Do Tetra Fish Eat Shrimp? Do you Need To Worry?

I added the tetra fish to my shrimp aquarium and have been learning a lot from it. In this post, I want to share with you some of the essential things I have learned while keeping tetras with shrimp. Can you keep them together? Will your tetra fish eat your shrimp? For sure, you will gain some knowledge after going through this article.

It depends upon the type of fish and their predatory levels, whether they eat shrimp or not. So, the answer is a bit unclear. Many of the Tetra species are carnivores, many of them do eat shrimp undoubtedly. The difference is just about more or less predatory. But, most of the fish will happily feed on a variety of tiny others like shrimp.

Though shrimps are known as good tank mates for tetra, the risk is always there. You need to be aware of the golden rule. ‘If a shrimp looks like it can fit in a fish’s mouth, then the fish will probably eat’. However, the Otocinclus Catfish is the only fish we know of that is not likely to eat shrimp. But if your shrimp can fit in your tetra fish mouth, there is a general possibility it can feed on them.

Can Tetra Fish Live with Shrimp?

The answer is Yes, some tetra fish goes fine with shrimp. The general rule for shrimp is you shouldn’t put it with aggressive and territorial fish. Also, don’t keep them with large fish that can eat them. However, you can keep your shrimp with small schooling tetra fish like Rummynose, neon, Glow-light with no shadow of a doubt.

Here are the lists of aggressive tetra fish that you would want to know about.

Tetra Which Goes Well with Shrimp

Neon Tetras

Neon tetras are the best type of freshwater fish that goes well with shrimp as they don’t seem to harm anything. These fish are peaceful and small fish, which are unlikely to bother your shrimp. Neon tetra and shrimp are very adaptable as well, being able to live at a pH level from 5.0 to 7.0 comfortably.

Will Neon Tetras Eat Shrimp?

No, neon tetra will not eat shrimp in your tank but they might chase and harass shrimps thinking them as food. If your shrimp is 7/10th’s of an inch, there is no worry you need to take and your tetra fish will not eat the shrimp. However, Neon Tetra does eat baby shrimps.

Glow-light Tetras

Like neon tetra, the Glow-light tetra is also very peaceful and small which does not harm your shrimps. Somehow, glow-light tetra is known as neon cousins. As glow-light tetras are kind of tiny and peaceful, they are an ideal type of fish to keep with your shrimp.

Glow-light tetras somehow act like neon tetra. Perhaps glow-light fish are a little bit shyer and will take time for an adjustment in the tank. Overall, glow-light tetra is a good tank mate of shrimp.

Rummy Nose Tetra

Rummy Nose Tetra is a species of tropical freshwater character fish originating in South America. It is one of the many small tetras, belonging to the same genus. But Rummynose tetra has pretty similar behavior with shrimp. The other common names of Rummy Nose tetra are ‘firehead tetra’ according to some studies.

Simply, Rummy Nose tetra is a peaceful species of fish that goes fine with your shrimp.

Things that you need to Consider while keeping tetra with shrimp

Types of Tetra Fish

The first thing you need to consider while keeping shrimp with tetra is knowing its type. With some tetra fishes like Glow-fish light, Neon, and Rummy Nose, shrimp don’t have any danger to the shrimp, whereas no guarantee in the other type one’s. Like Rainbow tetra is highly aggressive so it might arm harm your shrimp.

Mixing both tetra and shrimp without the proper knowledge of it surely going to your shrimp in trouble. The problem with shrimp and some different types of tetra fish is that for many of them, shrimp are the natural food for freshwater tetra fish. Hence, it’s likely that tetra fish will eat the shrimp.

Many types of tropical tetra fish see shrimp as delicious snacks or even a part of their staple diet. So, if you go putting predatory tetra fish with shrimp, or vice versa, then you are almost certainly going to see a feast of shrimp and resulting in your beloved shrimps on the menu. Hence, knowing the type of tetra fish and acting as per its nature will be the wisest thing you can do for your shrimp.

Environment

One more thing you need to consider, while we are on this subject, is whether or not your shrimp can hide. While in nature, shrimp spend most of their lives hiding out from types of freshwater tetra fish. Shrimp have colors that are rarely if ever seen in the wild like robust reds, whites, blues, etc. aren’t usually noticed. Therefore, your brightly colored shrimp often look like a beacon for predatory types of tetra fish.

We are not deterring you in any way. Instead, we just want to enlighten you so that you don’t make any mistakes. Some shrimp can be very expensive, and if they get eaten, you will not be pleased about it. Make up enough hiding spots for your shrimp to hide, and it will surely help it from harm.

More hiding spots and more shrimp are safer. So, maintaining the proper environmental balance between shrimp and tetra fish is another vital thing that you have to consider.

Conclusion

In this century of ours, the right information holds great value in everything. As acting upon something with the correct information surely has the highest probability of success in any field. Likewise, if you act on your fish with the information given by us, you will surely be going to know fishes better. In simple words, you and your fish don’t have to suffer for sure as well after it. I hope that now you know if your tetra fish will eat shrimps or not.

Image Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNU8wkrkZGE

Do Tetra Fish Eat Shrimp? Do you Need To Worry?

Can Tetra Fish Live with Shrimp?