Smallest shrimp that Loaches, Plecs & Rams won't eat...

Finley · Post by **Finley** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:16 pm

What's the smallest shrimp size that will be ignored by...
- Gold Balloon Rams
- 2" Pakistani and Clown Loaches
- 2" L134 Plecos ??

Do those fish make keeping shrimp in that tank out of the question, or will larger shrimp such as Amano do OK?

Thanks,

Finley

crazie.eddie · Post by **crazie.eddie** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:05 pm

Most adult species, like Neocaridina, are safe with the above list. It's just the shrimplets/babies will probably get eaten by the rams or loaches.

zapisto · Post by **zapisto** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:36 pm

even adult can be eaten by the rams

Finley · Post by **Finley** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:40 pm

Thanks eddie

I recently put a group of mixed size CRS into two tanks - one containing Guppies and the other the aforementioned fish. I have 70% survival in the Guppy tank but only 5% in the community tank.

Those 5% are the largest/oldest shrimp only. Even they hide in sheltered nooks all day, whereas the CRS in the Guppy tank prance around in the open. (Water quality is very similar in both tanks - if anything, it's best in the community tank.)

So, I'm thinking that I need bigger shrimp which can feel confident in the community tank. Seems that even the largest CRS get hassled even if they're not eaten, so I'm wondering how big shrimp need to be before they can relax around those fish species?

Finley

crazie.eddie · Post by **crazie.eddie** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:50 pm

Guppies are more opportunistic. I had molly and swordtail fry in my shrimp tanks. Even though the fry were about the size of the adult shrimps, they (fry) had no problems eating away at dead shrimp. The shrimp population in that tank barely grew and I never saw any baby shrimps.

The safest shrimps would be Amanos and other similar in size.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 6:50 am

I would not put my shrimp in with any of these fish. The only fish I can vouch for are bristle nosed plecos and ottos. Most of those others will eventually reduce your population to 0. I don't know about your particular pleco, but the google says:

The Leopard Frog Pleco is an omnivore with a liking for meaty foods

so I think they will vacuum up your shrimp too.

For best results, just keep shrimp in a shrimp only tank. Most snails are fine tankmates.