Neocaridina tank mates

3877 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by BettaBettas, Apr 7, 2017

landonnap

Discussion Starter · Apr 6, 2017

I am wondering what fish would live good with Neocaridina shrimp. I have a 5 gallon planted tank that is mid cycle. Gh 8 KH about 4. Temp 78°F although I could lower this if needed. Ph 7.4-7.6 can also be lowered. I was looking at killifish but am not quite sure about them. I've looked at Khuli Loaches and really like them but understand that their group requirements make them unsuitable for a 5 gallon. Thanks!

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

nel

· #2 · Apr 6, 2017

Killifish are predators, quick and always hungry. No other fish this small will eat shrimps quicker. 5 gallon isn't a big tank, you could try CPD's or other nano schooling fish, but keep in mind they WILL hunt for small shrimp, just with enough hiding spots most will live. Only fish that really won't eat shrimplets is oto.

Save

Reactions: 1

fusedpro

· #3 · Apr 6, 2017

5 gallons is pretty small and most things consider shrimps as a tasty snack, be it the adults or the younglings. You're probably best off keeping it as a shrimp only tank, but I imagine a cool or two wouldn't hurt anything.

Save

landonnap

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 6, 2017

Ok, as long as some make it the Colony will live, I might just let the Colony grow in a 5 gallon then when or if I upgrade I will put some kuhli loaches in it. I saw a baby one at a pet store, do you think I could keep it and maybe another baby in my 5 gallon until they get larger and require a bigger tank? It was about an inch and a half long

Save

FishRFriendz

· #5 · Apr 6, 2017

There's no need to hit any target kh/gh during a cycling. You'll just toss all the water at the end of the cycle anyways.

It'll be a while yet before you can even begin to get fish anyways. Since you're lookin at fish, I'm guessing you're getting a bit impatient lol. Let the shrimp get situated and get a round of breeding in before you start adding fish. That way if your shrimp aren't breeding, you've got one less reason for it not to be working out.

Save

fusedpro

· #6 · Apr 6, 2017

A 5 gallon is far too small for one kuhli loach, let alone the 5+ needed for their health. They can be pretty active when the mood strikes them. The smallest tank I would recommend for some kuhlis would either be a 20g long or 29g.

Save

landonnap

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 6, 2017

Ok I knew that about the kuhli loches and am now looking at getting a different fish to keep with them, I love the colors on the Cherry barbs but understand their aggression towards fry. Any other suggestions?

Bump: Yeah I am getting a bit impatient, lol, I understand your point I just want to do some research on everything before I make final decisions. Any chance my nitrite spike will drop by Saturday? That's when I'm looking to go to my LFS then and that marks the end of the cycle.

Bump: Ps I'm only getting shrimp on Saturday btw

Save

ambe

· #8 · Apr 6, 2017 (Edited)

According to this website which seems to have been a collaboration of this person's experience and forums, the safest fish are Chilli Rasboras but they still hunt newly hatched shrimp. I would like fish too, preferably Celestial Pearl Danios but they have been seen to hunt up to 3 week old shrimp according to the above site, unlike the chillis at 2 days. Basically though, unless you have a thriving population and a lot of hiding places, I think you will fail to build a colony. It would be much better to get your colony thriving first. This is what I'm planning to do, I might in fact miss out on the fish altogether.

When you get your shrimp, I think you will be feel less impatient. I can't comment on your nitrite spike, as these things always vary, but it could be another 10 days at least. Do you have to get them Saturday?

Save

Reactions: 1

FishRFriendz

· #9 · Apr 6, 2017 (Edited)

ambe said:
I would like fish too, preferably Celestial Pearl Danios but they have been seen to hunt up to 3 week old shrimp according to the above site, unlike the chillis at 2 days.

Don't get them at Petco. I've been having a hell of a time with them. Petco's are wild/farm caught which is to say they aren't transitioned to tank life and feeding.

