question about snails/shrimp

[andreahp]

I am very interested in getting other inhabitants besides fish for my tank. I have been advised to wait until my tank has been running for 6 mos (I'm going on 3 now) so it's more "established". The problem is I hear that snails can overrun a tank or get eaten by fish and it's hard to tell when they die. The issue with shrimp is I'm afraid they will get eaten - I currently have 3 black skirt tetras, 6 neons, 1 white cloud, 2 zebra danios & 2 corys. What are other people's experience - I know cherry shrimp are popular.

 

[mudraker]

Some fish just won't leave cherry shrimp alone. I have a tank where the neons and a betta coexist with them, another where I can't keep one for more than a day or two before they get eaten.

Try amano shrimp. They are larger, hardier and eat more algae.

It depends on the type of snail you get whether or not it will overrun the tank.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I honestly don't see a problem with shrimp with the stock that you have. If you added any bigger fish, you could potentially run in to some. I think if you provide plenty of plants for the shrimp to hide in, you'll be just fine.

Snails aren't a problem, people just make them a problem. Even with pest snails like pond snails, they only become a problem if you give them plenty of food. If you're not overfeeding, they won't reproduce like crazy. Some snails can be very beneficial to your tank. Nerites are great for eating algae. Trumpets (mts) are great at keeping your substrate loose. Apple/mystery snails are just fun to watch.

 

[fort384]

If you are worried about your fish's behavior, you could start with a few ghost shrimp and observe. They are often used as feeders and won't set you back like the more attractive varieties of FW Shrimp. They go for as little as 10-25 cents each.

I have kept RCS, Amano, ghost, blackberry, and bumblebee shrimp (most at separate times) in a tank with lots of fish (many of which are on your fish list, and some larger than your fish). I never had any issues. However, the tank was heavily planted, and as Mfd suggested, that can be a factor.

As far as waiting 6 months, I don't think it is necessary. The important thing is your tank is cycled. Adding even a dozen FW shrimp will not have much of an effect on your bioload. Most FW shrimp are reasonably hardy (so long as you avoid a few no nos, like copper additives, massive pH and temp swings, etc). There are only a couple of what I would call extremely sensitive species, which you would want to avoid anyway as a first experience with FW Shrimp.

 

[tyspot1000]

The snails population can be controlled. Their population is controlled on how much you feed the tank (Overfeeding = over breeding). MTS and pond snails should be able to live in a aquarium without overrunning the tank.

If you are looking for a single snail, look into Apple snails or nerite snails. Great algae eaters.

Like said, you could start off with ghost shrimp, Fairly hardy and fairly cheap. If your fish do alright with them, you could try taking a step up and trying RCS or amano (which I recommend).

 

[andreahp]

If I get a few ghost shrimp, do I need to feed them anything special or will they act like my corys and just eat leftover food? I try very hard to not overfeed my fish - anything leftover after 3 minutes or so I try to scoop out with my net and I've read that with mystery snails they can't multiply by themselves.

 

[tyspot1000]

I feed my 6 shrimp 2 pellets each day and they are doing great, but yes, they will eat the leftovers, sometimes even poop.

 

[BigJim]

The black skirts may take down small RCS. I'm pretty sure I lose shrimplets to my guppies. Even so, in a heavily planted tank, a colony of RCS can thrive. My 20 turned into 200 in about a year.