# rcs and ghost shrimp



## gr8nguyen1 (May 18, 2009)

i have a 20g tank with rcs and ghost shrimp. the females of both species have eggs under their tails... a few days ago, the ghost shrimp released her fry. i see them occasionally floating in the water. my question is "are the fry safe in the tank with the adult rcs and ghost shrimp?" do any of these shrimps eat their fry or each others frys? how compatible are the two species? should i move any of the males or adults into the community tank. the community tank has a bunch or cories, 2 dwarf loaches, 13 galaxy rasboras, 3 siamese algae eaters and some snails. any chance these guys will eat the shrimps if i put them in there?


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## l00t (May 14, 2009)

Ghosts have the tendency to eat their own fry... unless if you have some cover for them, like a java moss patch, they will be eaten.

As for the fish almost all of your fish might enjoy a shrimp snack, specially the little shrimp.

as a rule of the thumb the only fish that never eats shrimp are the ottos, you might find that SAEs don't eat shrimp. but all others will enjoy a shrimp cocktail.
Another rule of the thumb is... if a shrimp is small enough to fit in the fish mouth, well, they will make their way into the belly.

If you are looking to breed more than just a few shrimp out of each batch, you might be better off having them on their own tank.

I don't think I mentioned but, ghosts will also eat the RCS fry and any other slow shrimp around.


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## gr8nguyen1 (May 18, 2009)

i have that 20g npt just for the shrimps. some of the females that have already released the fry, i move back to the community tank. but the ones still carrying eggs i leave in the shrimp tank. so what you're saying is that the pregnant female will eat the newly released fry? so what can i do about that. i mean i have to leave the female in there until she releases all the fry right? sucks to hear about ghost shrimp eating rcs.


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## l00t (May 14, 2009)

Ghosts will not just attack the RCS unless if they are a bit hungry, and they will pray on the smaller, specially on the fry.

I don't know if you keep track of when they berry, it is kind of hard when you have lots of them, but count 25 days from when they "drop the eggs on to the legs" than transfer them into the breeder and from there it should take from 1 to 7 days till the fry hatch.
Once hatched remove the female.

but you know like I said if they have plenty of hidding places ( it seems to me that java moss is the best since it is harder for the adults to get in the mass) the majority will survive even if you don't transfer the females.

Now the other factor is, the less you like the shrimp and the less you want them to thrive the more they will LOL

I have a 40g that is infested with mixed cherries and I have 5 guppys and 5 crayfishes and 2 crabs, with no plants or hidding ornaments and the cherries seem to double in numbers every month ... I even tried killing some and feeding them to all creatures to see if they would get a taste of it and start eating more shrimp, but all they do is wait for me to do the hunting for them.
They like more to nibble on the plants trimmings that I add now and then, than hunting fast shrimp.

On the other hand... on my breeder tank with shrimp only and tons of plants... I think I have less shrimp everyday 

So I mean, you can give it a try and see if your numbers increase or decline (trial and error).

But I was very unsuccessful trying and breeding ghosts due to their appetite for fry shrimp, and so were many more other people.

The less predators you have the bigger of chances will be for a thriving breeding colony


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## gr8nguyen1 (May 18, 2009)

100t,
thanks for your advice. i guess i better go get some java moss. right now the tank is fairly planted with a moss ball, but no java moss


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## l00t (May 14, 2009)

Well anything that grows that think that way will work...
I just like to recommend the java moss since it worked very well for me thru the years


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## DannyJohnson2013 (Jul 20, 2009)

How many rcs should i get for a 29 gallon?


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## DrEd (May 5, 2009)

10 is more than enough to start with. You'll get more than 100 in 6 months.


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