CRS Tankmates?

5633 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by waterfaller1, Nov 1, 2007

jencheung

Discussion Starter · Oct 30, 2007

I'm sure there's a list or thread somewhere of good tankmates for CRS, I was hoping someone could point me to it. Alternatively if someone has some suggestions, I'm putting together a 5 gallon nano with CRS and hopefully some little fishy friends. My first instinct was micro rasboras (boraras merah or boraras brigittae) but if I can't find them locally I was hoping to see if there are other options out there. Any help?

Thanks!

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southerndesert

· #2 · Oct 30, 2007

I also tried first a community tank with shrimp and fish some time ago after being bitten by the shrimp bug. I had a 29 gallon with Fancy Guppies and Corys.

I first added American Ghost Shrimp and they did fine and hitting the internet for more info on Ghost Shrimp I found the world of Fresh Water Shrimp. Same day I ordered some Cherries and figured that in my heavily planted 29 gallon the young would be able to hide from the very lazy fat guppies.

Now all info I found at the forums and websites said that if you want a healthy breeding population "NO FISH" if you don't mind most of the young getting eaten then they are fine with some fish species. Back to the fat lazy Guppies, they seem to relish hunting the plants for baby shrimp and I have seen it first hand. A few always make it and grow past the size the Guppies will bother so a small population of Cherry Shrimp are hanging in there. The young shrimp are smaller than Guppy Fry or about the same size and easily hunted down and eaten even though they are pretty quick.

I have since added 4 shrimp only tanks with CRS, RCS, Indian Zebra, and Malaya Shrimp. The shrimp in these tanks are not stressed and behave totally different from the very shy shrimp in the community tank.

Also have 2 new tanks cycling getting ready for ...well...more shrimp. The wife thinks I have gone over the deep end....

Just my 2 cents...

Bill

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ovenmit331

· #3 · Oct 30, 2007

i've got a 10g with 5 neon tetras, 2 albino cory's, and a rubber lipped pleco and the shrimp population is exploding at the seams.

i've also got a 1.5g hex with a betta and a black mollie (just put him in yesterday to eat some hair algae) there's 4 RCS in there and they're fine. they hide alot but haven't been eaten, but also haven't seen any babies. i may put some more in to make sure there's females.

i don't know if i'd recommend the betta. he'll probably eat the babies, but it was basically a science experiment for me!

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southerndesert

· #4 · Oct 30, 2007

The Corys and Ottos in my Community tank do not bother the shrimp at all. Glad to hear you are having success with the Neons in with the Shrimp and I bet they look good together. Do the Neons pester the shrimp or ignore them? Not so lucky with guppies :icon_lol:

Bill

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ovenmit331

· #5 · Oct 30, 2007

i've never even seen a neon look at one of the shrimp.

they completely ignore them.

i thought about doing a guppy and shrimp tank, but now i know... thanks!

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jencheung

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 30, 2007

So no guppies... That was one of the possibilities so thanks for chiming in southern! I'm very excited about the shrimp, but I did promise my hubby that I'll never have more than 3 tanks up at a time so this'll have to satisfy me for now. Of course when we get a bigger place instead of having more tanks I'll just make each of them much much bigger!! :hihi:

Back to the issue: the micro rasboras are about the size of neons with a similar mouth size so maybe, it'll work. I know, it seems like I'm justifying my experiment but if anyone has any kind of experience with this or any opinions, any input really would be very much appreciated!!

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erijnal

· #7 · Oct 30, 2007

Those who are saying it's ok are saying so with their RCS, not CRS, so you might want to keep that in mind.

From what I understand CRS do not breed anywhere near as prolifically as RCS, so chances are you won't see your population get past the first generation if you add any Boraras or Microrasboras.

If you have a canister filter, you might be able to find a few survivors in there after the shrimp have released their shrimplets.

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dhavoc

· #8 · Oct 30, 2007

i have had the same experience with neons, they completely ignore the cherries and the population has maxed out in the 10g tank they are in. i have 9 large neons and have kept them together with the rcs since they were just past the fry stage themselves (1/4"). i also keep rcs with micro rasboras and celestial danios (galaxy rasboras) and they breed fast enough to fill that tank to. i have never seen a shrimp eaten but, i keep the fish well fed. as for crs, only ottos or maybe dwarf corys. CRS breed very slowly, and only have maybe 1/8 the number of fry per hatching as a rcs. their coloring also makes them easy targets for any fish that hunt them.

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ringram

· #9 · Oct 30, 2007

I don't have anything other than RCS's in with my CRS's.
However, in my larger tank, I have RCS's and a single CBS(crystal black shrimp) in with harlequin rasboras, zebra danios, columbian tetras, dwarf pencilfish, cardinal tetras, rummynose tetras, various corydorus', bristlenose pleco and a clown loach.
YMMV, but I'd say the clown loach is a gamble, although it's working fine for me. The other fish should be fine though. Just keep everyone well fed and have hiding spots. Shrimp need some safe zone to retreat to, just in case.
Once acclimated, they seem quite resilient. Even when I rescaped and the resulting ammonia from the aquasoil killed a large number of cardinals, rummynoses and a clown loach, none of the shrimp died that I could see.

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jencheung

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 31, 2007

hmmm... so the consensus seems to be that rcs are okay with fish because they breed quickly but crs are better in a shrimp only tank. well, i can't convince the hubby to do an all shrimp tank so maybe they'll have to wait for the next project... *sigh*

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bsmith

· #11 · Oct 31, 2007

jencheung said:
hmmm... so the consensus seems to be that rcs are okay with fish because they breed quickly but crs are better in a shrimp only tank. well, i can't convince the hubby to do an all shrimp tank so maybe they'll have to wait for the next project... *sigh*

exactly. i even think rcs are too expensive to have them eaten and hiding from the preadators in the tank.

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waterfaller1

· #12 · Nov 1, 2007

I have an otto in with my CRS, and a dwarf puffer & otto in with my orange shrimp. I found out the orange shrimp will most likely not breed in fw anyway. Funny thing about my CRS, they are totally not afraid of me. I have to actually push them out of the way with my hand if I am scaping the tank.

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