DP/RCS cohabitation

[LilGreenPuffer]

I've decided I can call it official - I've got a successful DP/RCS cohabitation situation, COMPLETE WITH BREEDING!

My current tank stock:
10g, planted
-1 female DP
-4 otocinclus cats
-Roughly 1-2 dozen adult red cherry shrimp; unknown number of shrimplets
-2 olive nerite snails
-2 blue ramshorn snails (food that sticks around for a while before it gets eaten)
-MTSs (sand-stirrers, sometimes a snack)

I'm pleased to announce that I've spotted my first few baby red cherry shrimp! They're all between 1/8" and 1/2" right now. The littlest ones are starting to emerge from the java moss. I've watched Thumbelina swim less than 1/4" away from bite-sized shrimplets and ignore them in favor of frozen bloodworms. She's also never bothered the nerites, possibly for the same reason that assassin snails tend to ignore them - I think they have pretty strong defenses and a good solid trapdoor. The nerites have been there for about a year, and the cherry shrimp have been in there since the beginning of the semester.

I am fully prepared to come home to a massacre one day; I know puffers are prone to mood swings and changes of heart. But for now, I'm really enjoying this. The shrimp are gorgeous and SO much fun to watch, and the babies are just minuscule!

If anyone else wants to try the shrimp/DP cohabitation thing, here's how I did it. I started with a few ghost shrimp. I figured they'd be a safe bet, since they're insanely cheap, fairly large (bigger than Thumbelina), nearly invisible, and mostly nocturnal. I had a full year of success with them; it seemed that they all died of old age. I never saw Thumbelina so much as snap at them. Later, when I started to miss having shrimp around, I got some red cherries. They're hardy and CHEAP compared to other dwarf shrimp - usually about $20 for 20 shrimp, shipping included. They get to about 3/4" maximum, are bright red and highly visible, and are very active during the day. I started with one dozen. This went fine. A couple disappeared, but I expected a couple losses - I'm still new to dwarf shrimp, and I may have acclimated them too quickly. I decided there weren't enough to really pretty up my tank, so I got another one dozen a month later.

A couple weeks later, I noticed berried females. (If you're not into shrimp, FYI, "berried" means they're carrying eggs.) I decided it was time to prepare for babies, so I got a sponge to put over my filter intake to keep them from getting sucked up and added java moss for them to hide in. I figured Thumbelina would probably get a lot of nutritious snacks and I would never see the shrimplets, but I did! I had a rough couple of months with school and stayed at home and only came to my dorm room to take care of my fish briefly, so I didn't see much of anything going on. But when I moved them back home a week ago, it was only a few more days before I saw the little dudes clinging to the moss and eating tiny food particles!

I still won't be hugely surprised if Thumbelina changes her mind about all this, and I know that I can't expect all the little guys to make it to adulthood, but I hope that I will have a colony that produces enough young to replace the adults as they die of old age.

[purplecandle]

Oh come on! Babies and no pics....Bad mommy!!!!

[Pufferpunk]

Thanks for the repotrt! Those tiny things will make for a very difficult shot. I've been considering some ghosties for my DP tank, I guess I'll try a couple on Sunday.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Oh come on! Babies and no pics....Bad mommy!!!!

My camera got stolen this summer. I'm waiting for the same model to go on sale. It miiiiiiiiiiight be able to take pictures of 1/16" shrimplets... Blurry ones...