Larger solo centerpiece type fish with shrimp

[Root]

Hello all! I am looking for a fish (maybe 3-6 inches) to pretty much live solo with a bunch of RCS in a heavy planted 20 gallon tank. I would like something nice to look at, peaceful and won’t eat my plants and shrimps. I thought about a Betta, but I hear it can be 50/50 when it comes to the shrimp.  Do you you have any suggestions? 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Paul R

[JettsPapa]

With the possible exception of plecos, I don't know of any fish that size that won't eat shrimp.  Just about everything eats shrimp.  Now that I have that out of the way, since you said the tank is heavily planted, enough shrimp would likely survive to sustain a colony, though you may not see them very often.

[Odd Duck]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:29 AM, JettsPapa said:

With the possible exception of plecos, I don't know of any fish that size that won't eat shrimp.  Just about everything eats shrimp.  Now that I have that out of the way, since you said the tank is heavily planted, enough shrimp would likely survive to sustain a colony, though you may not see them very often.

Came here to say this.  Even primarily vegetarian fish will opportunistically eat shrimp.  I’ve had a Betta that wasn’t eating very many shrimp but after he passed, their population boomed.

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/25/2022 at 9:17 AM, Paul R said:

Hello all! I am looking for a fish (maybe 3-6 inches) to pretty much live solo with a bunch of RCS in a heavy planted 20 gallon tank. I would like something nice to look at, peaceful and won’t eat my plants and shrimps. I thought about a Betta, but I hear it can be 50/50 when it comes to the shrimp.  Do you you have any suggestions? 

I have a red tailed black shark. I would recommend something like that (depending whatever the other stocking is). Rainbow shark is a more community friendly option. Tons of personality and a very beautiful fish in my experience.  I don't know if a 20 is Enough space, however.

Option 2 would be a species tank, just get more of them. White clouds are the go to for me for something like that. 

[Odd Duck]

@nabokovfan87 Typical recommendation for tank size for red-tailed sharks is 30-55 gallons since they can get to 6” and sometimes a bit more.  Plus they are fast swimmers, so a 20 gallon, even a 20 long, really isn’t big enough. They are known to eat crustaceans so probably not good for keeping shrimp alive.

@Paul R It’s very hard to make recommendations for good sized fish that are compatible with shrimp.  I just can’t think of any that would really be considered safe.  Smaller fish, yes.  Ember tetras, Kubotai rasboras, chili rasboras or any of the other micro rasboras, hummingbird tetras, jelly bean tetras, etc.  All small mouthed fish that are much less likely to eat shrimp.  A school/shoal of smaller fish can have as much, or usually more, visual impact as a single larger fish.  

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/25/2022 at 10:41 PM, Odd Duck said:

Typical recommendation for tank size for red-tailed sharks is 30-55 gallons since they can get to 6” and sometimes a bit more.  Plus they are fast swimmers, so a 20 gallon, even a 20 long, really isn’t big enough. They are known to eat crustaceans so probably not good for keeping shrimp alive.

Yeah, agreed. I think the footprint of a 20L might be "enough" I believe it's the same as a 29G but slightly lower height. I can verify, they swim fast. Very fast. They also jump when scared so a tall tank is helpful to give them some free area to swim around. They love to go in and out of a lot of holes and investigate things, they enjoy caves and grazing all over surfaces. They hover a lot, they dart around when scared or spooked but if they are the tank boss they are extremely dosile and calm. The mouth is designed like a panda Garra/carp or something, they really prefer (especially rainbow sharks) to graze on algae and stuff. I have had mine with shrimp of various sizes and never had any issues in any setup. But yeah, absolutely. I would recommend minimum of a 40B.

The reason why I suggested it is simply because I believe the RTBS is a bit more difficult to get, rainbow sharks are a lot more common and I don't know specifically if they are allowed in smaller setups. For the RTBS, 40B specifically, 75G preferred. 55 is really too narrow.

Edited March 26, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Odd Duck]

On 3/26/2022 at 12:46 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Yeah, agreed. I think the footprint of a 20L might be "enough" I believe it's the same as a 29G but slightly lower height. I can verify, they swim fast. Very fast. They also jump when scared so a tall tank is helpful to give them some free area to swim around. They love to go in and out of a lot of holes and investigate things, they enjoy caves and grazing all over surfaces. They hover a lot, they dart around when scared or spooked but if they are the tank boss they are extremely dosile and calm. The mouth is designed like a panda Garra/carp or something, they really prefer (especially rainbow sharks) to graze on algae and stuff. I have had mine with shrimp of various sizes and never had any issues in any setup. But yeah, absolutely. I would recommend minimum of a 40B.

The reason why I suggested it is simply because I believe the RTBS is a bit more difficult to get, rainbow sharks are a lot more common and I don't know specifically if they are allowed in smaller setups. For the RTBS, 40B specifically, 75G preferred. 55 is really too narrow.

Yes, a 20 long is the same footprint as a 29 gallon.  Much too small for either red tail or rainbow sharks.  But that’s what OP has and I just can’t think of anything other than a Betta that would fit the size he wants, fit his tank size, and have any chance of not eating his shrimp, and at best it’s a 50:50 chance, or likely worse, at getting a Betta that doesn’t go on a shrimp killing rampage.

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/25/2022 at 10:59 PM, Odd Duck said:

But that’s what OP has and I just can’t think of anything other than a Betta that would fit the size he wants, fit his tank size, and have any chance of not eating his shrimp, and at best it’s a 50:50 chance, or likely worse, at getting a Betta that doesn’t go on a shrimp killing rampage.

I would push for a white cloud, interesting as heck nano tank. Ember tetra, small tetra, white clouds. And Corys.

I know it's not the "traditional" centerpiece fish but I have had a lot of fun with centerpiece fish(es) in my setups. Highly recommended.

A Bolivian ram maybe?

Look at these guys! So beautiful.

[Odd Duck]

On 3/26/2022 at 1:04 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would push for a white cloud, interesting as heck nano tank. Ember tetra, small tetra, white clouds. And Corys.

I know it's not the "traditional" centerpiece fish but I have had a lot of fun with centerpiece fish(es) in my setups. Highly recommended.

I’ve got a 100 gallon tank with all nanos once you get above the bottom feeders.  I need to bolster their numbers but my QT’s have been very busy lately.  😆 

[Guppysnail]

My longfin lemon blue eyed BN pleco look great with my shrimp. My shrimp reproduce fast so no noticeable consumption. They do not eat my plants and are water puppies. Very personable with me and do not hide. 

[gardenman]

Maybe, and this is a big maybe, you could get by with a surface dweller like an Anableps (kind of big for a twenty) or African Butterfly fish? Shrimp are more bottom dwellers and if you kept the surface-dwelling fish well fed you might be able to get away with it. Both fish are nice conversation pieces also. I'm not sure I'd trust either one, but if you absolutely have to have a single showpiece fish, one of those might be okay (ish.) Should a shrimp be foolish enough to venture up high, it would get eaten, but you might have a chance on some surviving with a surface dweller. 

[Cinnebuns]

I know you said larger, but I have to throw in my favorite.  Dwarf or honey gourami. I have a honey mostly because they are more peaceful but dwarfs so are beautiful!