Apparently scissortail rasboras and RCS don't get along...

[nwin]

So today my RCS came in, 11 of them. So I acclimated them to the water and put them in, they all swam and ran for cover and I thought they all found it. A few minutes later I saw a few of them happily eating algae and climbing on the driftwood and I was all happy.

30-60 minutes later, I didn't see any except two and I figured they must be hiding...well, just now I looked and they aren't anywhere to be found. Even though I wasn't seeing it/didn't think about it too much, apparently the Scissortail Rasboras got a gourmet meal. All the RCS are gone now and the three scissortails are swimming around happy as can be. I have some zebra danios in there, but I figure that those fish are too small to eat those shrimp.

The part that doesn't make sense, is I've had four ghost shrimp in there for about a week, and they remain untouched...I don't get it.

So, looks like I'm adopting out my rasboras tomorrow. It's ok though, in doing my research on stuff, I had realized a while ago that two schooling types of fish weren't the best idea for my tank...now maybe I can get some more danios, maybe a bottom type fish and a center type fish, though I dunno if I'll bother if they are just going to eat the shrimp I have.

What can I safely put in my tank that currently has:

Sand substrate
1 java fern
1 anubias
1 large piece of driftwood (the two plants are tied to it)
2 decor cave/skull pieces
7 Zebra Danios/glofish
4 ghost shrimp
various MTS

I'm not buying the compatability chart too much anymore. AQadvisor didn't even tip me off to this not working out. I mean, in HINDSIGHT, it makes complete sense, since they were all relatively small shrimp. It's *possible* but highly unlikely the small danios ate them...

Thanks for any help. This is so discouraging, not only to lose the shrimp, their lives, my money, but because I feel like it all could have been avoided had I done more research...I guess I can never stop learning in this hobby...

 

[Wycco]

Ghost shrimp are bigger than Cherrys so can live with more fish.

Now... make sure your ghost shrimp really are ghost Palaemonetes Paludosus not some kind of macrobrachium species that are sometimes sold as ghost shrimp at places like Walmart... those WOULD eat your cherries.

I've successfully kept Danio, Palaemonetes and Cherry shrimp in the same tank with no adults (that I'm aware of) ever being attacked. My cherry community is thriving.


I would be faily confident you have identified the correct culprit though in the scissortails. One thing to bear in mind though is that shrimp are pretty vulnerable right after a move... they could have died natural deaths and been eaten. Ghosts certainly eat dead shrimp- as I'm sure would everyone else. Also new cherry's DO tend to hide really well- there is a chance some are still alive...

 

[ValorG]

always go by this rule " if it can fit in their mouths, they will eat it" Lesson learned the hard way.

 

[rufioman]

Yeah...rcs and fish don't mix...I had ghost shrimp, had ghost shrimp, but my angels and bala always do quick work on them.

 

[nwin]

Holy crap. last night when we were 99% sure they were all gone, I went and picked up the driftwood and all the ornaments and shook them upside down to see if they were hiding...NOTHING.

Tonight, after gravel vaccing the tank, we found two of the RCS hiding in a crevice of one of the ornaments! Here's hoping one's male and one's female!

Also, we got rid of the Rasbora today and gave them to a store. The ghost shrimp had been hiding most of the time, but now they are swimming all over the place! The danios are on the top and the bottom of the tank. Life is much better now. Wish all of them hadn't died, but this is better than what I first thought.