Cherry Shrimp Convention

January 13th, 2009

I was sitting across the room, watching some television, which I noticed a huge mass of cherry shrimp, all congregated in the front of my 75G aquarium. The 75G has been close to algae-free lately, so I have been feeding extra algae wafers for the plecos, but hadn’t really paid much attention after doing so. Apparently, the population of cherry shrimp was quite interested in the algae wafers, and called of their friends to join them in the feast.

Cherry Shrimp

Of course, with that many shrimp in one place, all of the rainbowfish in the tank wanted to see what was so interesting. They dove in and out of the population of shrimp, but didn’t seem to bother the shrimp any by doing so.

Cherry Shrimp

Finally, the Ancistrus sp. ‘L279’ bristle-nosed plecos realized that I dropped in algae wafers, and stormed into the middle of the shrimp. In some instances, they swam in fast enough to a send the shrimp flying out of the way.

Ancistrus sp. L279

All in all, it’s pretty entertaining to watch these critters interact with the rest of the tankmates. As you can tell, the cherry shrimp have had no problem breeding in my 75G aquarium!

8 Responses to “Cherry Shrimp Convention”

  1. Kim Says:

    how are the yellows?

  2. Mark F. Says:

    This set of photos, and the accompanying explanations, really convey what makes this hobby enjoyable: the mob of shrimp, the rainbow fish, the Ancistrus, all interacting over that one algae wafer – what a bunch of characters! Thanks for sharing!

  3. Mallory Says:

    I keep several types of dwarf shrimp (separated, of course), and they are definitely mobbers!
    Sometimes I will put some moss from another tank with bits of hair algae on it, and after a few minutes you can’t see any of the plant, only a ball of shrimp. 🙂

  4. AquaDaily Says:

    Not really relevant to your lovely photos, but I couldn’t help remembering what cherry shrump cost when they first arrived in the hobby. That would be quite some big ticket convention! 🙂

  5. guitarfish Says:

    Thanks for the comments everyone!

    Kim, the yellows are doing great, but I still haven’t seen any babies, which is driving me crazy.

    Mark, I totally agree. Nothing beats a beautiful planted aquarium made alive of the interactions of its inhabitants.

    AquaDaily, I also recall how expensive these beauties were when they first came into the hobby. Thanks goodness they breed like roaches!

  6. Kim Says:

    I have lots of beautiful saddled females. I’d love to trade some for a few handfuls of aquasoil and/or a few handfuls of crushed coral. Sounds strange, I know but I dont need whole bags of them, just 2 handfulls.

  7. Amanda Says:

    Hi! I am getting a 10 gallon guppy tank, and was thinking of adding some cherry shrimp. Not if they breed a lot, though. What do you think?
    Thanks!
    NICE tank btw 🙂

  8. guitarfish Says:

    Amanda, cherry shrimp are known for being quite prolific breeders — then again, so are guppies! Usually, this is considered a good thing.