Shrimps eaten by fish

[Jamie McGrath]

ki recently purchased four cherry shrimps and two Amanos. they lasted about 5 minutes in my community tank. the most aggressive fish were my cherry barbs and mollies. I would like to have shrimp in my tank for cleaning and because they look nice. What Can I do too stop any more shrimps getting eaten alive , it was not nice to witness. I wont be getting any more until I can find a solution.

 

[Adam humphries]

I put lots of hiding places in mine but still lost lots and what was left never left there hide outs my mollies thought it was Xmas ...

 

[EnderUK]

I wouldn't think a cherry barb could eat a full sized Amano but I could be wrong. I put about 10 cherries into my main tank and my rainbows finished most of them off pretty quickly. 3 brave guys hang pretty close to my large root and none of the fish bother them if they stay close to that root, if they start swimming around they get chased by the rainbows.

As adam says a lot of cover and maybe introduce them after a very large feed so they have a chance to hide away. You might want to setup a small 20L breeding tank for the cherries and then just introduce them when you have a lot of them.

 

[Trevor Pleco]

Amanos are the hardiest and largest of the shrimp we keep, so if they did not survive long no shrimp will imo, small peaceful fish are the order of the day when it comes to keeping shrimp, most barbs are out....

Providing lots of cover and hiding places will help, but then why keep shrimp as you will hardly see them...

 

[tam]

How big were the amanos? If they were babies you might find growing them on and not adding them until they are big would work. I'd give up on the cherries though.

 

[X3NiTH]

If your fish are used to you introducing things to the tank for them to eat then they will treat the shrimp the same way, that's what my shoal does. I plan on introducing a large amount of cherries bred out in another tank into my planted tank but I'm going to do it via an opaque piece of piping placed through the water column to the substrate level in amongst the plants to give the shrimps a better chance, I did this before using a clear tube (shrimp feeding tube) and the fish followed them all the way down the pipe to its exit where carnage ensued. They ignored the same sized individuals that already occupy the tank and went for the offering instead. Better they don't know about it!

 

[Martin in Holland]

If you would be able to place shrimp in first and after a week or so introduce fish, they would stand a chance, but now your fish got a taste for shrimp they won't forget it easy.....
My Cardinals all of a sudden started to take my shrimps apart one by one, I was lucky to be able to safe most of them but I won't place new shrimp in my tank anymore.

 

[Lindy]

I wouldn't think a cherry barb could eat a full sized Amano but I could be wrong.

Just because a fish can't physically fit a shrimp in it's mouth doesn't mean it won't 'peck' the shrimp to death.

 

[X3NiTH]

Pecking, yeah I've seen that and it's usually fatal if the shrimp has just moulted. I managed to introduce a berried female into my tank about 3 months ago and the surviving young are now berried. I see fry from time to time but they hide a lot, not surprising as the purple emperors like to give chase even into the undergrowth if they spot them. I would second EnderUK's suggestion of a shrimp breeding tank to get a colony going.

 

[Dane]

ki recently purchased four cherry shrimps and two Amanos. they lasted about 5 minutes in my community tank. the most aggressive fish were my cherry barbs and mollies. I would like to have shrimp in my tank for cleaning and because they look nice. What Can I do too stop any more shrimps getting eaten alive , it was not nice to witness. I wont be getting any more until I can find a solution.

Rehome the fish

 

[sciencefiction]

With any barbs I'd be weary introducing new fish and not just helpless shrimp. They can be nasty fish. I just wouldn't put shrimp in such a tank.

 

[EnderUK]

My five banded barbs are harmless it's my rainbows that are the monsters. I introduced some more shrimp into my main tank via X3NiTH's method using a new piece of kitchen waste pipe. While the rainbows and and pearls were attacking the top of the tube the shrimp slipped into the bottom. Only one decided to be adventurous and swim to the surface which didn't end well for him . Couple of weeks later and one of the females is burried, don't know how well the pups will fair but there is a lot of cover so who knows.

 

[sciencefiction]

There is the possibility that any fish would attack anything small enough that enters the tank thinking its food. I once added forktail rainbow fry and the first reaction of my platies was hunt them down But the rainbows were too fast for the platies and survived and grew. Maybe getting lots of tiny hiding places for shrimp like little ceramic tubes, lots of moss, and turning off the lights completely when you add them may help some survive.
When I first got cherry shrimp I bought 3 females and I thought they got eaten immediately because I never saw them again in months, until one day when the lights were off I saw one exploring the tank, running pretty fast from place to place. I finally found out they hid in the coconut caves where the platies didn't go because the entry was too small. It wasn't until I moved them out to a shimp only tank that they started exploring around in daylight.

 

[Bhu]

Get a small 5-10 gallon tank just for shrimp. When they get over populated add them to the larger aquarium give them lots of moss and hiding places for a fair chance they might not successfully breed in the community tank but should survive. I have some in with a discus set up and many survive.