Honest Opinions

[ikiera]

Hi there, just a quick q

Im currently cycling an aquaone 28l tank.. its got its heater, filter, mini air pump etc. Wont be adding a betta til im happy with water peramiters... which I know could take a month or.more.

What I was wondering is if this tank you could have shrimp to clean up? or anything else as well as the betta. I am aware its a diddy tank and im very happy to just have a betta in there. Its pure curiosity as I wouldnt trust the local pets shops with this!

thanks

 

[Baccus]

Shrimp with fighters can be a real hit and miss affair, some fighters will hunt shrimp relentlessly while other fighters show no interest at all. The same can be for snails too, although generally larger snails fighters will just ignore.
If you decide to try shrimp with your fighter I would try for a larger species of shrimp than cherry shrimp (plus cherry shrimp can breed like crazy), something like an Amano shrimp would probably be the best tank companion.

 

[ikiera]

thanks.. ive seen amanos in a shop selling bettas.. a couple of bettas had shrimp in with them so that could be promising. What would you suggest stocking wise? Thanks for your help.. Ive owned pretty much every pet possible so I want to make sure my fish is happy too!!

 

[techen]

thanks.. ive seen amanos in a shop selling bettas.. a couple of bettas had shrimp in with them so that could be promising. What would you suggest stocking wise? Thanks for your help.. Ive owned pretty much every pet possible so I want to make sure my fish is happy too!!

Nice to hear you doing a cycle before you add the fish. A few shrimp would be fine along with your betta

 

[Baccus]

Cherry shrimp I would avoid for two reasons, they breed like crazy and can quickly over populate a tank (unless your fighter takes a liking to the little red snacks

), and because cherry shrimp are dwarf shrimp they are an easy target for almost any fish.

Amnao shirnp are a larger and more robust with males being around the 3cm mark and females up to 6cm. They can breed in fresh water but the larval young are almost impossible to raise. Amanos like most shrimp like being in numbers, but for only a 28L tank I would say safest to only have 3 or 4 of them.

 

[ikiera]

thanks both of you! Yeah Id never add fish before cycling.. even if it does take a while. my friend has a massive tank and she cycled for 3 months before she was happy!

So now thats been sorted... patience til the tanks sorted

 

[Chad]

Shrimp with fighters can be a real hit and miss affair, some fighters will hunt shrimp relentlessly while other fighters show no interest at all.

I agree. Shrimp are a GREAT part of a clean up crew but only when the fish don't eat them.

 

[ikiera]

ill add the shrimp first then I guess.. when its cycled. they can grow and get established. im guessing if i do this fish food is fine for them?

 

[Chad]

That depends on the fish food really. These guys really like their algae so I generally recommend a specialized shrimp food for them. If you feed your fish an algae based flake then the shrimp will go for it in a big way. Ghost shrimp will go after non-algae based foods with relish but I find they don't do well long term.

 

[ikiera]

you guys are ace!!

im giving it a year to see how I do with the smaller tank.. then ill brave something bigger and planted.. you guysll be a great help!!

 

[372xp]

I had a ghost shrimp in with my male betta in a 21 litre tank. They were fine together. Bettas are messy eaters and a ghost shrimp will happily tidy up after. That would be my choice. A word of warning dont have one in your breeding tank, I made that mistake the shrimp got most of the eggs, what a chump!

 

[ikiera]

naughty shrimp!! I live in wiltshire in the uk. does anyone know of any good fish shops nearby that sell betta? Also, is it worth buying a betta online? Ive seen such gorgeously marked fish online.

 

[372xp]

No idea about buying online, surely there is a good chance of death by postman.

 

[Nightfall]

I've bought Betta online from Thailand and never had a single death. They were all gorgeous, hardy fish. I got them from Aquabid.
Buying online can be great, even with the shrimp. I bought mine from a LFS but when I was researching I looked at a popular fish sale site in my country and even with the extreme heat here at most people found 1/10 shrimp dead, most of the reviews left said all the shrimp arrived alive.

I put in two cherries with one of my Bettas. I was willing to take the chance because he didn't even hunt down brine shrimp. Several weeks later, when I did a 60% water change and removed all the plants and driftwood I couldn't find one (although he was always smaller, paler and less active than the female), but the female was still there. When the Betta sees her he will chase her, but there are more than enough hiding places for her. I don't know if the other shrimp died and was eaten, or was just eaten outright. I suspect he died because he never emerged to explore like the female.

These little shrimp can only see about 4 inches in front of them, so keep that in mind when providing hiding places. My shrimp absolutely loves java moss and dwarf hairgrass in particular, and they're hard for the Betta to get into.