# Cherry shrimp-how to prepare for them?



## seaecho

HELP! I got carried away tonight and bid on some cherry shrimp on ebay. I've been wanting some, but wasn't planning on it this soon. Auction will be over tomorrow about this time, seller is in S. Calif., like me, so they may be here as soon as the middle of next week. 

I have lots of questions. Seller will be sending some starts of Guppy Grass and Amazon Frogbit with the shrimp, but will that be enough for them until I get some Anubias nana and Java Fern? My local pet shops don't have it so I'll have to order it online.

I'm getting ahead of myself here. I have a nearly cycled 10 gallon tank that has a male betta, 2 albino corys, a mystery snail and a ghost shrimp. The betta never bothers the ghost shrimp and he's very mellow, so I'm hoping he won't go after the cherries. I just want to be sure they will have enough protection from the small amount of plants they are coming with. I have some Anacharis and a golf ball size Marimo moss ball already, but I don't see how they can really hide in those. I do have a larger silk plant with 1/2 inch leaves (lots of them) so that might help. I'm still looking for an online seller who can get the anubias nana and Java Fern here *quick.* I am planning on putting a small diameter PVC pipe in the tank so they can also hide in there without the betta being able to fit in and get them, or get stuck. The tank is kept at between 25-26C.

I have a HOB Penquin Bio-Wheel filter that I know I'll have to put something over the intake so the cherries don't get sucked in (especially if there are any berried ones that "pop" soon). What can I use? I know I need to wrap something around the intake and rubber band it on, but what do I use, and where do I buy it? 

I'm kind of freaking out because I don't want the cherries to be stressed once they get here. I want to have things ready for them so I don't have to keep moving things around and rearranging while they are trying to settle in. I also want black substrate, and I know I have to do that before they arrive. There is no way I'd attempt that with them in the tank. I could so easily kill them and not even know it. 

Also, where is a good place online to buy the weights I need to keep the anubias and Java Fern submerged? I don't have any driftwood to attach them to. Ideally, I can get the plants and weights from the same seller.

Please just give me some pointers on what I can do to make my new shrimp as comfortable and safe as possible. I feel like I bid prematurely, and I'm mad at myself for doing it. Thanks!


----------



## jbrown5217

I would set up a different tank to be honest. I just don't trust bettas with other fish as tank mates because most have an aggressive nature.

Shrimp love all kinds of moss and you would be surprised that they can hide pretty damn well in it. I have 5 ghost shrimp in a 2.5 gallon and I see 2 if I look hard. I would get a small 5 gallon tank with a sponge filter and heater and put them in that, they have a super low bio-load.

Honestly that betta just really worries me.


----------



## Alasse

I have cherry shrimp in with my betta. Every now and then he might grab an adult, but soon lets it go as its just too big for him to eat. The cherries are breeding in there.


----------



## Mr_Pat

biggest thing is to make sure you have somewhere for shrimp to hide .. small piles of rocks and such where they can slip in if betta does decide to come after them


----------



## Marci99205

Fluval has a sponge that goes over the intake. 
PetSmart - Fluval Edge Pre-Filter Sponge customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings 
Also I bought a T PVC pipe and glued Moss to it that way they can slip out the back if someone is chasing them.


----------



## seaecho

Marci, I have a Petsmart nearby, so will get the Fluval sponge. Thank you! And the T PVC pipe is ingenious! I think my husband probably has one, and I will put that in the tank too. Should it be free floating? When I say my betta is mild, I mean seriously mild. I have never seen him so much as try to nip my ghost shrimp, and even if you put a mirror up, he will only flare mildly and briefly. I know that doesn't mean he won't eat the cherry shrimp fry, but he even has trouble eating the betta pellets at times, and I have to crumble them, so I'm hoping for the best. I'd love to set up another tank, and have been trying to figure out a way, but there is literally no room for it! (I also grow MANY exotic tropic al houseplants, and they completely occupy just about every open space available. Just got done riding my horse. Think maybe I need fewer hobbies, lol!


----------



## Marci99205

The PVC will sink. It's funny the different personalities of Bettas, mine is in a 5.5 by him self with a few hitch hiking snails, he is very territorial and is always begging for food.


----------



## Alasse

The PVC here does not sink, it floats.

I use Noodle Filter Media for my shrimp to hide in, and they have areas of rocks and java ferm they can hide in if needed.


