just hover in the water where ever they so choose they also appear and disappear at will not to mention that they're clear my tank is made up of lots of large pieces of rock piled together to look like a natural mountain stream mainly for the minnows to play in but the ghost shrimp disappear most of the time into the crevices and cracks thus provided every time I have decided that they must have been eaten my the cray I see one or the other usually high atop one of my plastic plants but I think I need to set a different environment for them to be pets and not just freak sitings I'm thinking of taking them into a two gallon tank and adding a Betta just to watch the symbiosis created I would have to drive to mobile Alabama to buy a snail so that's not happening anytime soon but for now I think they are great little tank mates when you can see them every time they appear I watch them until I look away then they're gone again poof! I give the ghost shrimp a b+ since they seem to be really shy ill grade them again when I put them in a separate tank Lee

 

[guppygranny]

I keep about 10 of the little things in each of my 10 gallon livebearer tanks and they do great. The plecos do not bother them except to scour the cast off shells. They are extremely fast and agile and should escape any unwanted attention from your loach. They are probably too big for the loach's mouth too, and should be safe unless one falls sick or injured. Fair warning: Most fish can't resist a nice shrimp dinner, but they have to catch it first! Provide lots of 'bolt holes' (ie-flat rocks resting at an angle against the aquarium glass, artificial plants, driftwood, etc). These slender little guys can fit into tiny spaces pretty easily. Good luck!

 

[tan.b]

oooo, this was a while ago!! I bought 4 and they've been in most of my tanks as i've rearranged my tanks a few times due to leaks etc! at the moment all 4 of them are in the 45gal community tank and they are doing fine. they do like shelters and hide in tunnels, plants etc and they move extremely fast if you try and catch one! when i've had to move them they were hard work to catch....good luck to any fish that dares...they'd get a bumped nose on the shelter the shrimp dives into! I would recommend them to anyone. they are hardy and easy to keep and are quite entertaining when scrabbling up plants to catch a flake!