Dwarf shrimp LOVE planted tanks. They love the hiding space, they love the food plants engender, and they love what plants do for water chemistry. That being said, it is also important to decide what your goal is with your Shrimp – do you want to raise a single colony of adults or breed and increase your shrimp population? There are many nano fish that will coexist with adult shrimp, but will also eat newly hatched babies. Even smaller danios, rasbora or tetras might eat babies. For this reason, it is vital to have mosses and other hiding places; or even some of the cute bamboo shrimp hotels that can easily be covered with moss. Smaller snails are a good addition to the shrimp tank, nerites particularly, since they help clean detritus and won’t harm the shrimp. The best rule for fish is to keep only fish that get no larger than about ¾” as adults (or none at all).
Shrimp are non-aggressive and active during both the day and night. Often one can see them grazing on algae, on the hunt for detritus in the gravel, mating, and swimming from plant to plant during the day. Periodically, the shrimp will shed its exoskeleton, leaving a husk of itself drifting around the plant. It is important not to remove this, because the shrimp will consume it and replenish needed minerals. Shrimp tend to hide in the dark when it is close to spawning time and, if startled, may abandon their eggs. The more hiding places and the safer the shrimp feels, the more likely they will lay a full clutch of eggs. One can tell the gender of a Shrimp by looking at their size and color. In this case, males are smaller and less colorful.Some Females have a yellowish saddle on their back, which are actually eggs developing in the ovaries. Shrimp are almost impossible to sex until they are larger and can show color.