Well Im getting to the stage where Im thinking of getting the 160litre up and running soon and Im gonna take the fish from my 90 litre into it. (1 male guppy,1 female guppy fry,2 male mollies,1 female molly,4 cardinal tetera,3 neon,3 bronze corys). Im thinking of adding another male guppy,perhaps and angel fish and was looking at possibilty of shrimps ?. Anyone have advise on shrimp ? Also will the angel be alright in a tank 160 litres,would 1 be enough ?

As for the 90 litre tank at that point Ill possibly get alot of tiger barbs and some corys.

Anyone able to help me out on this one ?

Hi,

160 litre should be fine for an Angel once it is a tall tank (18 inch plus).
They grow to be very deep bodied fish so need the headroom.

re: Shrimp, they are a great addition to the tank & the choice depends on what you want to pay and on your water.

Ghost shrimp are your run of the mill see thru shrimp with no color, get to about 2 inches in size. Not much to look at but lots of character.
Relatively cheap & hardy too.

Amano shrimp, smaller & nicer looking than ghost shrimp. Similar in colour but with a bit more colour on the back. Generally about a fiver each. Hardy as well

There are lots of other options but they are generally less hardy, less available & more expensive. Crystal red, orange, bumblebee etc. are available from time to time. Like the amano shrimp stay small but they have great colours. Be prepared to dig deep though at 8 or 9 quid for crystal reds.

I've also seen some unusual large shrimp in Aquatic village that are like small lobsters.

Best of luck,
Patrick.

Patrick thanks a million for that. Im not overly worried about shelling out a tenner on a shrimp as the rest of the fish are relatively cheap and also given that a pint is €4.50,these last longer and dont give me a headache! Id love to get some bumbleebee shrimp but being based in Cork Im very limited to certain shops so Aquatic Village is too far away although Im gonna try and get a visit in there next time Im up in the City.
Would the shrimp and corys survive together fine on the bottom? Also would I need alot of plants etc as I dont have any plans on adding too many plants as such.

if you put angels in with guppies they will eat
the fry. you would have to put the gravid females
in breeding traps.
phil.

A pint ain't not 4.50 around here - I paid 5.40 a pint at the weekend

I've not had any problems mixing shrimps & corys and plants are not a necessity though they are generally likely places for the shrimp to hang out..

The only thing with the smaller more expensive ones is that they can be hard to find/see in the tank..

I paid 9 quid each for two half inch long crystal reds & see them once in a blue moon - this is in a 50 litre tank!

Okay if I was to avoid the Angel fish and possibly get a Ram Cichlid instead, is this ideal for community tank or not ?

Anyone had Rams in a community tank ? Also heard they would eat the shrimp?

rams are not really suitable for community tank
as they require soft acid water. most cichlids
will eat baby guppies.you could try kribensis
and put plenty of floating plants as hiding places.
phil.

The kribensis would be a better option to an angel, but I think there would be a good chance of them eating the smaller shrimps CRS, Cherry, Tiger, Bee etc. The Ammano might be big enough to be safe.

I would definitely recomend a few plants for the shrimp (of any type), they like to have something to hang on to and climb. They also spend most of there time nibbling on microscopy bits of algae and debris on the plants.

Use a fine substrate for the corys, like playsand or at least smooth rounded gravel - nothing with sharp edges.