Cherry shrimp in freshwater tank

[puffermichigan]

So, I have a cherry shrimp that is about an inch long in my snail-breeding tank. I'm pretty sure that he's eating the snail eggs, so I've got to move him out of there. Problem is, my fiance loves him, so I can't just feed him to my puffers. In addition to my puffer tank and snail tank, I have a 30 gallon planted FW tank with 2 swordtails (about an inch/inch and a half), 10 neon tetras, 4 kuhli loaches and an albino bristlenose. Do you think it would be safe for me to move lil Bubba Gump (the cherry shrimp) into my FW tank? Or will he get terrorized and/or eaten? Dang it, I'm SO not setting up another tank just for him (what my fiance wants, lol).

[sevenyearnight]

Set up another tank for him, and get more cherry shrimp so he'll have friends.

[xrayjeeper83]

you could try it, if he is full grown he may be ok. But the swords may pick him to death. I wouldnt worry about the neons

[HGI]

I'm pretty sure cherries wont eat snail eggs, my lady has 20+ cherries in her 2.5g beta tank with a hand full of rhams and I've never seen a cherry near a egg patch.

[digger]

I would leave him where he is. Keep an eye on the number of snails you have and give it time. As long as you see the number of snails increasing everything should be fine. Are you basing this purely on speculation or have you witnessed him eating the eggs?

[J-P]

My cherry tank also has many many snails in it. It could be competition for food. If the shrimp is eating all the food the snails who are starving WILL eat their own eggs.

[puffermichigan]

Thanks everyone! The plan will be to keep him where he is. He seems pretty comfortable there, I have all my "excess" plants in my snail tank, so they provide a lot of cover for him. I haven't actually witnessed him eating any eggs--I guess most of my concern about the snail eggs was based on other posters noting that their shrimps eat snail eggs. I'm going to try to get a picture, he sure is an entertaining little bugger. Thanks you guys, I'll just keep a watch on snail numbers, but yeah, I definitely don't want to sentence him to torment by swordtail.

[digger]

Good call. I have noticed in all of my tanks that once I have fish in certain tanks, to much of a change and everything starts to go bad (moving my old fahaka from 1 tank to another refused food for almost 2 weeks). It looks like you have a well established tank with some entertaining critters in it, just enjoy it.

[peterriitz]

My cherry tank also has many many snails it. This may be the food competition. If the shrimp eat snails eat all the food in the hungry who will be their own eggs.

[Mac Myers]

My SAP's eat the snail eggs in their tank. It's a little frustrating.