Cherry Shrimp with DG?

[BsLuFs]

Hello! So, I've got a Dwarf gourami alone in a 10 gallon right now, and I want to get him some buddies. At first I was thinking Kuhli loaches, but I don't know if they do well in 10 gallons. Then I thought a few ADF would work, but I'm not sure about them either.

I've got a few questions: will my gourami eat cherry shrimp, if he does will they be able to keep up in population by breeding, and how many could I stick in with him in a planted tank? (Java fern/moss/moss balls)

 

[FreshyFresh]

The'll eat anything resembling food that can fit in their mouth. Small RCS fry are easy pickings, but if you keep adequate hiding places for shrimp, the population wont dwindle awaay.

 

[BsLuFs]

All right! My tank is sort of lacking in hiding spots right now-- the decorations at the fish store are just so expensive, and I find them tacky anyways. I have driftwood, but that's about it. Do you know of anything better that they could hide in? And how many should I put in with him?

 

[FreshyFresh]

If you dont want to do live plants, a few patches of carpeting type fake plants will do well for baby shrimp.

 

[BsLuFs]

I can do live plants! Right now I only have a few java fern leaflets from my other tank, and a tiny bit of moss. I'll be getting two small marimo moss balls. What type of plant is best for them to hide in?

 

[Jay_S]

Tonight at my lfs me and the girl saw an aftrican clawed frog (not dwarf) thought it was neat so we (did the responsible thing and researched it first) thought about getting it for tank. Along the way doing research I read that the full sized ones eat anything that fits in mouth. Also not to keep the dwarfs with the gouramis and other nipping fish.

From my experience with shrimp they will neither breed fast enough to keep up with the gouramis appitite nor (unless you have a dedicated breeding colony established before hand) breed fast enough to be feeder material for the fish as a source of food.

With that said a small breeding tank 5 gal will breed enough (depending on your skill and available amount of barry white music) to keep some in the tanks with the knowledge they will be eaten if only when they are fresh molted.

I'm all about the natural cycle as it should be so it would be cool to use a modular breeding set up like that.

Hope it helps

 

[BsLuFs]

I don't think I'm able to get another tank at this time, and I don't want to spend the money on Shrimp if they're just going to all get eaten...have you any other stocking ideas? I guess I wouldn't mind leaving just the gourami in there, but it would be cool to have something else too.

 

[Jay_S]

You could use ghost shrimp for a test run. mabey your gourami dont like shrimp.

aqadvisor helps with stocking

 

[BsLuFs]

Aqadvisor doesn't say that ADF and DG have any problems, but I'll put the idea aside for now. I think when I get back to college I'll have my LFS order some ghost shrimp for me (maybe 10 or 20) and see how they do.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Ghost shrimp are cool, but they're a once and done shrimp so to speak, unless you have the means to breed them. I've had some ghost shrimp live a long time and get quite large. It seemed like forever, but it was probably 6mo max.