Should I get shrimp and/or snails for my 10 gallon community?

[maxwellag]

I have a 10 gallon tank with 2 plants and 5 guppies, a sunburst mickey mouse platy, and a peppered Cory catfish. I also have one black mystery snail. I have had a problem with unearth food and stuff on the bottom ever since my dwarf gourami died . I think if I get some nerite snails and/or ( recommend which option) ghost shrimp for my tank. I am curious whether the shrimp would harass the guppies... Petsmart's website says that when adult thy can harass other fish.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Just some thought before you overload the tank or add troubles:

Shrimp- it depends on what kind. Some won't bother fish at all, or only the babies/sick

Snail- some do a fair job of clean-up.

Cories can do a pretty fair job of helping clean-up, but they really do best in a shoal of several of them, which you don't really have the room for.

Also- am I reading clearly that you have a problem w/uneaten food on the bottom? If so feed less food. The general rule of thumb is only give as much as the fish will consume in a couple of minutes. Under-fed fish are a lot less common than over-fed.

 

[Clownfish767]

There not all aggressive, but they can be around breeding time. Try an Amano shrimp. I have heard Great reviews about them.

 

[maxwellag]

The only problem is that my lfs doesn't have Amano shrimp. It only has ghost. And yes, I know that the Cory is supposed to be kept in a shoal. My brother decided to get that fish. Not me. When the Cory eats it swims fast over the food, sucks it into his mouth, and then the food comes out of its gills.

 

[MABJ]

Don't have more shrimp than fish. Otherwise they get brave and try to work together on killing fish. Lol

 

[maxwellag]

I know.

 

[Clownfish767]

You could try doing 1 or 2 ghost shrimp then.. I'ts really a case by case thing.

 

[maxwellag]

Ok I'll try it

 

[Clownfish767]

Good luck man. By the way you can order Amano shrimp online for 4.99. Heres the link. Freshwater Aquarium Shrimp for Tropical Aquariums: Japonica Amano Shrimp

 

[momo]

Depending on the size of your snail. Ghost shrimp will harrass\eat it. Watch out!

 

[wabbitbugs]

Try and get cherry shrimp if you can. Amazing creatures

 

[jetajockey]

I wouldn't get another animal to clean up uneaten food, it just means you are feeding too much. Guppies, platys, and definitely cories all will pick food off the bottom, just cut back on feeding and it will help.

 

[siva]

It sounds like adding to your tank would only exasperate your problem. Debris at the bottom of the tank is a maintenance issue. Make sure you are doing a partial water change and vacuuming your gravel every week. If this is done properly, you should have no issues.

A nerite snail is a great algae eater, but it will not eat uneaten crud at the bottom of the tank. Shrimp will, but you'd probably have to add 500 of them to see a real difference if you have a noticeable amount of crud at the bottom.

Also cory cats are shoalers and need to be in groups of 4-6 minimum. Your breed gets too large for a 10 gal tank and being kept solo, is not happy. You may want to consider choosing a different bottom dweller more suitable for a 10 gal tank such as kuhli loaches. They stay small enough, and a 10 gal can accommodate their minimum group size which is 5.

 

[Coleallensmom]

I wouldn't get another animal to clean up uneaten food, it just means you are feeding too much. Guppies, platys, and definitely cories all will pick food off the bottom, just cut back on feeding and it will help.

I agree..cutting back on feeding should be your first step towards a cleaner tank, not adding more fish. A 10 gal is a very small tank.

Idk what type of species of shrimp everyone is talking about in this thread but I've *never* heard of nor have seen ghost shrimp attack and eat a live healthy fish. That's not to say that there are not different kinds of shrimps being sold as Ghosts that might feed off of fish, but IME the only bits of agressiveness shown by ghosts are towards other shrimp and only when feeding. Ghost Shrimp usually stay away from a live fish, unless it is dead or nearly so.

 

[siva]

I completely agree. There is another breed of shrimp that looks like ghost shrimp that is occasionally sold as ghost shrimp. People have ended up with dead fish this way. So yes, it is possible. True ghost/glass shrimp will not kill fish.

 

[momo]

I completely agree. There is another breed of shrimp that looks like ghost shrimp that is occasionally sold as ghost shrimp. People have ended up with dead fish this way. So yes, it is possible. True ghost/glass shrimp will not kill fish.

But thwy do eat snails.

 

[siva]

I haven't seen it in my tanks but it would make sense that a large ghost shrimp would pick up a small snail.

 

[jetajockey]

I've kept red claw macro shrimp, which look a lot like ghost shrimp (with long claws) and they terrorized my cherry shrimp and snails any snails they came across.

 

[siva]

Those might be what I'm thinking of. I'm so tired today I can't remember.

 

[alLexX]

they do eat snails.ive currently got five in my 10 gallon tank and at least 3 are real ghost shrimp,and they eat snails.they other 2 may be red claw macro shrimp,for sure 2 have the red above there claws.