# Shrimp questions



## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Mrs Gibby wanted to have a shrimp tank with some fish. We've bought a 65L tank (originally going to be a nursery for Whiptail Catfish but can't seem to keep the little 'uns alive ) which we've stocked with:
1 Albino Cory
2 Gold Mountain Minnows
6 Copper Harlequins (cos the minnows looked lonely and I got a deal on some Salvinia Natans that was a pain because it grew so much that no LFS would take any more and this was the last local shop)
3 Ottos to remove the diatom infestation
1 Sidthimunki which has all but eliminated the snail infestation
6 RCS
1 CRS

Plants are:
Several Anubius Nana
Multiple Val
Some Riccia
Some Aponotogen (the mini palm one)
1 small Echinodorus bleheri

Tank was cycled with mature water from my 240L well before being stocked with fish. Water changes are RO with minerals on a 25-30% weekly change and an internal cannister filter. Water params are good and cycled 0 nitrates and hardly any nitrates with ph approx 6.4.

First question: why do CRS die so frequently? Weve brought about a dozen in total, ok I killed some by adding tap with Stress Coat and that was my own fault, but ours seem to have a high mortality rate.

Second question: the Val has started growing hair (algae) and I wonder if a SAE will be ok with the shrimp. I've a large 240L with 3 SAE's and they haven't bothered the RCS in there but don't want to risk a fully grown SAE with small shrimp. If not SAE what would be a good option? Maybe Amano's?

Third and most important question: what are the shrimp fry chances with the above combination of fish and should I remove some? As yet we don't have any shrimp fry but Mrs Gibby wants to breed them as each RCS/CRS is about £5/$8.5 from our LFS so having some local bred will help pay for some of the maintenance of the tanks 

Thanks in advance


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

there is a old saying, if it will fit, it will go.

unless your tank is very heavly planted, chances are very good that the baby shrimp will be eaten by the fish.


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

keeping CRS in a tank with fish isnt a very good idea. some babies will live but most will likely be eaten.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

each batch is about 20-30 eggs... some die some live + water change might kill some + some become fish food = very few or none


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

Gibby said:


> First question: why do CRS die so frequently? Weve brought about a dozen in total, ok I killed some by adding tap with Stress Coat and that was my own fault, but ours seem to have a high mortality rate.


CRS are not easy to keep at all. It could be alot of things, you got the PH right. Temp.? What ever you do it does not sound so good for CRS and it is not a "shrimp tank". One fish you can keep, try Green neon, they really don't eat baby shrimps.

And the hair algae, try to stop the feeding and do more frequent water change than weekly to see if that works for 2 weeks to gain control on them. If that works than keep doing it untill they are gone. Trim off the worst one if you want it is faster that way unless it is every were.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I've removed all the fish apart from the Sidthimunki, difficult to catch and finishing off the last of the snails, and the Ottos, they're keeping the diatoms down nicely.

I've managed to get rid of the hair algae by removing the plants that had it to the big tank where the SAE's demolished it.

I've bought some more CRS and drip acclimatised them and they are all ok so I must have introduced the others too quickly. I'm keeping an eye on the shrimp to look for any berries and will remove the remaining fish as soon as I see any.


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## AquaX (Aug 14, 2006)

You need not bother removing the Otocinclus. They are among the very few fish that are shrimp friendly.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

snails are okay too.


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## adimeatatime (Jul 31, 2007)

Is this a new tank set up? If so CRS can be very sensitive to water conditions that you can't measure with test kits. It's my experience that CRS do better in a tank that has been set up for a few months. Most people I know who keep CRS keep them at temps between 73-75F. It is also really easy to over feed a shrimp tank and the rotting food causes water quality problems. These are just a few things I thought of when I read your post this morning. I hope your remaining CRS do well for you and that you have lots of babies in your tank.



> First question: why do CRS die so frequently? Weve brought about a dozen in total, ok I killed some by adding tap with Stress Coat and that was my own fault, but ours seem to have a high mortality rate.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

adimeatatime said:


> Is this a new tank set up? If so CRS can be very sensitive to water conditions that you can't measure with test kits. It's my experience that CRS do better in a tank that has been set up for a few months. Most people I know who keep CRS keep them at temps between 73-75F. It is also really easy to over feed a shrimp tank and the rotting food causes water quality problems. These are just a few things I thought of when I read your post this morning. I hope your remaining CRS do well for you and that you have lots of babies in your tank.


The tank was relatively new and I was using plain old tap with conditioner. I spoke to my LFS too and they informed me that there are heavy metals in our water that would harm the shrimp. Now all water changes are RO and the new batch I added a couple of weeks ago are all doing fine.

Nice to know about the Oto's as they'll help keep any algae down, meaning less scraping


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## catfishbi (Sep 4, 2008)

I have Oto with some CRS they are good


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## t1824003 (Jul 30, 2009)

Last time I didn't know that my neon going to eat the baby that my CRS was producing. So fish do eat them, just like my neon ate my baby CRS. Which worth $3 each, which I don't like.


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## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

awwww well atleast you found your problem keeping them alive minus the fish eating them


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## t1824003 (Jul 30, 2009)

That why I have two 75 tanks for my crystal red shrimp and the other one is for plant and neon.


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

Wow, 75s for CRS, that must be nice to look at.

Yep, I keep otocinculus with my shrimp along with MTS snails. You can't really have many fish and expect to breed and keep shrimp. There are very few fish that won't seek out the tiny babies for a snack.

Of course, if you have lots of moss you have a better chance of keeping shrimp with fish as most of the babies will hide in it until they get bigger.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

I hear white clouds are an ok choice in shrimp tanks. Their mouths evolved to get snacks off the surface of the water I think.


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