# Shrimp suitable for a planted community tank?



## Robbie X (21 Sep 2021)

Hello all.
What shrimp would suitable in a planted community tank?
I’m not keen on amano shrimp, Its purely down to they’re size and look, not they’re undoubted ability as a cleaner.
I really like the look of the red shrimps and the black and white types.
Would any of these be suitable?
Aquascaper 900 tank (186L)
I intend to only keep nano size fish.
Tank mates will be:
Neon Tetra
Chilli Rasbora
Ottos
Panda Corys
Kuhli Loach
Whip-tail catfish
Nerite Snails
Still undecided on a centrepiece fish but D. dario, Dwarf gourami or Apisto panduro are on my short list at this time.
The tank will be heavily planted so I’m hoping the shrimp will breed and the shrimp fry will provide a secondary food source for the other tank inhabitants.
Shrimp recommendations most welcome 🙏
Cheers


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## Garuf (21 Sep 2021)

Aspistogamma, even the tiny ones, are a gamble with shrimps… same for all the centrepiece fish you picked. 
I’ve kept aspistogamma borelli in the past and one trio left the cherry shrimps alone save for one or two babies and another trio where even inch long amanos weren’t safe.


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## Robbie X (22 Sep 2021)

Garuf said:


> Aspistogamma, even the tiny ones, are a gamble with shrimps… same for all the centrepiece fish you picked.
> I’ve kept aspistogamma borelli in the past and one trio left the cherry shrimps alone save for one or two babies and another trio where even inch long amanos weren’t safe.


Many thanks.
I was worried this would be the case with Apistos. Is it also the case with D. dario? With fully grown shrimp I mean?
Cheers


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## erwin123 (22 Sep 2021)

I have a 10 litre shrimp breeding tank right next to my work from home desk. I transfer bigger cherry shrimp into my main tank where they have a much better chance of surviving compared to the smaller ones.  I find that a lot of the babies like to hang out on the aquarium sides feeding on the biofilm. If they did that in a community tank they would be easy pickings for the fish.

As a bonus, I get to look at the cherry shrimp all the time since its next to my desk.  as its low light low tech, I can leave the (dim) lights on for extended periods without massive algae problems


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## Ian61 (22 Sep 2021)

Hello. I have a fairly heavily planted, lightly stocked (Otos, panda corys,cardinals )community tank with a pair of largish rams. A breeding colony of cherry shrimp has managed to establish itself.


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## shangman (22 Sep 2021)

I have cheap cull cherries in my 180L with a pair of apistos. They are breeding, they live in the top of the tank amongst the moss - often I can lift up a flap of moss and find several cherries underneath. They only come out properly at night in the pitch black when the apistos have gone to sleep. The Apistos enjoy spending part of their day hunting in the moss for them. I had posh shrimp in there before but they got decimated, big adult cherries gone in two gulps. Babies are even more of an easy target - I kept sparkling gouramis before with crystal shrimp and they didn't touch the adults but ate all the babies - in this case the babies can't really hide at all because they are already stark black/red & white, cherry shrimp babies can hide a bit easier. Pretty much all the intelligent funny predator fish simply find shrimp delicious. 

So I would suggest having lots of moss in your tank, get a good amount of cheap cherries, and ideally wait a few months before you get the predators so the shrimp can establish a colony (and ideally with juvenile hunting fish), or keep shrimp alone in their own nano tank, they are lovely by themselves and much more confident. Or do what I do and do both!


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## tam (22 Sep 2021)

Dario dario (scarlet badis) are fine with cherries, they'll take babies but the adults are much too big. They are a nice fish but, they are tiny - about the same length as a cherry shrimp.


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## Robbie X (23 Sep 2021)

Thanks everybody for the feedback.
I will give adult cherry shrimp a try.
I will add them about a month before stocking fish and hope they will breed.


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