Australe Killifish and Dwarf (Pinto) Shrimp: Is It a Very Bad Idea or Simply Not a Good One?

[Walterego]

24 Gallon well-planted tall tank currently with CPDs, pinto dwarf shrimp, a few corys, and I wanted a "show fish" a pair or 2 of Orange Australe Killifish.  

Should I expect a:

1) dwarf shrimp extinction-level event

2) Stable shrimp population with losses but a few young surviving.

3) Little shrimp loss

4) No shrimp loss

If it's not a no-go, would feeding a partial or mostly live diet such as live daphnia help or hurt keeping interest off the Shrimp.  Any other ideas?  

 

Thanks for helping this novice in advance.

[Struggle]

I don’t have first hand experience with those killis but I would think that the killifish would have a great time hunting the shrimp down. I have gardneri killis and they have a rather large mouth, love to hunt down scuds and love to eat everything. If I remember after working on my rack I’ll put a cull neocaridina shrimp in with them and report back.

[Walterego]

The gardneri killifish/cull neocardina shrimp would be a great experiment and I would appreciate a "report back" should you do it.  Outcomes ranging from the song "You're my best friend" to "Taps.  Thanks in advance if you can do this.  If I go ahead and take the plunge, I'll also report back the results.

The killifish I'm looking at are young but at some point they would likely get big enough to feast.  I might even accept some other shrimp-safe "show" fish ideas from anyone if they have any.  I've crossed off bettas and gouramis.  A peacock gudgeon or 2 I've also considered but they too might snack too much.  

      

[Struggle]

I put an adult female and a good sized juvenile neo  in after feeding. Adult is ok for now and the juvenile is a no go. I’m sure the female will be gone by morning but your mileage may vary.

As far as show fish, I put ember tetras in with my wife’s Caridina PRLs and that was a no go  after awhile as well. I’ve also tried spawning/raising super red plecos and neos together with not so good outcomes. I don’t know if it was the shrimp being out competed for food or if the plecos were snacking. I had a thriving colony of neos in our 75G with blue eye rainbows, same outcome as the rest.
 

Others here have had good experiences with the smaller fish and other combinations so hopefully they’ll chime in.

[KaitieG]

I had gardneri killis as well and they ate EVERYTHING.  Their mouths are bigger than they look, and they're fairly aggressive at going after anything else you put in the tank.  Not sure how australes compare, but I'd use caution with shrimp and killis myself.

[Walterego]

Thanks "Struggle" and "KaitieG".  You broke my heart but likely saved my shrimp with your case-studies.