Betta Shrimp Comparibility

[crazyforcordoras]

Hey all. A quick question. Could i put ornamental shrimp in a five gallon tank with a male betta?

 

[McCool]

Depends on the betta. My betta has always been fine with shrimp, but one day he must have gotten hungry, cause one went missing and all that was left was a shrimp tail. Try ghost shrimp and see if he acts okay with them, and if he does I'd say go for it.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah test it with a few inexpensive cherry shrimp first

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Thanks guys! Hopefully he will cooperate, as id really like shrimp.

 

[ZoddyZod]

not sure what you mean by 'ornamentals' - is this a term used in the US for the more decorative shrimp available?

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Yes it does. These include Crystal Red Shrimp, Crystal Black shrimp, Bee shrimp, etc

 

[ZoddyZod]

ok - as said above - might be ok, might not.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

I will get some shrimp soon.

 

[pablothebetta]

I'd try cherries first as they're colourful and small and therefore easy targets. If he's going to bother about shrimp, he'll bother with those. If he doesn't seem to mind after a few weeks or so, I'd try a few ornamentals - if they go down ok after a while, you could get some more. I'd go slow-ish with it, just to be safe

If the ornamentals don't go down well, you could always try amanos or ghosts, as they're not so colourful - therefore I would imagine they're less likely to be targets.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Thanks!

 

[Rummynose]

Crystal reds are a lot more fussy about the water, RCS are a little more forgiving. Also, put lots of plants and create hiding places in your tank, the shrimp have more chances to get away from a hunting Betta!

 

[pablothebetta]

Also, just a note - watch what shrimp you mix together if you don't want them to interbreed. I think planetinverts has a very good table as to which you can and cannot mix