# Red cherry shrimp



## yayagirl1209 (Dec 3, 2011)

I wanted to give red cherry shrimp a try. I went to 4 LPS/LFS before I even found a place that had any in stock. Well...they had 1 in stock. Although I wanted more than 1, I figured it would be a good test to see how my betta would do with them. Was it gonna be an expensive snack, something he chases (entertains him), or something he ignores? Well it's definitely not the latter! 











My question is....should I invest in more shrimp if this little guy makes it through the night? Would more "targets" make it less likely for him to kill/eat them? Or am I just offering him more snacks? I'm reluctant to try ghost shrimp because I've heard they can do a number on fins/tails.


----------



## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Maybe wait 2 days, watch the way he acts around the shrimp. If he constantly picks at it, he'll probably try to eat it. If he picks it and swims off, he'll probably not try and kill it. Maybe try and find some small hiding spaces where your fish can't fit for the shrimp.


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

That looks like a female shrimp to me, btw.  
+1 to Olympia. Don't be alarmed if you don't see the shrimp for a while. If your betta tries to bite it but misses and just scares it, she will go into hiding, and you won't see her til she builds up confidence again. Bigger groups + more hiding spots = more confident shrimp.
If you can, get hold of java moss - it's great for shrimp to hide in.


----------



## yayagirl1209 (Dec 3, 2011)

Thanks for the advice! I wanted to buy more but apparently there's an RCS shortage in my area.  I'll see if she survives the next couple of days. There's another small LPS that I was unable to get to tonight. Maybe if he doesn't make her a snack, I'll see if they have any in stock.

I was actually looking for some driftwood today too. All the driftwood was sooo big! If I find a small piece, I was thinking about "carpeting" a portion of it with java moss. I'm hoping there's a decent amount of hiding spots in my tank for now. I've got a balinese lantern (from petsmart), java fern and anubias tied to rock, 2 sword plants, and 2 crypts. Hopefully the plants can serve as a little shelter for now.


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Driftwood can be easily sawn or snapped down to size.  Malaysian driftwood especially looks great with java moss!


----------



## yayagirl1209 (Dec 3, 2011)

Bombalurina said:


> Driftwood can be easily sawn or snapped down to size.  Malaysian driftwood especially looks great with java moss!


I didn't even think of snapping or sawing a bigger piece of driftwood down to size. I ended up buying a piece of mopani aquarium driftwood from Drs. Foster and Smith online. I hate buying stuff sight unseen. Hopefully it's not a flat, undimensional piece of wood. If it is...thankfully it was only 3 bux! lol

I am happy to say she did make it through the night! She's already been snacking on detritus in the tank. Yay! Hopefully I'll have some luck finding more RCS in my area.


----------



## Brian10962001 (Nov 1, 2011)

My females are literally killers, I put a pond snail in there thinking for certain they would leave it be as it's brown and slow, nope... murder.


----------



## Badjer (Oct 25, 2011)

yayagirl1209 said:


> I didn't even think of snapping or sawing a bigger piece of driftwood down to size. I ended up buying a piece of mopani aquarium driftwood from Drs. Foster and Smith online. I hate buying stuff sight unseen. Hopefully it's not a flat, undimensional piece of wood. If it is...thankfully it was only 3 bux! lol
> 
> I am happy to say she did make it through the night! She's already been snacking on detritus in the tank. Yay! Hopefully I'll have some luck finding more RCS in my area.


I have four pieces of that in my tank. All are different shapes and I had a lot of fun deciding what to do with them design wise. Just be sure you boil it first if you don't want some serious tannins!


----------



## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I'd give it a few days just to be safe, I had bought an amano shrimp, and it took I think four days before he got snacked on. In fact, a week would be safer yet, of course if you have trouble getting any in stock then this may already be decided for you.

Hope your boy (who is handsome) leaves her alone. (I'm after some RCS myself!).


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Be careful with your Mopani - sometimes it is fine, sometimes it murders all your fish. Definitely boil the heck out of it multiple times and let it soak in a bucket or something for a good long while before adding it to the tank.


----------



## yayagirl1209 (Dec 3, 2011)

Silverfang said:


> I'd give it a few days just to be safe, I had bought an amano shrimp, and it took I think four days before he got snacked on. In fact, a week would be safer yet, of course if you have trouble getting any in stock then this may already be decided for you.
> 
> Hope your boy (who is handsome) leaves her alone. (I'm after some RCS myself!).


Thank you for the compliment on my boy. He doesn't seem interested in her at all anymore. No chasing. No stalking. No nipping. She's super brave. Coming out to the front of the tank. I'm hoping that continues to be the case! I'm gonna check out another LFS tomorrow. Just to see if they even have any in stock.



Bombalurina said:


> Be careful with your Mopani - sometimes it is fine, sometimes it murders all your fish. Definitely boil the heck out of it multiple times and let it soak in a bucket or something for a good long while before adding it to the tank.


Thanks for the heads up! I'll boil it and possible bake it low and slow. Hopefully that will that will help kill the fungal spores that can kill my fish. While I continue my search for RCS, I'm gonna keep an eye out for cool pieces of malaysian driftwood. I'll hold off on putting the mopani wood in while I continue to look.


----------

