The threadfin rainbowfish is the perfect species for building a freshwater community tank. They are mostly passive creatures, as long as you make sure the fish grow up with shrimp in their habitat. You may want to keep larger shrimp separately since they may show signs of aggression.
Overall, keeping threadfin rainbowfish with shrimp on a planted tank is completely possible. We recommend that you keep reading if you want to learn more about creating this wonderful environment in your freshwater aquarium.
Threadfin Rainbowfish in Planted Tanks
The Threadfin rainbowfish is the perfect species for any sort of planted tank. They stand out beautifully among all of the green and feel very happy when more plants are around for them to live in. However, you should choose the plants you use carefully.
They enjoy floating plants the most. So, duckweed and hornwort are going to benefit your community tank with schooling fish the most. The plants also discourage your fish from trying to jump out of the tank.
In nature, you could find this type of fish in swamps. These bodies of water are incredibly still, so you want to have very limited water movement throughout the tank for them to thrive. The species also appreciate limited lighting and don’t like open water. Since they enjoy heavily planted tanks the most, it can be more challenging to clean their water- that’s where shrimps come in!
What is the Benefit of Adding Ghost Shrimps to Your Aquarium?
Shrimp are natural scavengers and clean your tank of algae and fish waste. They work perfectly in a planted aquarium since you might not be able to reach all the crevices easily for cleaning. Plus, many shrimp can thrive in a planted tank, including ghost shrimps.
The shrimp are beautiful and fascinating to watch. The species also exist in spaces with soft water in the wild and enjoy low levels of carbon, making them perfect to live with plants. If a plant happens to die, they will also get to work cleaning it for you right away.
Overall, freshwater shrimp work very well in a planted tank. These shrimp clean it for you, removing fish waste with ease.
When Can You Add Shrimp to Your Planted Tank?
You will want to wait until you have cycled and established the tank. It can take between two weeks and a month to complete a full cycle, but waiting ensures the shrimp enter a healthy environment.
From there, you will want to slowly add the shrimp to your tank. You should add a few of the shrimp at a time instead of dropping them all in at once. If you add several at once, it can overwhelm your tank’s system.
It helps if you add the shrimp before you add your threadfin rainbow fish population. We recommend waiting at least six months before you introduce fish to the tank. Doing so allows the shrimp to build a healthy environment for themselves before the fish arrive.
Shrimp can take between three and five months to breed, giving them time to feel comfortable without any fish present.
If you notice dead shrimp during this introduction stage, make sure to remove them immediately. The dead shrimp may carry a disease, which can infect the rest of your shrimp, as the alive ones will begin to eat the body to get rid of it.
Keeping Shrimp With Rainbowfish
Many people enjoy keeping shrimp with their rainbowfish. As long as they are freshwater species without claws, they won’t bother the fish. However, you may only want to keep threadfins with shrimp, as they can be harder to feed.
Threadfins have smaller mouths, meaning they need to eat smaller amounts and sizes of food. Fish with larger mouths can swarm the food and gulp it down before the threadfins have a chance to eat.
You don’t have to worry about that with shrimp since they are scavengers. They get whatever the rainbowfish don’t eat and are happy to eat their scraps. Some species can live with this type of fish as long as you are careful in how you raise them.
What Fish Can Live With Rainbowfish?
Several species of fish can live with rainbowfish. They enjoy schooling, and even different species of rainbowfish will swim together. Ram cichlids, catfish, rasboras, large tetras, barbs, betta fish, danios, and gouramis tend to do the best with rainbowfish.
Of course, other creatures can live with them as well. Amano and ghost shrimp, and dwarf frogs are some examples. As long as the rainbowfish grow up with the other animals, they will get along perfectly fine.
Overall, rainbowfish get along with most fish similar in size to them, who are also not aggressive. They also can be placed in tanks with shrimp easily.
Are Threadfin Rainbow Fish Easy to Keep?
Overall, this species of fish is very easy to keep in a planted tank. They thrive in this environment, despite being slow eaters. When placed in a community tank, you want to watch them closely to know that they are eating.
They are also pretty easy to keep with shrimp. The two creatures leave one another alone. Plus, the shrimp will clean up after the threadfins- making them even easier to keep. So, if you are new to managing a planted tank, this species is perfect. It’s even better to keep them with shrimp, who also love planted tanks.
Final Thoughts
Overall, threadfin rainbowfish are perfect for keeping in a freshwater tank. The species thrive in a planted space and even get along with other species. If you already have an established tank with shrimp, the threadfin easily adapts to it.
This setup also makes for a beautiful environment. The fish provide “pops” of color among the greenery. The shrimp keeps the habitat stable since they provide essential cleanup to the floor of your tank.
To summarize, if you want to have shrimp and threadfins in a single tank- go for it!
