Before planning to add any vertebrate to your fish aquarium, it is essential to know if they will be able to survive together or not. So, can guppies live with shrimp? Let us find out.
Guppies and shrimp can live together. However, an owner needs to know that shrimp is food for their guppies, and they will try to hunt them down. Adding lots of plants and placing the shrimp first in an aquarium to explore are some precautions to ensure that your shrimp and guppy coexist together.
This article will discuss how to protect shrimp from guppies and shrimp we can keep with our guppies. Also, we will learn the benefits of keeping shrimp in an aquarium. So, let’s get into it.
Contents
Can guppy and shrimp live together?
Guppy and shrimp can survive together in the same tank if you care for certain things like adding live aquatic plants and feeding them properly.
Guppies look at shrimps as their food and will try to feed on them. Guppies love to have shrimps on their meal.
If you do not take care of your guppy by feeding them regularly, they will feed on the shrimps present in the tank.
So, to make sure that your shrimp be safe in the aquarium with guppies, feed your guppy adequately.
There are more ways to keep your shrimp safe from guppies which we will discuss in this article.
How to protect shrimp from guppies?
Ways to protect your shrimp from your guppies are:
- Add lots of live aquatic plants.
- Add shrimp first in the tank.
- Maintain the number of guppies.
- Regularly feed your guppies.
- Feed right food to your shrimp.
Add lots of live aquatic plants.
Adding aquatic plants is the most common way to save your shrimp. An owner should make sure to add lots of aquatic plants to save their shrimp from guppy.
Aquatic plants will make a hiding place for your shrimp. Therefore, adding such plants which grow fast and have a heavy growth will be beneficial.
Plants with dense growth will make such a structure for your shrimp that they will easily be able to hide when guppies try to hunt them down.
Plants which you can add are:
- Java moss
- Java fern
- Guppy grass
- Dwarf lily
- Water wisteria
These all are the plants that will be suitable for both your guppies and shrimp.
Add shrimp first in the tank
It will be wise to add your shrimp first in the tank after the cycle is done.
Adding shrimp first will help shrimp explore the whole aquarium, and in this way, your shrimp will be familiar with the aquarium and will be able to hide easily in situations.
One more benefit of adding shrimp first is that this will give the baby shrimp enough time to grow and save themselves from the adult guppies.
Maintain the no of guppies.
It is important that you limit the number of guppies in your tank. More the guppies, more there will be a risk of your shrimp being hunted down.
If you have more guppies and fewer shrimp in your aquarium, then soon, there will be no shrimp in your tank as guppies will hunt them down.
Baby shrimp are in more danger than adult shrimp because of their size.
Even a guppy fry will try to hunt down the baby shrimp if it fits in their mouth.
If you want to increase the chances of survivability of your shrimp, then make sure to limit the number of guppies and keep more shrimp than guppies.
Feed right food to your shrimp
Usually, shrimp feed on leftovers on the bottom of the tank, but your shrimp will not get any when there are guppies present in the tank.
Guppies will eat most of their food and leave hardly anything for your shrimp to eat.
Your shrimp will feed on dead decaying plants, but that will not provide your shrimp every nutrient they want to remain healthy.
Make sure to provide your shrimp with the right food and nutrients to remain normal and have a nice growth over time.
These are the way to keep your shrimp safe from your guppies.
Breeding shrimp in guppies aquarium.
Breeding shrimp in guppies aquarium is something impossible to do. Female shrimp and baby shrimp are very vulnerable and can be easily hunted down by adult guppies.
Pregnant shrimp will be weak and slow; they will not be that active to hide and will get hunted down by the guppies.
If you want to breed your shrimp, it will be best to breed them in a separate tank.
It is advisable to keep only female shrimp or male shrimp if the owner doesn’t want to breed their shrimp.
Shrimp you can keep with your guppies.
Guppies will usually hunt down shrimp as they look at shrimp as their food. However, these are the snails we can keep with guppies:
- Bamboo shrimp
- Ghost shrimp
- Amano shrimp
Bamboo shrimp
Bamboo shrimp are the common shrimp that people like to add to their aquarium.
Bamboo shrimp are a peaceful species and live in freshwater with plants. They don’t need too much care.
The size of bamboo shrimp varies from 2-3 inches, similar to guppy.
Ghost shrimp
Ghost shrimp are omnivores and feed on both meat and plant matter like Amano and bamboo shrimp.
Ghost shrimp are peaceful creatures, live in freshwater with plants. They are easy to take care of.
The size of ghost shrimp is 1.5 inches.
Amano shrimp
Amano shrimp have a transparent body, and they live in freshwater with plants.
Amano shrimp are a peaceful species and don’t need too much care.
The size of Amano shrimp goes up to 2 inches.
Benefits of keeping shrimp in your aquarium
An owner can keep shrimp and guppy together if they take proper precautions.
Guppy will try to hunt your shrimp down, but they can save themselves if given a proper hiding spot.
Shrimp are such useful creatures as they will keep your aquarium clean by eating all the leftovers, dead plants, and rotting other fish parts.
By feeding on every leftover, shrimp will help you keep the aquarium clean and a beautiful place for your other fish.
All you have to do is take care of them, feed them, and in return, they will keep your aquarium clean and maintained.
Conclusion:
You can keep shrimp and guppy together in the same aquarium with proper precautions. Make sure to add lots of aquatic plants like java moss and java fern to get enough hiding place and be able to protect themselves from guppies.
Placing shrimp first after the cycle is done will be good for shrimp as they will get time to explore the aquarium and will be able to protect themselves in situations.
Breeding your shrimp in an aquarium where guppies are present is impossible as guppies will hunt down the pregnant and baby shrimp at first as they are weak and vulnerable.Â
Reference: ResearchGate,