What fish would you use as population control for a shrimp & livebearer tank that won't crash the colony?

[Tory]

Currently have a heavily planted 20 gallon with neo shrimp and I have endlers coming in the mail tomorrow! Obviously this question is for down the line as I don't have a full colony yet. But if all goes well, I assume I'll eventually have more endlers and shrimp than I'll know what to do with. Is there a species that would work well to do some population control without eating everyone? Maybe a centerpiece fish? Something that wouldn't eat the adults but might eat some fry. I'm also open to non-fish aquatic species like frogs. Interested to hear what y'all would put in this tank so I can have some options down the road. Thanks!

[CT_]

An angel fish probably would.  Buddy of mine has one for guppy population control

[Tory]

Just now, CT_ said:

An angel fish probably would.  Buddy of mine has one for guppy population control

Angel fish scare me lmao I'm not sure why, I think because a friend of mine when I was a kid had some and they were mean to each other 😂 thanks for the response though!!

[MAC]

I have a gardneri killifish to check the population in my platy tank. It seems to do a decent job and would make a nice centerpiece. Not sure if one would eat all the shrimp though.  Or maybe one of the smaller gourami species?

[Mansoboy]

+1 on small gouramis

I have Honey Gouramis and Sparkling Gouramis and they seem to do a good job with endlers frys in a 44g. Specially sparklings, they are micropredators. Both of then are beautiful fish and have social/inquisitive character.

[Tory]

31 minutes ago, Mansoboy said:

+1 on small gouramis

I have Honey Gouramis and Sparkling Gouramis and they seem to do a good job with endlers frys in a 44g. Specially sparklings, they are micropredators. Both of then are beautiful fish and have social/inquisitive character.

Gouramis are definitely on my wishlist already, I think they're gorgeous fish. Do you think a small Gourami would eat adult shrimp though? Or are they too small/peaceful?

[Mansoboy]

I don't think they'll eat adult ones, definetly yes small ones.. Mines let alone +1-1,5cm shrimp and 2 weeks old endler frys, but definetly will try to eat smaller than that. Specially sparklings, they are quite patient until have they prey in a corner and then.. In a precissely dash movement, done. They have a small mouth anyway. 

[Brandy]

1 hour ago, Tory said:

Gouramis are definitely on my wishlist already, I think they're gorgeous fish. Do you think a small Gourami would eat adult shrimp though? Or are they too small/peaceful?

I wouldn't call them peaceful, haha! More thwarted...Sparkling gourami's are on my wish list too.

I think you should absolutely exploit the size differential here--set up a pile of rocks that has tiny little crevices that shrimps of any age can get into, and fry can get into, and once in a while stick a catappa leaf inside. The size of the pile dictates how many hiding places you will have, so if you have too many survivors take out a few rocks. 

[JettsPapa]

I wouldn't worry about controlling the shrimp population.  A small tank can hold a surprisingly large number of them.  Their bio-load is negligible.

[Tory]

31 minutes ago, JettsPapa said:

I wouldn't worry about controlling the shrimp population.  A small tank can hold a surprisingly large number of them.  Their bio-load is negligible.

yeah I'm more worried about the endlers / if I have an explosion of both lol

[Tory]

1 hour ago, Brandy said:

I wouldn't call them peaceful, haha! More thwarted...Sparkling gourami's are on my wish list too.

I think you should absolutely exploit the size differential here--set up a pile of rocks that has tiny little crevices that shrimps of any age can get into, and fry can get into, and once in a while stick a catappa leaf inside. The size of the pile dictates how many hiding places you will have, so if you have too many survivors take out a few rocks. 

That's a good idea about the rocks!! I do have a rock pile in there now but changing the amount according to what's going on in the tank is a great idea. I'll definitely start doing some more research on gouramis!