H. Formosa & Cherry Red Shrimp

[blainep]

Does anyone know if H. Formosa will eat baby shrimps ?

I see my female Cherry shrimps carrying eggs, every few weeks I see a moult in the tank, but my shrimp population never increases.

I know I have both male and females and I've had them long enough for them that they should be mature enough.

Any thoughts ?

[Melody]

If it will fit into a fish's mouth, they'll eat it. The only exception I've ever seen is BN Plecos, which is I suppose because they prefer vegies.

Lots of floating plants may help - mine hang out with fish in quarantine sometimes and they just stay in the floating plants until the fish are gone. Riccia rocks for that - nice thick matt. Masses of Java Fern will help too.

[Soggybottom]

I have a 42g with well over a hundred cherries and a healthy size H. formosa colony as well. I started with 15 cherries and 6 hets. There are a lot of hinding places but I still don't think the formosa would be a big problem, they seem too docile to cause much trouble...

I dose trace amounts of iodine, but I'm betting the hiding spots with algae are what's working for me.

[blainep]

Thats what I thought as well. The tank is planted, and the plants are just starting to really fill in, so maybe I'll start to see some better results.

My H. Formosa population has really exploded. Maybe it's due to all the shrimp snacks.

Interestingly, my Ghost shrimp seem to have managed to get at least a couple of their offspring to survive. I didn't think the eggs would hatch out, but they must have.

I guess the other option would be to give the shrimp their own tank for a while to see if they can increase their population.

[Melody]

Its a good opportunity to selectively breed. You can pick the most red ones and give them a small tank. Then once your population is established you can move them back in. I've heard of other people successfully keeping Het's and Shrimp together, so I suspect you're both right about the cover being a factor. Babies can hide very well if there's an opportunity to do so, in my somewhat limited experience.