What kind of shrimp

[*Sarah*]

Is good for a community tank? I have Neons, Mollies, Guppies, Platys and Gourami's..so, what kind of shrimp can I add to give some extra life to the bottom of my tank? Japonica? Ghost??? I don't have any algae as of yet, but I can feed algae flakes or whatever.

[cocoa_pleco]

what size is your tank? since you have neons, i dont reccomend shrimp or crayfish in a tank with small fish in anything less than 10g.
Ghost shrimp are cool

[bettaboy691]

personaly i would think mot shrimp are ok. the most common, ghost shrimp would look nice but they might catch a sleeping tetra or become a meal for the gouramie. i have had ghosts with cardinal tetra before and no problems have come of that. amano shrimp are cool too, they eat algea and other leftovers.easy to look after no risk to other fish but may be eaten.only cheap so buy one to start with

[*Sarah*]

It's my 40 Gallon :) I was thinking about getting a couple of shrimp, but I do want to be careful and keep it peaceful (in other words..no one gets eaten! lol). I know my lfs has ghost shrimp, maybe amano, but I don't think they have Japonica right now. I KNOW crayfish are out of the question, tried that and 2 neons became LUNCH!
As far as loaches or plecs..what could I put in? I don't have an algae problem at all, not one spec (knock on wood), but I really would like to liven up the bottom a bit. I have slate and som other reddish slate type rocks that could be used as hiding places, as well as fake plants (but they look real, honest!) lol. Anyway, let me know and maybe I'll go the loach route:11:

[cocoa_pleco]

a small school of clown loaches? weather loach? a couple of rainbow sharks? its your call

[*Sarah*]

are there any other names for the weather loach or rainbow sharks? I'm looking on www.thinkfish.co.uk under the fish database and they don't have those fish :( Trying to read up about them.

[cocoa_pleco]

how about a dojo loach? theyre small.

I dont know any other name for rainbows and weather loaches- just type in the name in google like " rainbow fish info", and youll get alot of care sheets etc.

[*Sarah*]

Oh ok, a Rainbow Fish is the same as a Rainbow Shark? I've seen lots of Rainbow fish...

[Chrona]

No, rainbow sharks are generally bigger and they are semi-aggressive. Rainbow fish are more colorful and are peaceful.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/

I know, it's a store, but they have some pretty good info on alot of fish there.

[*Sarah*]

The Weather Loach appears to be a coldwater fish, 65-75 degrees. My tank is at about 76...Hmm, would that be ok?

Also, from what I'm reading, the rainbow shark can be aggressive.

[*Sarah*]

It says Clown Loaches are very susceptable to Ick? What have your experiences been?

[KneeKickLou]

Personally I like cory's. They wont take care of algae but like you said you dont have any. They are great for clearing uneaten food from the bottom of the tank and they are nice and lively fish. They dont get to big either so they shouldnt be a problem with agression but are big enough where they wont get eaten. Julii corys are my fav

[cocoa_pleco]

no prob sarah. weather loaches can take ALOT of punishment, and breed in super crappy conditions. 76 is a perfect tropical temp.

[*Sarah*]

Ok, well I may just invest in one of the Weather Loaches then :) they seem so interesting, the way they can "predict' the weather, that's really cool :)

[Chrona]

they seem so interesting, the way they can "predict' the weather, that's really cool :)

Wait waa? :confused:

[*Sarah*]

Oh, I was reading that they swim kind of erratically when a storm is brewing "when the barometer drops" lol.

[Chrona]

Oh, I was reading that they swim kind of erratically when a storm is brewing "when the barometer drops" lol.

Thats pretty cool!

[*Sarah*]

Yeah, that's what I thought. Do u think 5-7 inches will be too big for my 40 Gal?

[cocoa_pleco]

no, theyre so thin and clean well so they are technically counted as 4 inches. I may get one for my 20g. And yes, they do predict weather. In 04 we had a huge thunderstorm and a hour before the storm my weather loaches spazzed out

[*Sarah*]

That's really awesome Cocoa...I guess I gotta start searching for one ;)

[cocoa_pleco]

i need more stock for my 20 too.

[kimmers318]

There are many different types of cory, loaches and shrimp that are generally community friendly and easy going. Ghost shrimp are inexpensive, but yes, they may become snacks.....around here though, even my dwarf puffers don't eat them!
Please don't add, or recommend that someone add clown loaches to a smaller tank, unless you let them know that with the proper care they can reach 10-12 inches, with a massively deep body and need HUGE TANKS. Granted, they might grow slowly, but, it is hard to enjoy a fish for years, and THEN come to the realization that you need a tank the size of your spare room to keep them housed! Clown loaches are beautiful, and many people buy them when they see them because of this, or because they will eat snails and they want to control the snail population in their tanks, but these guys are true tankbusters and really need large tanks.

[*Sarah*]

Thanks for that info about Clown Loaches. I didn't realize that they grow so large. It's ok though, I don't think I want one of those at this point. The weather loach has really spiked my interest:1luvu:

[cocoa_pleco]

weather loaches are real cool.

If you have no small tankmates, how about a spiny eel or fire eel?

I had a fire eel and he did well with my small fish

[*Sarah*]

Well, I have to go with what is OK in hard water, since mine is just naturally very hard, and also a reasonably high PH. I have Neons, Platys, Gourami's Mollies and Guppies, so anything I get has to be good with small fish as well. I also have to see what my LFS has in stock.

[cocoa_pleco]

so, the loach is good, and most lfs's sell the loach

[*Sarah*]

I'm gonna wait till my poor gourami is better before adding anything though. I hope she heals up with the Melafix.

[*Sarah*]

This is my 100th post!!! WOOP WOOP!

[*Sarah*]

Wow, from a goldfish to a Senior Member Datnoid! Coolio.

WTH is a Datnoid? lol

[cocoa_pleco]

type in datnoid in google images. its a fish.

lol, i couldnt figure out what a datnoid was either