Breeding tankmates

yes, idealy no tank mates as most will eat teh baby shrimp ottos are considers teh least likely to harm shrimp but with babys i dont know

Anyone have any idea about the compatibility of Hengli's rasboras? I'm in the same situation - only one tank.

Well, for optimal shrimp breeding, you will want to do a shrimp only tank. Why not get a tiny nano? I have a 2 gallon nano where my shrimps are starting to breed.

Otherwise, you will want to DENSELY plant the tank, and maybe get tiiiiiiny fish?

Haeun said:

Well, for optimal shrimp breeding, you will want to do a shrimp only tank. Why not get a tiny nano? I have a 2 gallon nano where my shrimps are starting to breed.

Otherwise, you will want to DENSELY plant the tank, and maybe get tiiiiiiny fish?

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Yeah, I'm broke and about to move in a month. I'd love to have another tank, but this is hardly the time for MTS. I suppose I could pull a scolley and put them in a bucket until they grew bigger than bite-sized. Sounds like a plan, actually.

So the neons and betta and barbs would have a feast?

darn.

I actually have one in there now from very, very small, probably an 1/8 of an inch about a month ago. I thought he was a gonner a while ago, but today I was looking at my java moss and there he was, bright red and about a 1/4 of an inch!

Wanted to get him some buddies. But I guess I'll wait.

The little shrimp from about two months ago is still hanging on!

I have a great piece of driftwood with a lot of java moss and crevices for them to hide, which he seems to have made his home.

The tank is moderately/heavy planted.

When a rcs lays eggs, how vulnerable are they to neon/betta/cherry barb attacks? Do those fish specifically look for those eggs?

I'm mostly concerned about the eggs, and not the juvenile shrimp, seeing how this one has survived so far.

;o P.S. If it's bright red, chances are, it's a female.

RCS don't lay eggs; they carry them until they hatch. The babies are what might be eaten by the fish.

Oh, ok, I did not know that!

So about how big are babies once they are born?

The one I have in there now was REALLY small when I got him. So I'm thinking that there was enough cover for him to hide (plan on putting in more soon) and the fish just weren't interested or knew enough to eat him.

Has anyone breed babies with barbs, betta or neons in the same tank?

The babies are very small. Up to two mm maximum in my experience. I have shrimp that breed in a community tank which includes a betta, neons, rams and even five African dwarf frogs. The survival rate of the young shrimp is very low indeed. The tank is well planted and furnished with mopani and driftwood also loads of moss covered slates, which provide absolutely loads of hiding places. I started with five RCS at the beginning of 2006 and even now estimate (because they're always hiding) the shrimp population to be no more than about 25 - 30.
They obviously make great little snacks for hungry fish and frogs.
Best wishes.
Jep.

I actually thought a shrimp population of 25-30 would be pretty good in my 20gallon!

The neons and betta are pretty docile. I have never had any problems with them before attacking or acting up. Only my male cherry barb is a little agressive.

I don't think even 2mm is small enough for the tetra mouth, and the betta barely even knows what to do with the freeze dried blood worms.

zach said:

yes, idealy no tank mates as most will eat teh baby shrimp ottos are considers teh least likely to harm shrimp but with babys i dont know

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Ottos are the only 100% safe fish because of their specialized mouth, its next to impossible for them to eat them... Never seen it happen, and my 1-2mm babies swim around the tank.

zabak80 said:

I actually thought a shrimp population of 25-30 would be pretty good in my 20gallon!

The neons and betta are pretty docile. I have never had any problems with them before attacking or acting up. Only my male cherry barb is a little agressive.

I don't think even 2mm is small enough for the tetra mouth, and the betta barely even knows what to do with the freeze dried blood worms.

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2mm is fine enough for a tetra mouth. And chances are they will be eaten, or at least most of them will be, and all the shrimp will do is hide.

If you get more shrimp. Don't expect to see them much if at all, and don't expect if all the sudden they're all eaten:icon_sad:

Shrimp are at the bottom of the food chain,
-Andrew