Should I Try Ghost Or Amano Shrimp?

[pablothebetta]

The issue is that my betta can be agressive. When I first put my betta into the tank a few months ago, there were around 10 or so juvinile cherry shrimp in there. After a day or two, almost all of them had been attacked and killed. There are currently one or two left in there that I occasionally spot. However, I suppose they would have made easy targets with their red colouring and small size. I do like having shrimp, so I've wondered about trying amano or ghost shrimp as they're larger and less colourful, hoping they'd make less attractive targets. My betta has also been known to attack small bladder snails - there were a load in the tank when my betta first went in, and I spotted him attacking a feW of the smaller ones almost straight after I released him. In saying that though, I don't think I saw him do it again after the first few days.

Do you think I should leave trying other shrimp, or are they worth a go?

Thanks

 

[jasonh_000]

pretty sure your betta doesnt like company. mine will leave them alone but pick off one once in a while.
i think he keeps the population down to about 7.

this is after adding about 12 every 3 weeks

 

[Fishy friend2]

A lot of bettas will find shrimp such as Cherry Shrimp a source of food since they are small. Selecting a larger species would work sometimes. He might still see them as a source of food though. I would stick to Amano shrimp. They are a bit larger, are beneficial to your tank, and are cheap. Ghost shrimp are similar. they have similar beneficial properties as would amano shrimp such as eating excess food and having a low bio load. They are commonly mislabeled in pet stores and many of the times they turn out to be a larger species of shrimp that have the potential to harm your betta which is the downside. wouldnt take this risk at all

-FF2

 

[pablothebetta]

Thanks Jasonh and FF2. Just picked up 2 amano shrimp - I hope my betta gets along with them better than the cherries

 

[Night61]

i got shrimp for my current betta to help clean his tank of the algae. he ate all three. as far as i am concern he can live with the algae now

 

[pablothebetta]

All seems fine one day in - I haven't really seen him show much interest in them at all. Very pleased

 

[jasonh_000]

i got shrimp for my current betta to help clean his tank of the algae. he ate all three. as far as i am concern he can live with the algae now

they really dont clean the tank much. and the shrimp would rather have fish flakes or whatever you're feeding the betta.
if you give them freeze dried brine shrimp they go nuts.

think of it this way: if you get something that eats algae [which shrimp only eat a little] that turns into poop. which one would you rather have?