Would you like to keep shrimp and white cloud minnows together in your tank? Will your white cloud minnows hunt and eat your shrimp? In this article, we’ll find out if your shrimp will be safe from hungry white cloud minnows.
Do White Cloud Minnows Eat Shrimp? Brine shrimp and shrimplets or smaller sized shrimp will be eaten by white cloud minnows if they have access to them. If you keep larger adult shrimp like cherry or amano shrimp with plenty of hiding places, your can keep them all together in your tank.
Why Do White Cloud Minnows Eat Shrimp?
A shrimp is a healthy source of protein and nutrition for just about any aquarium fish. The list of shrimp eating fish is quite long and should include the smallest white cloud minnow as well.
Anything that is tiny enough to fit into the mouth of white cloud minnow that is tasty or nourishing can and will be eaten. Sometimes white cloud minnows hunt shrimp for fun.
They are active fish in your tank and are always looking for something to do or somewhere to go. They may find a baby, juvenile or adult shrimp and try to fit it into their mouths.
How Do White Cloud Minnows Eat Shrimp?
You may look at a 1.5 inch long white cloud minnow and wonder how it will fit a 1/4 to 1 inch shrimp into its mouth. More often than not, an adult shrimp will be safe from these little predators who are looking for a quick snack in between feedings.
Some white cloud minnows will go as far as pulling the legs off a larger shrimp if they can’t fit the entire invertebrate into their mouths. When a shrimp is molting, they are much more susceptible to being eaten.
Shrimp need the space and hiding spots to stay out the way when there are active swimmers like white cloud minnows playfully, curiously or hungrily swimming near them.
Which Shrimp Are Best With White Cloud Minnows?
The most common and cheap shrimp like cherry shrimp is a good starting point to keep with a school of white cloud minnows. There are expensive varieties of exotic shrimp that are not worth keeping with any fish that may want to hunt it, pull at its body parts or swallow it up.
- Cherry shrimp
- Amano shrimp
- Bamboo shrimp
- Vampire shrimp
- Red Rili shrimp
The list above gets more expensive as you work your way down. The species of shrimp above will grow to a similar size as your white cloud minnows.
Amano shrimp are difficult to breed in captivity. The adult sizes of each shrimp should be safe from harm if you have densely planted areas.
The juveniles, shrimplets or any type of shrimp under 1 inch is more susceptible to being hunted down by active white cloud minnows.
How Do I Stop My White Cloud Minnows From Eating My Shrimp?
The best and worst suggestions are plentiful. Would you like to keep a separate tank for only shrimp? This would be the easiest way, but not many aquarists want that.
We try to build a community tank and a peaceful, thriving ecosystem. We’re not looking to buy multiple tanks for the most part. The following 7 suggestions made our list for the best ways to stop your white cloud minnows from eating your shrimp:
- More plants
- Lots of decorations
- Larger tank
- Bigger shrimp
- Plenty of food for your white cloud minnows
- Breed more shrimp
- Tank dividers
1. Plants
Plants are your best bet at creating dense vegetation for hiding, oxygenation and an occasional snack. Algae or leaves may get nibbled on some plants for extra nutrition while your shrimp stake out a spot that will keep them out of the way from top to mid-level swimmers like white cloud minnows.
2. Decorations
- Rocks
- Caves
- Driftwood
- Terracotta pots
- Eye-pleasing toys or objects
Any decoration you like to keep in your tank could provide safety and shelter for your shrimp to live peacefully or breed successfully.
Your white cloud minnows may investigate the areas closer to the substrate, but they are used to their food sources coming to them at the surface or mid-level of the tank.
3. Larger Tank
It goes without saying that more space creates further distance between any fish and invertebrate that you do not want to come into daily contact with each other.
A 20 gallon tank is the best size for a group of 6-8 white cloud minnows, but if you can introduce peaceful bottom dwellers like cory catfish, otocinclus and shrimp into a tank larger than 30 gallons, you will have a better time keeping them alive and away from being hunted.
4. Bigger Shrimp
If you want to experiment with white cloud minnows and shrimp in the same tank, get the largest shrimp you can without paying too much. Amano and cherry shrimp work well.
Ghost shrimp are cheaper, but smaller. Adult shrimp should be added into the tank while shrimplets could housed separately until they are large enough to enter your main tank.
5. Plenty of Food
Your white cloud minnows love to eat often. Feeding them 2-3 times a day is best and keeps them away from trying to eat your shrimp. Offer the following foods to your white cloud minnows:
- pellets
- flakes
- larvae
- daphnia
- vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, kale, spinach)
- algae wafers
- brine shrimp
With the last item on our list being brine shrimp, the fact that most of our marine life love to eat it also brings to question whether or not it will induce our white cloud minnows to develop an insatiable taste and desire to find more shrimp in your tank to satisfy any additional cravings for it.
You may wish to exclude brine shrimp if you’re experimenting with shrimp and white cloud minnows coexisting.
6. Breed A Colony Of Shrimp
Shrimp can multiply fast with the exception of Amano shrimp. The bio-load of a shrimp is light and you can keep 5 shrimp per gallon if you wish.
The colony will grow to a number that you may not even notice if a few disappear. 10 or more shrimp will soon turn to 20. If some get eaten by mini-predators like white cloud minnows, it shouldn’t be a problem..
7. Tank Dividers
If you want your shrimp to come out of hiding for feedings or to simply enjoy their presence, consider the temporary use of tank dividers. They are usually unsightly and most of us don’t wish to divide our tank, but the option is always available.
Conclusion
With the exception of the otocinclus, most fish in aquariums will make an attempt to eat live shrimp. You can keep them in your community tank with enough space, distance and hiding spots.
Make sure your white cloud minnows or any other fish are well fed to discourage them from hunting down your shrimp and their shrimplets.
Thanks for visiting HelpUsFish.com and see you again soon for another article on the marine life that interests you. Bye for now!
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