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Cherry Shrimp and Rainbowfish


dmurray407
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Sooo, I added 12 shrimp (6 cherry and 6 Amano shrimp) to my 60 gal aquarium yesterday. Today I’ve only seen two of the cherries and no amanos. There is lots of cover and tons of hiding places, but I’ve noticed my big rainbowfish spending time in the lower part of the tank. What are the odds that I just provided my rainbowfish with a little (expensive) snack?

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I have bosemani rainbows and cherry shrimp in the tank… 

 

the shrimp survive in dense Java moss. But the poor shrimp that gets caught out from cover when the lights turn on… well it doesn’t last long.

 

would not recommend rainbows and shrimp together if you want to to see the shrimp. 

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On 11/13/2021 at 8:58 PM, Odd Duck said:

 

What kind of rainbowfish?

 

Irian Red. They are about 3 inches long. The “shrimp guy” thought the shrimp would be OK if they had lots of hiding places. I have driftwood, rocks and plants so I thought that would be enough. All I know is that I’ve only ever seen those rainbows this interested when food is involved:)

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On 11/13/2021 at 9:26 PM, dmurray407 said:

Irian Red. They are about 3 inches long. The “shrimp guy” thought the shrimp would be OK if they had lots of hiding places. I have driftwood, rocks and plants so I thought that would be enough. All I know is that I’ve only ever seen those rainbows this interested when food is involved:)

I’m afraid you’ve gotten their interest, which is good environmental enrichment for the rainbows.  Not so good for shrimp health.  They may still be alive in there, but you may not see them when they’re being hunted that intensely, if they are still present.  Likely an expensive snack, unfortunately.

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On 11/13/2021 at 9:46 PM, Odd Duck said:

 Likely an expensive snack, unfortunately

I guess shrimp are not in my immediate future. The Rainbows are getting fairly old (maybe 5 years? they came from Drs Smith and Foster when they still sold fish) so they have "dibs" on the tank. I don't really want to do a "shrimp only" tank"... I do have an extra little 2.5 gal tank though. Catching them might be kind of hard.......... 

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On 11/14/2021 at 9:18 AM, dmurray407 said:

I guess shrimp are not in my immediate future. The Rainbows are getting fairly old (maybe 5 years? they came from Drs Smith and Foster when they still sold fish) so they have "dibs" on the tank. I don't really want to do a "shrimp only" tank"... I do have an extra little 2.5 gal tank though. Catching them might be kind of hard.......... 

You might just want to buy new shrimp for the 2.5 gallon tank instead of trying to catch the shrimp that are in the big tank.  Besides, you might already know this, but the chances of success with shrimp are greatly enhanced if the tank runs for at least two months, and preferably three, to give biofilm time to develop.

And that's not just something I read.  I've tried to add shrimp to a new tank at least twice.  It's never gone well.

Edited by JettsPapa
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On 11/14/2021 at 12:45 PM, JettsPapa said:

the chances of success with shrimp are greatly enhanced if the tank runs for at least two months, and preferably three, to give biofilm time to develop.

I did not know that-thank you!  The main reason I wanted shrimp in the first place was to help keep my tank clean-and they are kind of interesting little critters. I think I will set a new tank up in my "office" for smaller fish and I could keep some shrimp in there down the road (here we go......that would be tank #3 plus my quarantine bin)

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On 11/14/2021 at 10:18 AM, dmurray407 said:

I guess shrimp are not in my immediate future. The Rainbows are getting fairly old (maybe 5 years? they came from Drs Smith and Foster when they still sold fish) so they have "dibs" on the tank. I don't really want to do a "shrimp only" tank"... I do have an extra little 2.5 gal tank though. Catching them might be kind of hard.......... 

I ended up putting my 2.5 quarantine tank into service for shrimp after a failed effort to have them with a betta. They are THRIVING in there and have a few endler males for visual interest and mulm creation. I'm told I may lose a few shrimplets, but so far the Endlers aren't showing any interest in the adults or even the scuds in the tank. It's actually my happiest tank of the three nano tanks I have!

I love Bosmani rainbows, had a few years ago with African cichlids. But at that size I'd have to assume they would eat anything as small as neocaridina shrimp. If you do decide to try and move, a good shrimp catching tip I picked up is to place the net behind them, then use a chopstick or something like that in front of them to ge their attention. WHen escaping shrimp jump backwards -works great!

I had put 10 in a 5 gal with chili rasboras and a betta, heavily planted - within 2 days the Betta had killed 6 of them. Didn't eat them, just left them lying on the bottom with a bite out of the middle. Only one made it from that group while setting up an emergency tank, but she is doing well. I named her OG 😅

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On 11/15/2021 at 8:39 AM, Jawjagrrl said:

I ended up putting my 2.5 quarantine tank into service for shrimp

I may do this-I've been saving my quarantine tank to transition fish after I do the medication trio so it just sits there with one snail in it-I'm sure the shrimp would do OK in there. I also am thinking about a new tank in my "office" area upstairs by my desk.  2 cherry shrimp are still alive-they are hanging out on the backside of my sponge filter-I'm wondering if I just carefully pull the filter out if they will come with it. I will try either today or tomorrow. Thanks!

 

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On 11/15/2021 at 9:59 AM, dmurray407 said:

. . . -I'm wondering if I just carefully pull the filter out if they will come with it. I will try either today or tomorrow. Thanks!

 

It's possible, but they'll probably jump off when you get it out of the water.  You could try putting a plastic bag around the filter while it's still in the water, but again, they may jump off when you do.

