Shrimp and Discus?

[Las Vegas]

I've seen some blue and red colored shrimp at the LFS. On occasion people talk about the colored shrimp and how helpful the shrimps are about keeping the tanks clean. But can these crustations be kept happly and healthy in a Discus tank? Wouldn't the water for a Discus tank be too hot for shrimp? What about disease? If somebody has experience with this combination please let me know?

[Phillydubs]

There used to be a guy who would post on here selling all types of shrimp and stuff like that. He had types that he said would be fine in a discus tank..

I always liked the idea but can't see QTing shrimp for months to make sure they are safe to add. I don't want them that bad ...

[dprais1]

I bought some red cherry shrimp for 1 or 2.00 a piece to add to a tank of discus about 3-4". Got about 20 of them and they were the most expensive fish food I ever purchased.

Most shrimp do better in cooler temps but red cherry shrimp can usually survive at 82. Getting your discus to not eat them is pretty much impossible, IME.

Amano shrimp get bigger and may be an option but I have never kept those.

[Stefanusgo]

Smaller shrimp will become food, but I have a few Amano and African Vampires that does quite well with discus. My tanks are set at 85.

[CrazyAngels]

I have a shrimp only tank for the reasons noted, if you like them that much you can set up a 10 gallon tank with a sponge filter and be just fine. indeed they prefer the cooler temps and even red cherries will do better and last longer in the cooler temps (my fishroom goes from 70 deg in winter to 80 in the summer, so I do not have a heater in the tank, just lots of wood and plants). you need to know that the blues and reds all come from the same family of Neos so they will interbreed if mixed so usually better to keep same color tank. once a colony gets going, you'll have plenty and you can use some to feed your discus.

[jdhuyvetter]

I bought 100 cherry shrimp off of ebay. Not the super colored ones, just the normal color. Great discus food. Hardly ever see them in the tank, but they are breeding in the sump.

[Las Vegas]

Thanks a lot for the info all. I do like the shrimps but I wouldn't risk the health of my Discus over the shrimps. I think the shrimp need cooler waters. I have only two tanks and my large tank(75 gal) is still not set up. Oh well skip the shrimp, stay with loaches I guess for the cleanup crew.

[rickztahone]

I have a shrimp only tank for the reasons noted, if you like them that much you can set up a 10 gallon tank with a sponge filter and be just fine. indeed they prefer the cooler temps and even red cherries will do better and last longer in the cooler temps (my fishroom goes from 70 deg in winter to 80 in the summer, so I do not have a heater in the tank, just lots of wood and plants). you need to know that the blues and reds all come from the same family of Neos so they will interbreed if mixed so usually better to keep same color tank. once a colony gets going, you'll have plenty and you can use some to feed your discus.

Spot on advice here. I used to have 2 tanks of shrimp, one of RCS and the other CRS. The RCS breed so quickly that they can seriously become a source of food for discus if you so pleased. The discus will chase and prey on them for sure. Neos, as Jorge mentioned will breed w/ yellow, blue, any color really, lol, they don't care. However, the do not become very large.

I have had ghost shrimp in the past and they did very well with discus because they were simply too large for discus to put in their mouths. However, they weren't very good cleaners IME

[Las Vegas]

Yea! I keep reading all this, "Discus will eat them..." but the shrimp are about 2 -3" so, What size Discus do you all have?"

[Stefanusgo]

If your shrimp are 2-3", the discus won't get them.

[rickztahone]

Yea! I keep reading all this, "Discus will eat them..." but the shrimp are about 2 -3" so, What size Discus do you all have?"

a 3" shrimp should be fine. You can have 7" discus that could tear up even a 2" shrimp lol.

[woopaul5]

I had amano's with my domestics. Amazing at cleaning and the small ones will hide till they get big. You'll think they got eaten then a year later find them hiding in rocks/driftwood/plants (if you have them).

[Las Vegas]

Well I just thought the shrimp looked cool. I don't want to breed the shrimp. So people your telling me even if a shrimp could survive in a discus tank (hot tropic waters mind you) at 2" the Discus would still eat them? I'm assuming most of you are actually meaning to say that the Discus will "pick at it" enough that the shrimp will die. An adult sized Discus does not have a mouth size near large enough to eat a 2" object. Eating the baby shrimp, I can understand that....

[woopaul5]

Amano's should be fine. Their shrimplets can't survive freshwater also.

[Rapture]

My tank with cherry shrimp are more like 1" or a little bigger so it depends on what kind of shrimp you're wanting. Mature females can be larger but they are still slender enough to fit in the mouth of a discus. Amano shrimp get bigger but do not come in all of those different colors. If you have a lot of plants and moss, and small crevices, etc, the shrimp can hide more easily and possibly continue to reproduce so that they don't all get eaten by the discus, but you may not see them very often. I've thought of putting some of my shrimp in the discus tank for population control, but it wouldn't really be worth the risk since my tank with shrimp has plants and livestock from many sources.