The number of people keeping shrimp in their aquarium has been steadily increasing over the last few years and they are now one of the most common tank mates in community tanks with many people keeping a dedicated shrimp only tank too.
Although they are still a pretty niche pet within the hobby, the popularity of keeping dwarf crayfish has also been increasing in the last year or so too.
This has resulted in a number of people reaching out to ask about keeping dwarf crayfish and shrimp in the same tank as each other recently.
There is so many opinions out there on social media about this on both sides of the fence so we wanted to publish our own article going over the topic.
We hope that this article will be able to help as many of our readers as possible understand the advantages and disadvantages of keeping dwarf crayfish and shrimp together in the same aquarium tank.
Why Do People Keep Dwarf Crayfish And Shrimp In The Same Tank?
The main reason that people seem to be keeping dwarf crayfish and shrimp in the same tank is due to the bright colors of both species.
The Mexican dwarf crayfish is usually a beautiful bright orange where as the various bright types of neocaridina shrimp such as cherry shrimp, neon yellow shrimp, and blue dream shrimp are also bright colors.
Both dwarf crayfish and shrimp have their own individual practical uses in a tank but there can be a large amount of cross over between the two depending on the setup.
Most people who do only want the practical side will just keep one of the shrimp species in their tank and not bother with the dwarf crayfish.
Still, the beautiful bright orange and unique factor of a dwarf crayfish can be a main talking point of an aquarium for guests to your home so more and more people are picking them up for their tanks.
Will Dwarf Crayfish Eat Shrimp In Their Tank?
The majority of dwarf crayfish will eat any shrimp that they find in their tank.
The speed that the dwarf crayfish eat the shrimp will change depending on the other food sources available but for the most part, your shrimp will slowly start to disappear if you add a dwarf crayfish to the tank.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, many people keep a dedicated shrimp tank now and some people are fine with just replacing the shrimp in their community tank that get eaten with shrimp from their shrimp only tank.
This is a very common practice as many people keep shrimp in tanks with tank mates that will eat them due to the practical benefits that shrimp offer when in a tank and then just add new shrimp as they are eaten by their tank mates.
Is There Anything You Can Do To Keep Dwarf Crayfish And Shrimp In The Same Tank?
There are a number of things that you are able to do with your tank to increase the survival rates of your shrimp in a tank that also has dwarf crayfish in it.
Here is our short list of what we would recommend but we will cover each option in more detail below:-
- Shrimp Hides!
- Live Plants!
- Just Keep A Shrimp Tank!
- Rocks!
- Tank Decorations!
Shrimp Hides!
The first and most obvious choice is to provide your shrimp with a number of places to hide from the dwarf crayfish in your tank.
This can be done by using things like driftwood, rocks, plants, and even man-made shrimp houses and caves.
A lot of people use a combination of all these different hiding places to ensure that their shrimp are getting the best possible chance to survive in their tank.
The number of hiding places that you need to provide will depend on both the number of shrimp and dwarf crayfish in your tank as well as how actively the dwarf crayfish is looking for food.
But as a general rule, the more hiding places the better.
Live Plants!
Another great way to help your shrimp survive in a tank with dwarf crayfish is to add a lot of live plants to the tank.
The plants will not only provide your shrimp with more places to hide but they will also help to keep the water quality in the tank high which is important for all the inhabitants of the tank.
A lot of people choose to add live plants to their shrimp tanks for this reason and it is something that we would highly recommend.
Just Keep A Shrimp Tank!
If you are really struggling to keep your shrimp alive in a tank with dwarf crayfish then the best thing that you can do is to just keep a shrimp only tank.
Both 1 gallon shrimp tanks and 2 gallon shrimp tanks are quick, easy, and cheap to set up allowing you to keep your shrimp safe.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, you can then use this as a way to replenish the shrimp population in your community tank as your dwarf crayfish eats the shrimp or just as a way to keep the two separate.
Rocks!
Another way to help your shrimp survive in a tank with dwarf crayfish is to add a lot of rocks to the tank.
The rocks will provide your shrimp with more places to hide and the dwarf crayfish will not be able to get to them as easily.
This is a great way to protect your shrimp population in a tank with dwarf crayfish but it is important to make sure that the rocks are not too big as this can damage your shrimp.
Tank Decorations!
Another way to provide your shrimp with places to hide from the dwarf crayfish is to add a lot of decorations to the tank.
This can be anything from Driftwood to plants and even man-made shrimp houses and caves.
The more places that your shrimp have to hide the better and this is a great way to protect them from the dwarf crayfish.
