Tank mates for cherry red shrimp or other Neocaridina shrimp.

I was wondering if guppies, rasboras, and cherry barbs are good tank mates for cherry red shrimp or other Neocaridina shrimp species or if they would try to eat them and if the tank is heavily planted would the babies have any chance of surviving?

 

They would try to eat the babies. I have pygmy cories with my RCS.

 

I have guppies and cherry barbs with my shrimp and the babies are doing fine, It may help that I have a lot of plants for them to hide in.

 

I have amazon swords, a java fern, an El Niño fern, water wisteria, and telanthera cardinalis.

 

I have Tiger Barbs with mine and the RCS are thriving. They will pick of the young shrimp from time to time but the adults and subadults are completely safe. Plus provided you have lots of plants and other forms of cover you are giving them a good fighting chance. The barbs, if anything, help control the numbers of shrimp.

With the fish you have listed you have no worries. They will have a small impact on the newly hatched shrimp but little beyond that.

 

The bushier fine leaved plants will help a lot like mosses, hornwort, and subwassertang. They provide good hiding spots for the babies. Also things like cholla wood and "leaf litter" with Indian Almond Leaves will help to provide more foraging spots and safe areas. I have neon tetras with my RCS and the colony is very large and thriving. I also have a ton of plants though.

If you haven't set up the tank yet, I would suggest this....

First get all your plants and RCS in the tank. Give them a few weeks or even a month to get situated and for the plants to get started and growing well. Then slowly add in fish in the 2nd month. This will give the RCS a head start on getting a thriving colony with reproduction and finding good hiding spots.

 

I like the look of Christmas moss but do not know how easy it is to grow, how much it cost, or even where to get it.

First I need to get the tank under control because I just had a problem pop up with a spike in the nitrate and nitrite levels and maybe even bring the PH down as well. PH is 7.6 and nitrite is 1.0 ppm and nitrate is 7.0 ppm.

 

I have endlers with my rcs and have noticed a decline in their breeding but they don't mess with the adults.