creekbottom Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 I have a 10 gallon tank with red cherry shrimp and ember tetras. These animals are about the same size. Everything has been going well, I have babies, large berried females, I got rid of the dragonfly larvae (Yuck!!!) Several weeks ago, almost all the adults went missing! I could only find one or two males, but plenty of babies swimming around, not hiding. Since, a few larger females have re-appeared. Curiously though, I find shrimp parts floating in the tank every once in a while. I know, I know, it's probably the fish... But the shrimp that has been torn up looks like it was a big one and those Embers are pretty small. If the fish were eating shrimp I would expect shrimp to be hiding, they aren't. Small babies in full view of fish. I'm not sure what is going on, I haven't seen another dragonfly larvae, everything else seems to be going the way it should. Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonNeko Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) I've had dragonfly larvae, nasty little things. Had 3 in my shrimp tank and they did some damage to my shrimp numbers. Part of the reason why I took a break from keeping shrimp, was just disheartened by the whole thing. It's possible that the fish have figured out that when an adult molt's, they're easy picking. Much easier for smaller fish to gang up on a freshly molted shrimp than try to peck at one with a harder exterior. Also, if a shrimp just dies, then the fish will go after that too. Shrimp will feel safer in larger numbers (I think), so that may be why they're not bothering to hide. As long as the shrimp don't go rapidly down in numbers, then losing a few is pretty normal when there are fish in the tank with them. Edited June 10, 2012 by DragonNeko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quetzalcoatl Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Shrimp shed their shells, are you sure this is not the old shells? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekbottom Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Oh no, this is not molted remains, I know what that looks like. This definitely is real shrimp torn into bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 find a little plate with a plastic red lobster bib in the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 I've seen this lately since I added galaxy rasboras...they are tiny. I often see the other shrimp snacking on a dead one too...so both put together mangled in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 I'm thinking that it's the fish tearing into a soft shrimp that's just molted. All it takes is one fish to try, then you'll have all of them taking a bite - they are related to piranha, you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) I had shrimp with Neons, not a good combo. Even though the neons were small they didn't mix well. Edited June 13, 2012 by Iceturf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanGofCalgary Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) I've found that almost NO fish are compatible with shrimp, unless you add a little shrimp sauce! I had a fantastic colony of cherry shrimp, but ran out of tank space, so threw a group of.... Betta picta in with them.... I thought their predation would be minor, and that it wouldn't exceed the shrimps ability to reproduce... I was about 200% wrong on that! LOL! I am about to establish a new cherry shrimp colony (I love them for keeping my killie eggs fungus free), and there will be NO fish in the tank I think. Anyone had any experience with keeping shrimp with fish that DIDN'T get eaten? Wouldn't mind feeling safe with a few algae eater types... Edit: Through is not = to threw... Edited June 14, 2012 by DanGofCalgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 I had luck keeping BN Plecos in my cherry shrimp tank. But any other fish it is more trial and error. I had luck keeping a betta with some cherries but then when I tried it with another betta he ate them all. Endlers worked out ok for me, never saw them eat any of my shrimp but then I've heard other people having issues when they tried. So my rule is any fish will at least try to eat the shrimp and you kind of have to test out your specific fish. Usually if you have a breeding colony of cherries a fish picking off a couple shrimp now and then won't really make an impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudiohv Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 You know what cool fish ( IMHO) i keep with my red rilis, its a borneo sucker. People say yeah definetly a hard to keep fish or expert level fish (most of the people commenting dont even have one). Again i think coolest fish ever to keep with shrimp, he doesnt even bother with the shrimplets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevolutionBoas Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 What about dario dario, galaxy rasbora, or Celebes Rainbows. I have heard dwarf cories are compatible as well, if i could catch mine I would try them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I had a dario dario who stopped eating fish food and ate only cherries, to the point that when I removed the cherries and tried to wean him back onto processed food he didn't make the transition and died. I've never seen my Galaxies, my white clouds or my bolivian ram bother the shrimp but I'm sure it's possible that any of them could when I'm not looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevolutionBoas Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 They might eat babies but I dont think galaxies or white clouds could take adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Little_One Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 They can't. I've had my cube going for a while now. The only possibility is other shrimp hassling them after a molt, or just plain old shrimp not able to handle water parameter changes long-term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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