Trouble w/cherry shrimp being eatten

**Elight23** · 02-20-2013, 05:54 AM

I bought 7 cherry shrimp today, about 1/2" to 3/4" long. I added them to my 30g tank that houses a few different types of smaller tetras. Some of the tetras went after them like they were food, but no body ate any and they all seemed to settle down. Later I searched the tank high and low and have only found four and a couple of fat fish. Now I have the remaining four under a large colander with a few plants that are heavily covered in algae. How long can I leave the little guys living in the strainer for, as long as they have food? I only have a two gal otherwise and I wouldn't be able to heat it if I desired to place the shrimp in there.
Thanks

**talldutchie** · 02-20-2013, 07:47 AM

If you can keep the water clean quite a long time.

Rule of thumb with shrimp, if it fits into a mouth it will. Best thing to do is provide ample cover.

**Cermet** · 02-20-2013, 09:44 AM

Small shrimp, added with established fish are gonna be food. That is the 'circle of life' stuff.

**talldutchie** · 02-20-2013, 12:30 PM

I've got the wild coloured variety of this shrimp. At any time there's 6 females berried. My population grows with about 4-6 individuals per month, the rest is rasbora food. And that's in a tank with plenty of shelter.

**Brhino** · 02-20-2013, 01:31 PM

It's entirely possible that your fish are eating your shrimp. It's also possible, though, that your shrimp have simply found good places to hide. When I first started with red cherry shrimp, I bought 20 of them. Until they started breeding, I never could count more than 6-10 at any one time. I too thought they were getting eaten but then I started finding babies and eventually the population exploded.

Another possibility - what kind of filter(s) are you using? Do you have the intakes covered? Shrimp will get sucked into filters (which often doesn't harm them, but does trap them) if you don't take steps to prevent it.