Shrimp and Discus?

[Patr1ck]

In addition to KDodds thread on cherry shrimp I, not wanting to steal his thread, wanted to know everybodys outcome with keeping amano, ghost, cherry, etc. shrimp with discus. Are they just dinner?

Pat

[Eddie]

Come on Pat, you know me...Discus, own....leee


Eddie

[emjhay]

well...
for MY tank i have about 100+ green shrimps with 3 discus about 5" and 10 german rams and they are fine. the tank setup is planted so i think the shrimplets can hide in the mosses.

if you really care about the shrimps then i suggest dont do it .be aware that red/green/blue and yellow shrimps are really easy to breed so you can never run out of them.

[Chad Hughes]

Adult discus will eat cherry shrimp. Not too sure about juvies. Remember, we feed discus shrimp! LOL! What's better than frozen shrimp? FRESH! LOL!

[YSS]

I voted yes only because I want to put some shrimp in my tank. I heard Amanos will do the best due to their size. So, one of these days, I will try them out. Tried ghost shrimp, but about 100 of them became snack over night.

[KDodds]

Answer: depends. Some people try, have success, others, failure. Those that have initial success usually try again, even if failure follows a few times. Those that initially fail usually don't try again. Depends being qualified by the individuals kept (both fish and shrimp), how much is fed, what is fed, and how often feeding occurs, what else is in the tank (driftwood, rocks, plants, nothing), etc.

[nickmcmechan]

if the discus bred would the shrimp go for the eggs / larvae

[rickztahone]

i voted yes just because i've had 4 ghost shrimp with my discus for well over 6 months now and they have gotten really big. i only wish that my red cherry shrimp would get that size but they are still in a QT box in the tank because they do not put on significant amount of size on

[Patr1ck]

i voted yes just because i've had 4 ghost shrimp with my discus for well over 6 months now and they have gotten really big. i only wish that my red cherry shrimp would get that size but they are still in a QT box in the tank because they do not put on significant amount of size on

Perhaps the ghost and the cherrys can cross and some will be bigger and red. Im not sure if that can happen but Ive heard that it does.

Pat

[bs6749]

Ghost shrimp and red cherries will never cross. They are each in their own genus. Furthermore, ghost shrimp young have a larval stage where the babies are floating in the water column for about 3-4 days after they hatch. Red cherry shrimp are from the genus Neocaridina, and the young are born as miniature adults. Getting ghost shrimp and RCS to cross would be like crossing a live bearing guppy with an egg scattering tetra, it just won't happen.

It all depends on whether or not the fish can SEE the shrimp. I did a little experiement two days ago when I was moving my juvenile discus to my 55g tank and moving the shrimp I had in my 55g over to the 29g the discus came from. Once I had the discus established in the 55g tank and once they were comfortable, I placed a roughly 1/2" male RCS (nearly all transparent) into the tank when all of the discus were in their "feeding stance" up at the top of the tank. Upon hitting the water the shrimp slowly swam to the bottom and several of the discus weren't sure whether or not to go after it. Some of them tried for it but seemed like they missed it and couldn't see it.

Next, I put in a 1" bright red female into the tank. All of the discus immediately swam after her and she dodged once, then twice, and the third time she ended up in two separate mouths, each with half of her. She didn't last 5 seconds until they got her and about 10 seconds later after they were ripping her to shreds she was devoured.

My suggestion is that if you want shrimp in your tank you should go with Amanos or ghost shrimp since the fish can't seem to find them. The male I put into the tank is still in the tank. I also recommend having the shrimp in the tank BEFORE you put the discus in, that way you can have an extablished colony even if the discus do decide to snack on them. Amanos and ghost shrimp won't breed easily in a community tank. Amanos need saline water for the young and ghost shrimp tend to as well (there are several types of shrimp commonly called "ghost shrimp" and some don't requre salt water). So what I said about an established colony basically refers to shrimp from the Caridina genus(bee, bumblebee, crystal reds/blacks, tigers and their variations, greens, etc.) and the Neocaridina genus (Red cherries, yellows, snowballs, and blue pearls).

I also want to point out that size of the shrimp won't make any difference. We are talking about DISCUS here. Ever seen a group of discus tear apart a chuck of beef heart? Ever been bitten by a discus? I've been pecked quite a few times and though it doesn't hurt, it's more than enough of a force to crush a fully grown dwarf shrimp!

[Palue]

I have 4 Amano shrimp in with my discus. I have 5 discus and a bigger tank and so far they are just fine. They tend to hide alot in the plants etc. They are great at keeping all algae off your plants. Just pick out some bigger ones when you get them and they should be fine.

:angel:

[cyberhog05]

I had...30+ RCS. I hardly ever see them. Maybe a glimpse during the day and sometimes at night. Lots of plants and you will always have them