cacatuoides and rcs?

[tylerv]

Is it possible to keep A. cacatuoides with adult red cherry shrimp?
Any stories of success or failure?

 

[Gillie]

Some people would say shrimp and apistos are no problem especially with adult shrimp, but cacs have pretty big mouths and I have seen pics of a cac swallowing a panduro not too much smaller than itself. So I would say if they can catch them they will eat them.

 

[Apistomaster]

It is possible to keep some Apistogramma spp with Red Cherry Shrimp and for the shrimp to remain self-sustaining. This is not very successful with Apistogramma cacatuoides. The males can and do eat even an adult female shrimp.

The tanks where has worked for me are those containing the slender bodied Apistogramma spp, like A. agassizi, A trifasciata or A. iniridae.
Certain conditions predispose the combination having a better chance.
It is helpful to have a very well planted tank and plenty of structure in the form of wood, preferably covered with Java Moss. The filters should be either sponge filters or HOB power filters with either sponge prefilter or a media bag over the inlet to prevent the loss of small shrimp. The shrimp should already be well established
The tank should not have very many Apistogramma in it and I would recommend a 20 Long or larger.

I have actually gotten away with even Apistogramma cacatuoides and RCS but they grew up with the shrimp, the top 25% was solid Ceratophyllum(Hornwort) and I only had 2 trios in this 36 inch long, 35 gal tank plus 30 Green Neon Tetras.

When I removed the all the Apistogramma cacatuoides and added 30 juvenile Corydoras hastatus, the Cherry Shrimp population rebounded back to hundreds of Shrimp instead of the few dozens that spent their time hiding among the Ceratophyllum. The A.cacatuoides were definitely keeping the shrimp just barely hanging on even though these did grow up with shrimp always present.

I have been able to keep Cherry Shrimp going in a 40 gallon breeder tank with some Ceratophyllum, a trio of A. cacatuoides, 16 L134 juveniles and 12 young adult Sturisoma aureum aka Royal Farlowella, some of about 50 I grew out as new breeding stock. I have also seen that large male A. cacatuoides choking down a bright red mouthful of shrimp, too.
A. cacatuoides seem to be live together with Amano Shrimp safely.

One species of SA Dwarf Cichlid that does seem to coexist rather well with Cherry Shrimp in a planted tank is Dicrossus filamentosus. They have a small mouth and don't seem to prey heavily on the young shrimp.

It's best to try these experiments when you already have a lot Cherry Shrimp safely established in a predator free tank or two. Chinese Zebra Shrimp grow slightly larger than Cherry Shrimp and may work out even better. Again, start out with plenty of shrimp and don't give up your primary shrimp tanks.