----------



## Marci99205

I would think PVC is made from the same material, but heck I'm not real sure, I went to the plumbing department at Lowe's found the white pipes and looked for something that would work. I also have a small flower pot on it's side... I never see shrimp in there, just fish.


----------



## Alasse

PVC is Polyvinyl Chloride = a plastic and it floats

The noodles are made of a ceramic, and they sink


----------



## Alasse

They are selling PVC lol, used for plumbing applications. And the ones i bought floated.


----------



## williemcd

Lava rock, sold for gas grills and landscape rock would be perfect anchors for your plants. I use black thread to tie them down. By the time the thread rots, the crampons have anchored the Java. Bill


----------



## whitetiger61

If you put end caps on the pvc (defeating the purpose) then yes i could see it floating, but once water gets iside the pipe water weighs more than plastic..it going to sink..nice idea too never thought of that with covering it with moss..

Rick


----------



## majerah1

MY PVC sinks as well.


I would be wary of the betta until you actually have enough shrimp where a few missing woudnt hurt the numbers too badly.I know my fancies went after ghost shrimp who are clearly larger.It does all depend on the betta so if you want to chance it go ahead,just have an optional place for the betta.He will be the easiest to catch after all.


----------



## Alasse

*LOL* i guess your PVC does sink. The stuff i got however does not. Telling me mine will sink is ridiculous. I didnt imagine me having to put large rocks on it to keep it down. A bit of fish diturbance and i'd find it at the top again.

So i guess some does and i know some does not. Different country guys remember.


----------



## jrman83

Some lower levels (thinner) of the PVC pipe may not sink. SCH40 PVC pipe (shown in pic above) is a more dense PVC and will usually sink. All connection pieces (that I know of) are SCH40 PVC. Maybe the spec is not the same as it is here in the US.


----------



## seaecho

Wonderful ideas here, and I so appreciate the offers of plants and weights, jccaclimber, however, we went to both Petco and Petsmart today. Petco had nothing, and I mean nothing, that was on my list. At Petsmart I got the Fluval Edge pre filter sponge. I was so happy to find it. I also got some Hornwort and the cutest Java fern that is only 4" tall. I weighed them down with some clean river rock that I already had, and it worked great. Then my husband found me a T PVC pipe and I put some plant material in it, and guess what? It sunk! Hubby and I were both surprised--we thought it would float (hadn't read the recent posts on this thread yet, lol). Could not find the Eco Complete in either place (they only had Top Fin, yuck) and our only fish store is closed today (Sunday). I don't know if they carry it either, so I'm not sure what to do. If I wait until tomorrow and call them, and they don't have it, I'll have to order it online. I could go ahead and do that tonight, as there is free shipping when you spend $49 or more. The shrimp will either be here or be sent on the 8th, so there is no time to spare. I doubt the substrate will get here in time.

Oh, we also got a Sterilite container that is more clear than say Tupperware, and it comes out to around 7 gallons. Had to do some rearranging, but it just BARELY fits on my desk. We got a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 100 filter, and now I need to get a heater, as they didn't have any of the Via Aqua Quartz, which is what I have in my 10 gallon, and love. So I also have a start on another tank! The container was only $12, by the way! So I now have a place to put the shrimp if they start getting eaten. Oh, I need a thermometer too, so I'll also order that. 

I need to know what to do if the shrimp get here before the substrate, which looks like will be the case. I know they will get out of the way, but I hate to stress them when they first arrive. Can I start up the new tank now, and just put them in there until the substrate comes? I know I'll have to go through the cycling and all, but if I do daily water changes (testing with API Master Kit, of course) if needed, will they be all right? I'm afraid of them being poisoned by ammonia.


----------



## Alasse

Cherry shrimp went into my uncycled tank with no issues. They are hardy as!

I put 150 of the little beasts in my 50gal and never touched the tank for about 3months. 150 turned into thousands. 
They arent fussy with nitrates either.

As i said one of the hardiest shrimp i've ever had!


----------



## snail

Just make sure when you are making places for the shrimp to hide you don't make places the betta can get himself stuck.


