My Betta And Ghost Shrimp

[tmh0921]

I got my first Betta a few weeks ago, he's the new director of stress management and sits on my desk at work in his 3 gallon (US) tank. He's very interactive and follows me around while I work, and will "play" if I stick my fingers in his tank. It's very relaxing....

Anyway, I decided he needed a friend to keep from getting bored. I was going to get an apple snail but the ones at the LFS didn't look good (read: I think all three tanks of snails were dead). Soooooo, I bought 5 ghost shrimp instead. I figured either they'd keep him entertained or he'd have a nice live snack.

Well - Two of them didn't make it 10 minutes. He didn't eat them, he killed them then swam around with them in his mouth

The other three keep out of his way....but he hunts them down and then has a staring contest with them....It's like hide and seek, only i don't think the shrimp enjoy it nearly as much as he does

Hopefully, he decides they can stay in his tank, they have already made short work of cleaning up bits of food stuck in the gravel.

 

[bettanoob]

this is a good subject to ask people about as im thinking of getting some cherry shrimps for my tanks also any one have any further info on shrimps and betta

 

[tmh0921]

Oh, his tank has a filter in it, I took the cartridge out, and put in a sponge and Eheim Substrat Pro to create a good biological filter for his little tank. I also added an in tank heater, that was preset to 78 degrees per the manufacturer. I noticed the tank evaoproated a lot of water, and the water seemed a bit warm. So today I added a themometer.....the water was 90 degrees F!

Poor little guy, he really didn't seem to mind much....I think the internal filter puts off some heat, so the heater was just overload in such a small tank.....I have turned off the heater, and the tank has slowly dropped to 86 degrees F, and falling.....

 

[Fatknee]

I've got red cherry shrimps but I don't want to take a chance putting them in with one of my boys

 

[bettanoob]

I want some good cleaners to help with cleaning up after my ladies and makes if they can live together snails are ok but shrimp would be nicer (if I had to have a diff tank for them then I would have to get a lobster and grow myself a nice meal hehe)

 

[Fatknee]

Lol

 

[tmh0921]

Ghost shrimp are cheap ($0.25), cherries are not. I bought ghosts knowing the betta may eat them. I wouldn't risk cherries. Amano shrimp are bigger and would probably be ok

 

[tmh0921]

Update, since others were intereste in how Bettas and Shrimp get along.

Of the 5 ghost shrimp I put in, 2 were killed almost immeediately. They weren't eaten, just "played with". A third was lost over night one night, apparently as a snack. The other two are very active and scavenging. My betta will investigate them, and watch them, but so far is leaving them alone.

I bought ghost shrimp with full knowledge they may become live snacks. They were intended to enrich the Betta's environment to ward off boredom. I would suggest however, if you want to keep shrimp with Bettas and don't want them to become snacks, that you get bigger shrimp. Amano shrimp get to be about 2" - 2.5", and are pretty robust. I'd recomend getting them over small shrimp like ghost or cherry for a betta tank.

 

[Louiseness]

Ghost shrimp are cheap ($0.25), cherries are not.

Cherries are pretty cheap locally to me, maybe 50p each?

Anyway, I have cherries in with my betta and the doesn't eat or harrass them, not even the shrimplets. They're constantly breeding As with most things with bettas, your mileage may vary dependant on your individual fish's personality.

 

[the_lock_man]

Ghost shrimp are cheap ($0.25), cherries are not.

Cherries are pretty cheap locally to me, maybe 50p each?

Anyway, I have cherries in with my betta and the doesn't eat or harrass them, not even the shrimplets. They're constantly breeding As with most things with bettas, your mileage may vary dependant on your individual fish's personality.

Certainly, my last fighter thought that cherry shrimp were breakfast, but he was scared rigid of the amanos

 

[bettanoob]

i may have to invest in some soon

 

[tmh0921]

In the US Amano shrimp go for between $2.50 and $4.00, unless you find some at a Chain LFS and the person thinks they're ghosts and you get them for $0.25 (not my fault they didn't know their species)....