[BigNoobMan]

Hi!

I currently have a 15 gallon tank with 15-20ish cherry shrimp, 4 oto’s, 8 chilli raspbora and a growing pond snail problem.
I also just bought a 6 gallon tank as I wanted to set up a small tank for a single dwarf puffer.

The issue is that I have also recently seen some Scarlet Badis at the LFS and fell in love.. so i’m not sure whether to use the 6 gallon for the dwarf/pea puffer and add a Scarlet Badis or possibly a m/f pair to the 15.. or to move the shrimp colony to the 6 gallon and use the 15 solely for the fish?
I would like the shrimp to breed but I haven’t had too much luck as it is unfortunetly. I had one berried and then one day she wasn’t. Even though it’s heavily planted I feel like I should have seen some shrimplets by now.

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[MissCris]

I think cherries do better slightly cooler than fish, plus fish eat shrimplets, so if you want your shrimp to breed, I think giving them their own tank would be the way to go.

Of course, that means no puffer, as they are really and truely a species-tank-only fish. Unless you are willing to go down the road of Multiple Tank Syndrome...

You could do a little 3g shrimp tank for half your cherries to try and get them to breed, while leaving the rest in the community though. Then you can keep the 6g for a puffer.

Not sure on the badis compatibility, as I've not kept them myself. I have heard they are best kept species only, but cannot speak from personal experiences.

 

[BigNoobMan]

I was hoping that at least a few shrimplets would survive at least, given that the tank is heavily planted with plenty of moss and hiding places..
Hmm, I’m not sure if I have any other options other than to forget the Scarlet Badis and keep the 7 gallon (i was wrong about it being 6) for the puffer. I was tempted to try Scarlet Badis in the 15 gal, can always go multiple tank syndrome if things go south!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Personally I'd put the pea puffers in the 7 gallon, and let the 20 gallon be used for pond snail production as a source of live food for hte puffers. Do note that if the population is growing, then you're probably overfeeding. But I'd caution you on adding scarlet badis if you're planning to increase the cherry shrimp population. 8 chili's in a 15 seems ok. Scarlet badis though thrive on small crustaceans like shrimplets. As for your population problem, how long have you had the shrimp? Their populations tend to sneak up on you. One day you only have 10 left, then you do a water change and BAM! There are hundreds. I'd consider adding in some sort of feeding block to help facilitate shrimp growth: I know they love the tetra gel vacation blocks.

 

[BigNoobMan]

I think that will be the plan then, seems to make the most sense!
I’ve had the shrimp for about 3 months, currently got 2 or 3 with saddles but none berried for a while sadly.
I currently use some sort of mineral blocks that they seem to love, has a white chalky appearance.. Snails love it too though!
Sometimes I crush an algae wafer for them too, i’ll reduce the amount i’m feeding and see if that helps.