----------



## Mr_Pat

I recomend something like a large piece of lava rock with the smaller holes just big enough for the shrimp to slide into . or a piece of driftwood with maybe 1/8 " diameter holes drilled in it <or termite eaten>. and or javamoss attached to said driftwood/rock


----------



## seaecho

_ *Scatching head in wonder.*_ I've got to admit I'm confused now. Luckily, the RCS didn't arrive today, even though it was supposed to be 1 day shipping, and the guy lives only 3 hours from me! Anyway, yesterday I took about a cup of substrate from my almost cycled tank and put it in the new uncycled one. I also used a turkey baster and got roughed up the gravel in the old tank and sucked up the debris with the baster and put it in the new tank. I also took a small amount of filter media from the old filter and put it in the new. (very small amount--maybe only half a teaspoon). I also added about half a dozen Anacharis from the old tank into the new. I added about a gallon of the old tank water to the new also.

I read online that RCS are very sensitive to ammonia, and their tank should register 0 or almost that. Well, when I added the debris from the substrate, I was introducing ammonia, I would imagine? I did test it for Ammonia with my API Master kit this morning and it reads .25. 0 nitrites, of course. So if ammonia is bad for RCS, did I do the wrong thing? If so, I'll just empty all water out of the new tank and wash the rocks, if that's best. How can the tank cycle though, without ammonia? This is where I'm confused. I was also going to put a single Mystery snail in there to help with cycling, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't do that. I'm sure the shrimp will be here by tomorrow, and really need to know what to do--should I add Stress Coat, or not until the shrimp are introduced? Or wait until I do a water change?


----------



## katiesoup50

i cant really help, i could kinda use some advice on cherry red shrimp too...they seem like the best option...i have a 14 gallon fish tank with 2 mickey mouse playtys and 1 sunburst fish. there is plenty of hiding in plants and stuff, i just need the bacic advice


----------



## seaecho

Forgot to mention a couple things. Jccaclimber, you say to put the shrimp in the most established tank. Remember, there is a male betta and a ghost shrimp in there. I'm afraid of the RCS shrimp getting killed or eaten. I guess I could put just a couple in there and see what happens. . . although I'm pretty sure the ghost shrimp killed the smaller ghost shrimp that was in there. (Tank was cycling then though, and unstable, so hard to tell).

Snail--you brought up the fact that the betta might get stuck in holes where the shrimp could hide. I never put anything in the betta's tank that has holes smaller than my thumb for fear of just that. I was going to use a T PVC pipe stuffed with a bit of moss so the betta couldn't enter and the shrimp could still escape. I also have a small pot in the shape of a goldfish that has a hole in the bottom that's about 1/8." Would that be safe to put in the tank?

Alasse--your shrimp did so well in an uncycled tank! If only I could be sure mine would too. As for the temp, it really relieved me to find out the shrimp will do all right without a heater, so they will be fine until mine arrives. Then I plan to keep them at around 25-26C so they will breed more readily.


----------



## hanky

Thats too funny Your first tank isnt even cycled yet and your starting up another, I think you guys have whats called fish fever.. lol
Just remember the size of hiding places for the shrimp should be big enough for the betta to get in and out too, and watch for rough edges or burs on the PVC so he dont get hurt.
I'm still looking for RCS for my betta tank also so I'll keep following you to see how yours are doing. I think if they had enough hiding spots they would be fine, sounds like your betta is pretty timid.


----------



## Alasse

My cherries are often moved to uncycled tanks, never had an prob with doing so. Most are in heated, some are in unheated

I've got them with a betta, they breed, there are places the betta could get stuck if he pushed the issue, but never has. They shrimp are breeding


My main shrimp tank (50gal)

Some of the shrimp


----------



## seaecho

Jccaclimber, you misunderstood my post. I said the NEW tank is registering ammonia, and its probably because I sucked up some debris from the bottom of the almost cycled tank and put it in the new tank, hoping to get it to cycle faster. My question was, if shrimp are so sensitive to ammonia, maybe I shouldn't have done that (?) But then, how am I going to get the new tank cycled if it doesn't go through the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate stages?

Very good point about the ghost shrimp vs the cherries! If the ghost shrimp starts getting aggressive, I can just put him by himself in the new tank. For some reason, that option just didn't occur to me. Duh! So if the cherries do all right in the almost cycled tank with the betta, I'll have this new tank cycling, and when its done cycling, maybe I can get a girl betta like I've been wanting!


----------



## seaecho

OK, we're on the same page now, LOL. Its sometimes so hard to describe things with the typed word. What you said about no ammonia spike with one shrimp makes sense. I do plan on having more livestock in that new tank however, so guess I'll HAVE to cycle it--no other choice. So I put a Mystery snail in there this morning to hopefully speed things up.