Wild - really hard, you have to cater to their eating habits, and really skittish.
Tank raised - Essentially wild but acclimated to tank life.
Tank bred - the best! also $$$

Get em from Rachel Oleary, she gets em wild and get's them used to domesticated life, or some other tank raised or bred seller, Aquatic Arts claims to have tank raised. Wish I could find someone that breeds them in a tank (Well, LRBretts does this but I don't think he sells em on his site and it didn't look like he had tons).

I keep em with my shrimp, but I hatch and grow the shrimp separately to a month before putting them together.

landonnap said:
Any chance my nitrite spike will drop by Saturday?

In my experience, the nitrite part takes twice as long as the ammonia part. I've pretty consistently gotten a cycle to 2ppm ammonia daily in ~3 weeks. I don't think that much of a cycle is needed for shrimp tho. In fact it's a huge waste of time to get all the way to 2ppm daily conversion to nitrate if all you do is add like 10 shrimp in the end. Your bacteria will just die off to the level of ammonia that the shrimp will produce.

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 1

landonnap

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 6, 2017

Ok, I have heard from people that have kept danios that they are killers and I just can't get excited about keeping them. This next question is entirely theoretical, Taiwanese Dragon Micro Gobies. Such a cool fish! Best of all they can fit in my 5 gallon tank and are tank bred. They can also be kept with adult dwarf shrimp! Although they sometimes eat fry as long as they are well fed I think they will be fine. They eat frozen or live brine shrimp and the only problem I can find is that they will only sometimes eat a pelleted diet. I have an automatic fish food dispenser for my shrimp when I go on vacation but am not sure about dispensing live brine shrimp or even frozen ones. I would build my shrimp colony before I got this fish just in case he was feeling hungry 😋. Any solutions to this problem, and/or opinions on this fish( just refer to it as a Dragon Fish). I should have probably posted this on the main fish forum but it has to do a little with shrimp. Thanks for any info and if this isn't a good idea please let me know!

Bump: Ps I got all this info from aquatic arts https://aquaticarts.com/collections/shrimp-safe-fish-all-shrimp/products/taiwanese-dragon-micro-gobies

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 2

GrampsGrunge

· #11 · Apr 7, 2017

The only fish I've kept with Crystal shrimp have been 3 weeks to 2 month old Chopra Danio ( up to about less than 0.5" SL ) and even then the fish are far too boisterous, and also graze on food that the shrimp should be getting. Shrimp are not very good at defending their food against fish. I would not recommend doing a fish/ micro shrimp tank combo, the shrimp will fare worse in most cases, and you may never see them in out the open. You'll definitely loose newly hatched baby shrimp to any fish as large as a 2 week old guppy.

Save

BettaBettas

· #12 · Apr 7, 2017

FishRFriendz said:
Don't get them at Petco. I've been having a hell of a time with them. Petco's are wild/farm caught which is to say they aren't transitioned to tank life and feeding.

Wild - really hard, you have to cater to their eating habits, and really skittish.
Tank raised - Essentially wild but acclimated to tank life.
Tank bred - the best! also $$$

Get em from Rachel Oleary, she gets em wild and get's them used to domesticated life, or some other tank raised or bred seller, Aquatic Arts claims to have tank raised. Wish I could find someone that breeds them in a tank (Well, LRBretts does this but I don't think he sells em on his site and it didn't look like he had tons).

I keep em with my shrimp, but I hatch and grow the shrimp separately to a month before putting them together.

In my experience, the nitrite part takes twice as long as the ammonia part. I've pretty consistently gotten a cycle to 2ppm ammonia daily in ~3 weeks. I don't think that much of a cycle is needed for shrimp tho. In fact it's a huge waste of time to get all the way to 2ppm daily conversion to nitrate if all you do is add like 10 shrimp in the end. Your bacteria will just die off to the level of ammonia that the shrimp will produce.

I just got five CPD's from Petco and they are great

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month