Dwarf Shrimp Tankmates

[wicca27]

if you really want to try put the shrimp in first and let them breed for a bit and get a good colony going. then add small fish. i keep least killi with some of my crystal reds. but good rule of thumb is if it will fit in a fishes mouth its probably going to be food. so even if they dont eat the adult shrimp chances are they will eat baby shrimp. lots of moss and hiding spots will help shrimp babies avoid being eaten but some will always be picked off by fish

[PuddlesAqua]

People on here will tell you that snails are a wonderful part of a thriving aquatic ecosystem and you should control their population through feeding, etc. That's true, overfeeding causes snail population to explode. But they're also wrong, because snails suck and I don't want them in my tanks. I keep feeding down, and pick out any tat I see. I'm scared to try certain tactics, like assassin snails, because I don't want to harm my shrimp. But you can set traps for them, as well. Put a piece of food on a small dish or in a cup and set it on the bottom of your tank. Most of the snails should congregate there and you can pick them out.

[MABJ]

I'm one of those people who will recommend snails in a tank. I have to disagree with you, Puddles. It is extremely healthy to have them in there. Yes you'll get babies, but that's not to say they'll survive to adulthood. In fact, I have a hard time getting snail babies to adulthood. As adults die, I see one or two babies replacing them.

On the matter of fish, I like least killis a lot. I've seen shrimplets go from newborn to full adults. So while some may be eaten, I think you'll have healthy population growth.

I've seen in the H. Formosa species there is always a dominant female. I've seen her nip at shrimp from time to time, but nothing huge. When my adult shrimp swim in front of the killis, they're larger than them. So there shouldn't be too much to fear.

[TwoTacoCombo]

I've got otos, corys, porkchop rasboras, cardinal tetras, and platys in my tank with a gang of yellow neos and amanos. The most aggressive creatures in the tank are the amanos, hands down. All the others don't even seem to have an interest in the shrimp at all. I also have some yellows in a 5gal tank with a grumpy old betta. He sometimes steals a shrimp pellet, but pretty much ignores the shrimp. I think part of the secret to keeping all these guys playing nice is plenty of room, lots of hidey holes for the shrimp, and providing enough food to make everybody happy. That being said, anybody want to buy about a pound of ramshorns??

[DrakeScree]

I'd like to try to compile a list of all of the species that people keep, and possibly score each species of fish's disposition, or likeliness to eat/kill shrimp and/or their babies. When I get some time later I'll start trying to compile a list.

[chunkychun]

drakescree that is a good idea. i think we all know that any fish can snack on something that fits in its mouth but a list of low risk vs med risk vs high risk would be good. obviously it won't be set in stone as there will be outliers but can be used as a general guideline.