# Tropheus and Cherry Shrimp



## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

I have a heavily planted tank with lots of cover. Will tropheus chow down on any cherry shrimp I might add to the tank? The occassional snack is OK since these shrimp breed like cockroaches, but I wouldn't want the shrimp to be wiped out immediately. That would be a waste of money.

The tank already has an uncountable number of fairy shrimp that are only a couple of mm long. These live in the plants and in the gravel. After vacuuming I toss any sucked up faries back into the tank and the tropheus attack, but there are conditioned to attack anything I toss into the tank so I don't put too much stock in this. Anybody have any experience with tropheus and cherry shrimp?


----------



## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Planted tanks and cherry shrimp go best with stuff like pygmy gouramis.
Think you might be on your own trying such a mix.
I for sure predict Tropheus would snack on them and the plants.
When they try em and find they like em I would guess they would eat the lot in most aquriums.
No not something I have tried or would even think of trying.

All the best James


----------



## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

Thank you for your response.

I agree with you about plants in general, but I have had success with anubias, bolbitis, and the java ferns - all epiphytes that grow on rocks and don't mind the relatively hard water. I know that there aren't any plants in Lake T, but they sure make my aquarium alot prettier.

I think you are right about the cherries. At best they will survive, but I'll never see them because they'd be hiding all the time. I have a vampire shrimp that I see only every couple of months and he/she/it is more than 3" long!


----------



## eeztropheus (Jan 10, 2010)

I would love to see a tank shot.


----------



## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

eeztropheus said:


> I would love to see a tank shot.


Me too.
Vallis also seems to survive for a while in my Tang tanks.

I did once invest in some plants from Lake Tang but sadly lost them over 3 years.
Silly really friends tanks seem to grow em far better than my overfiltered ones.
I did for a while have some growing in thier tanks but sadly slowly over the years they have stopped keeping hard water fish.

Its not that plants can not be kept with Tropheus. It is more I am unwilling to alter the conditions of my Tropheus tanks to make live plants happy. The thing these species seem to have in common (plants that do OK) is I think, hard water tollerance and iether very tough leaves or known to taste bad to fish.

To be honest I find artificial plants to be more atractive for longer in Tropheus tanks than to struggle mixing a fish that requires conditions so ailien to plants with live plants long term.

Others seem to have more success though.

All the best James


----------



## mosuhu (Jul 11, 2004)

I had some cherries in my tank before I added tropheus, I noticed that one cherry got left over in the cracks betweem the rock work, which stayed in constant hiding in the fear of getting eaten.

And then, it somehow got blown out with flow, and the all tropheus when mad trying to eat it until one got it. It was quite a site as the shrimp was pretty fast but not quick enough. So I guess they would just have a feast if you had cherries in the tank!


----------



## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

Two Tropheus mooreii murago's slipped into my Ilangi colony....


----------



## xchimbax (May 18, 2003)

Beautifull tank and fish :thumb:


----------



## eeztropheus (Jan 10, 2010)

Beautiful! :thumb: Watch out for cross breeding...


----------



## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

Yep! The murangos seem more randy than the ilangis and the fry look like papa. Don't worry, they'll live their lives out in my tank. I would have culled / sold the muragos, but the wife....

Thanks for the comments. I would never have been successful with tropheus if I haven't been on these forums!


----------



## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Wow the skill and money that went into that tank blows my mind.

All the best James


----------



## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

Nice tank! :thumb: 
When I had Dubs & Fronts together.
I would try to feed my fronts ghost shrimp.
Guess what the Dubs ate them too :lol:


----------



## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

Thanks for the comments!

The best part of the tank is that it can go two months between maintenance cycles. For cosmetic reasons, I drag the glass about once a week to suppress the green spot algae not consumed by nerites, but otherwise leave it completely alone. Because of CO2 injection, pH starts at 8.0 and is maintained at 7.1 when the lights are on. The calcium bicarbonate that dissolves from the aragonite substrate at pH 7.1 is suppressed (to 22 GH) with a daily automatic water change / top-off system which is also the source of Excel, trace, PO4, and K additives. Fish poop provides ample N. This system also reduces the temperature of my tank by about 1 degree F: when the temperature exceeds 82 F I have a fan kick in.

Feeding is with NLS 1mm pellets in an Eheim autofeeder. The trophs also pick off the algae from the plants and rocks, occasionally pick off and seemingly consume daughter plants from the Java ferns, seem to eat the random moss that came with the plants, and sift the substrate perhaps to get at the fairy shrimp which I mentioned above totally infest the tank.


----------



## eeztropheus (Jan 10, 2010)

Awesome! :thumb: Boggles the mind, :roll: you are on another level!!! opcorn:


----------

