How to protect shrimp babies?

Question

I have a tank of shrimps where I have a red cherries that is pregnant and two yellow sunkist shrimps that are pregnant. To keep their soon-to-be-born babies safe, what should I do?

I have a serial killer, Otto catfish, that is slowly killing off my shrimps and the big shrimps that have good reflexes have only survived him. I have a sucker fish and a honeycomb catfish and some smaller fish that I don’t think will do any harm. The Otto catfish has killed 6 shrimp already by speeding past the shrimps, poking at them. He DOES NOT EAT THEM.

I really want my shrimps to be born safely and to have the first litter of babies that at least have 3 born. I had one failed litter due to high pH levels and overcrowding of the tank and one litter where only one black with a golden line one the back shrimp survived.

The shrimps I have are fire reds, blue velvets, red cherries and sunkist shrimp.

Answer 1

I am not a expert at taking care of fish but I do have some advice that might help you. Unfortunately, shrimp are at the bottom of the food chain so it’s not a surprise they are getting eaten. I suggest having your tank with plenty of plants. Heavily planted tanks are also good. These plants will help protect the shrimp and will allow them to hide if they feel threatened. Have you ever tried removing some of the pregnant shrimp and locating them to another tank? Doing this could help you raise a healthy batch of baby shrimp that are in no harm. This would also increase their chances of living. About the catfish, I do not think that there is any way of preventing it from eating your shrimp without removing it from the tank. I hope this helps you and I encourage you to add more plants to your tank. This will also allow your pregnant shrimp to having hiding spaces with in labor. Again, I hope this helps you.