can i have some shrimp in my community tank?

[pest control]

hi, firstly, i'm new here, so hi!

for ages i've been trying to find out if i can keep cherry shrimp in my tank, but before i've always been advised against it because of my stocking. but now i've got rid of 2 of the kribs to my brother, and i'm going to hopefully give the other 2 to my lfs soon. anyways, my tank is 216l, 120cm x 40cm x 45cm. my stocking is :12 kuhli loaches, 4 Corydoras copei (getting 2 more soon), 20 copper harlequins (Trigonostigma hengeli), 5 harlequins, 4 rummynose tetras, 3 cardinal tetras, 3 serpae tetras, 3 ottos, 5 SAE's and soon some MTS. would that stocking be ok for cherry shrimp, considering that the tank is heavily planted? if not, are there any other shrimp that i can keep? i would like to have a go at breeding some shrimp, so i'd prefer shrimp that can breed; but any shrimp would be good. i've also seen some bamboo shrimp, but i've heard that they're hard to keep alive. is that true, and would it be possible to breed them in freshwater?

cheers

[zapisto]

Some adult will prolly survive in there, but breeding will be highly harzardous.
Personnally i would not recommend adding cherry in there specially to try breed. (personnal opinion )

[jclee]

I always have cherry shrimp in my well-planted, community tanks. They usually last a while, and they never breed. (Well, maybe they "breed," but the hatchlings get picked off by my fish before I even notice them.) The one downside is that, if you have your tank planted well enough for the shrimp to have cover to hide away from pesty fish (and no mater how non-aggressive the fish, they will occasionally pester the shrimp), your shrimp will spend most of their time hiding.

I still like doing this, and I have come to consider it a treat when I get a long, clear look at one of my cherry shrimp that has come out of hiding in the dense cover of my java ferns. I think it's worthwhile, but if your goal is to breed them, a species-specific tank will probably work best.