My new cherries arrived today. I had finally decided to put them in the nearly cycled tank. My betta has never looked twice at my ghost shrimp, and at first he just looked at the cherries, but did nothing, but after about half an hour, he's now chasing them. They all look good--1/2" to 3/4" just as the guy said they would be. Got a lot less plants than he said he'd send though. Barely enough for a small baggie. But hopefully it will grow. I still haven't seen the ghost shrimp, and its been 3 days. I saw what I thought was an exo skeleton floating around, so maybe he has molted. I hate to say this, but I was hoping maybe he had perished, as I don't want him attacking the cherries. And after all, ghosts are only 33 cents.

So things may not work out with the betta and cherries after all, sadly. I made sure the betta was well fed before putting the new cherries in, but he looks to be in predator mode right now, and I don't like that at all. He looks like he's trying to ferret them out. He's rummaging through the moss a lot. I don't see how he could eat one if he did catch it though, as he can barely eat the tiny betta pellets I give him. They are a real mouthful. I think the fact that I taught the betta to surface for food when I wiggled my finger in the water is influencing how he's feeling about the shrimp. They wiggle and move, so maybe I really did the wrong thing. Most of them are now in the moss, but when they venture out and get into the wrong end of the aquarium where there isn't moss is when I really worry that he'll corner them. I guess I'll know in a few days if he ate them or not. OMG, I hope not!


----------



## seaecho

Alasse, I forgot to coment on your tanks. Wow, fantastic looking! I love them. And look at all those cherries! You have done a great job!


----------



## Kehy

Just poking in about bettas eating shrimp- my boy decided he wanted to kill an amano shrimp the same size he was. And he did. He's also gotten ghost shrimp before, after the ghosties ate part of his tail


----------



## seaecho

Oh boy. . . I don't have a good feeling after reading the last couple of posts. But I know you guys are just telling me of your experiences. Hubby saw one cherry this morning, in the fake plant, but I haven't seen a single one. I realize they will probably hide most of the time at first, but if the betta ends up eating them, I'll have to just go with something else, (maybe more ghost shrimp since he and the betta have no issues) even though I really want cherries. I guess I'll find out if I have any left when I put in the black substrate that I'll be getting shortly! I'll keep you posted.


----------



## Marci99205

I have 5 cherry's that i hardly ever see. I only see a few every now and then.


----------



## Alasse

My betta when first put in with the cherries, hunted them. I thought he would eat em all. But after a time he gave up and the shrimp learnt what he was upto lol. Now the shrimp are breeding (i see shrimplets), in fact i will have to move some cherries out soon


----------



## snail

Shrimp will get used to hiding in the day and only coming out at night when the fish are sleeping. It only works when the shrimp have plenty of hiding places though.


----------



## Alasse

My shrimp come out through the day still and the let the betta get close, but not close enough to grab em

betta & shrimp below (i think the betta was more curious at the start)


----------



## seaecho

Alasse, that pic of your betta checking out the cherries is too cute! You must be fast with your camera! Snail, my ghost shrimp comes out just about every day for a few hours, so I guess I expected the cherries to come out at least now and then. I haven't seen a single one in 2 days. But then, I'm sure they're still adjusting too. I don't have a cycled tank that I can put the betta into right now. 

The shrimp do have plenty of hiding places. They have lots of Wassertang moss and Hortwort, plus a very full, thick fake plant, a log with several holes and a small terra cotta pot turned on its side. So I guess they're just hiding. Wish now I'd gotten 20 instead of 10.


----------



## whitetiger61

In a couple of months you will have pleaty to look at..when i had mine bred like crazy.

Rick


----------



## snail

I should say that shrimp that feel in danger will hide. If the fish forget about them they will start to get bolder.


----------



## seaecho

I'm seeing the shrimp more and more often now. There is a saddled female that I see daily. So I guess it won't be long. The others are smaller than she is. Either they are males, or younger than she is. I've never seen more than 4 at a time though.


----------



## King James

Alasse said:


> My shrimp come out through the day still and the let the betta get close, but not close enough to grab em
> 
> betta & shrimp below (i think the betta was more curious at the start)


Alasse......I love that photo of your betta looking at the RCS, very cool indeed!!


----------