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On 11/15/2021 at 10:59 AM, dmurray407 said:

I may do this-I've been saving my quarantine tank to transition fish after I do the medication trio so it just sits there with one snail in it-I'm sure the shrimp would do OK in there. I also am thinking about a new tank in my "office" area upstairs by my desk.  2 cherry shrimp are still alive-they are hanging out on the backside of my sponge filter-I'm wondering if I just carefully pull the filter out if they will come with it. I will try either today or tomorrow. Thanks!

 

I'd have my shrimp in a desk tank for sure - mine are in our kitchen, which gets the most traffic at home and makes water changes a breeze. I figure I can always quarantine in a rubbermaid tote with an airstone if necessary, so why not enjoy the tank? I ended up with 12 and 3 are pregnant right now, and a 4th lost her eggs but is still acting like she has them - I'm enjoying them more than most of the fish 🙂 Good luck - unless you keep your house really cold in the wintertime, you don't really need a heater for them at all. 

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On 11/15/2021 at 11:23 AM, Jawjagrrl said:

I can always quarantine in a rubbermaid tote with an airstone

I have my isolation tub all set up-I was planning to just have new fish in it for the medication period and then transfer them to the 10 gal tank for a couple of weeks until I'm sure they are healthy then on to the 60 gallon tank. (I'm paranoid-had a bad experience). The 10 gal is all set up and cycled. I live in Minnesota, so I have heaters in all the tanks-I keep my house around 65, which is killing me 🙂 I think I might just turn the 10 gal into a "regular aquarium" and keep the shrimp and some friendly fish in it. (The reason I'm waiting on the new fish is because all the LFS's are about 50-60 miles away. There was one closer but they had to move due to property redevelopment. They should be opening in their new location later this month. Their new location is only about 30 miles away. I want to support them so they don't go away permanently.) 

On 11/15/2021 at 10:45 AM, JettsPapa said:

You could try putting a plastic bag around the filter

Good idea-I will try that. There's an Amano shrimp hanging out there now, too!

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On 11/15/2021 at 2:48 PM, dmurray407 said:

(The reason I'm waiting on the new fish is because all the LFS's are about 50-60 miles away.

I'm in the same boat there, but thankfully I'm not nearly as cold as you in the winter 🙂 FWIW, I'm in the deep south but our kitchen is 63 in the winter - and that's warm enough for neocaradina shrimp. Keep them closer to typical temps - 78ish - and their metabolism is higher and their life span shorter. I've read that 74 is about ideal for breeding.

I bought one of those small heaters for my 2.5 that is rated for 1.5gal and isn't adjustable (Intended for bettas in tiny nano tanks). If I were to keep it plugged in it would actually be around 82! So I'm dealing with wild swings in temp throughout the day as the room is east facing. Wondering what kind of heater you have for your 2.5?

If I could start my 3 tanks over again, I'd have my chili rasboras and the shrimp in one of the 5gal portrait tanks, plus something that enjoys green algae that would be shrimp safe. The male endlers I got for the shrimp are a little larger than I expected, but they leave the shrimp alone, so endler males with the shrimp in a 5 would be good too - the endlers are also happy in cooler water (unlike the chilis) so you could have them together in a low 70s setup. Be careful moving the shrimp for temp changes that can trigger an ill-timed molt. I lost 3 of my betta attack survivors to ph shock also - thought my tanks were all the same ph (within .2), but the 2.5 had jumped up to 7.6 despite plants and neutral tap because of a *tiny* amount of crushed coral.

Both plakat bettas were bad with them - they are very young males. I'd avoid unless you have one you know for sure is community friendly/older.

Good luck with them - warm tanks of tropicals must be a nice respite from long MN winters. 😄

Edited by Jawjagrrl
endlers ok with cooler water, molt concerns.
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On 11/16/2021 at 6:32 AM, Jawjagrrl said:

Wondering what kind of heater you have for your 2.5?

I just have a little round "betta bowl" heater that seems to do the trick. It's similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-BettaTherm-Submersible-Heater/dp/B003Z0FZ4I/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1ND2TKQWQEEZP&keywords=betta+bowl+heater+1+gallon&qid=1637078227&sprefix=betta+bowl%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-5       I've had it forever and it just keeps working. Heating prices are supposed to be through the roof this winter so I've been trying to be good and keep my thermostat down to 63-65 but it's killing me. Every once in a while I have to crank it up to 70:)

 

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On 11/16/2021 at 11:04 AM, dmurray407 said:

I just have a little round "betta bowl" heater that seems to do the trick. It's similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-BettaTherm-Submersible-Heater/dp/B003Z0FZ4I/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1ND2TKQWQEEZP&keywords=betta+bowl+heater+1+gallon&qid=1637078227&sprefix=betta+bowl%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-5       I've had it forever and it just keeps working. Heating prices are supposed to be through the roof this winter so I've been trying to be good and keep my thermostat down to 63-65 but it's killing me. Every once in a while I have to crank it up to 70:)

 

Thanks for this - mine is similar but it just runs really hot- I think it could run a 5gal just fine. Might slip this into my next Amazon order.

I do feel for anyone in the northern parts of the US this winter as energy costs are going to be massive. A chance to wear beautiful wool sweaters? 🙂 I love shetland wool ones but get to wear them probably 2x a season. I keep watching videos in Maine through our household IP and my husband is wondering why he keeps getting video suggestions from the area, LOL. We both have "yankee" thermostats but life has placed us in the South for the moment.

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