# bettas and shrimp?



## ElChef194

will they work? small shrimp of course, ghost or cherry. maybe half a dozen in to clean substrate and plant deterius, and get anything the corys miss.


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## snail

Sometimes it works, sometimes Bettas eat shrimp. It partly depends on the Betta, good cover for the shrimp will also help.


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## ElChef194

yea on next paycheck i am picking up more plants. want shrimp to get what corys miss.


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## dirtydutch4x

I recently added my female to a tank with about 8 grass shrimp and she went postal, 1 full day all shrimp gone.


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## majerah1

one of the food sources for bettas is freshwater shrimps so its most likely they will get devoured or be too frightened to come out.

You can very well try it though just have a backup tank for one or the other just in case.


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## freshwater77

I agree with Shrimp up there; it really depends on the Betta. I had a male betta that ate all the shrimp a few years ago but my most recent one (rest in peace, little buddy =[ ) didn't bother any of the shrimp, minnows, or danio. I'd say put three or four in there, wait a week, and if you still have them all, then go for it ='


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## snail

I'd say try it... as long as you don't mind that there is a chance the shrimp end up as dinner.


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## ElChef194

don't really mind at all if they get eaten. they are $.33/shrimp. i feed them to my ctenopomas already. if the shrimp survive, great. if the breed, even better! free food!


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## majerah1

LOL.


Well then,wonderful


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## snail

In that case you can't go wrong


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## MWA_HA_HA

Cherry shrimp are very small so they usually will get eaten by adult bettas. With ghost shrimp it can be a bit different. Ghost shrimp a larger and are less likely to get eaten. To minimize the possibility of aggression from the Betta you should add bushy plants that will cover the tank such as java moss or hornwort. These will help with the Betta eating the shrimp as the ghost shrimp/cherry shrimp will be able to retreat to the cover. But there is still a possibility of the Betta eating the shrimp


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## snail

Have you tried it?


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## MWA_HA_HA

I've personally tried it many times before. Ghost shrimp usually don't get eaten


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## ElChef194

ghost skrimps are the way i am gonna go. wednesday or thursday of next week i am going plant crazy. i am picking up several plants for all tanks. i need to fill them in. i also plan on getting several ghost shrimp. maybe a dozen to 18. a few ill be food for the ctemopomas.


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## snail

Someone else mentioned in another post that they had problems with shrimp nibbling on the Bettas tail, so keep an eye on that.


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## clep.berry

ElChef194 said:


> yea on next paycheck i am picking up more plants. want shrimp to get what corys miss.


Cory are not there to clean up but need their own food.
I believe a lot of cory are not fed properly out there which is why I\m bringing this up.
cb


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## MWA_HA_HA

snail said:


> Someone else mentioned in another post that they had problems with shrimp nibbling on the Bettas tail, so keep an eye on that.


Ghost shrimp can easily be confused with another more aggressive species of shrimp and shipments are mixed up very often. Sometimes the "ghost shrimp" you're purchasing can be another species if shrimp. A true ghost shrimp will rarely ever nibble on a bettas tail unless you barely feed it or the bettas Dieing


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## ElChef194

clep.berry said:


> Cory are not there to clean up but need their own food.
> I believe a lot of cory are not fed properly out there which is why I\m bringing this up.
> cb


i know, i feed my corys shrimp pellets and small algae wafers(which they hardly eat and i am probably going to remove from diet) with a bi-weekly treat of bloodworms or brineshrimp, but they always root around the tank anyway. i don't expect them to get rid of the deterius or fish waste at all, but they keep the substrate clean(ish) nonetheless.


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## snail

MWA_HA_HA said:


> Ghost shrimp can easily be confused with another more aggressive species of shrimp and shipments are mixed up very often. Sometimes the "ghost shrimp" you're purchasing can be another species if shrimp. A true ghost shrimp will rarely ever nibble on a bettas tail unless you barely feed it or the bettas Dieing


I think you are probably right but thought I would mention it. Ghost Shrimp being a common name what is being sold as Ghost Shrimp probably varies quite a bit in different areas and countries.


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## clep.berry

ElChef194 said:


> i know, i feed my corys shrimp pellets and small algae wafers(which they hardly eat and i am probably going to remove from diet) with a bi-weekly treat of bloodworms or brineshrimp, but they always root around the tank anyway. i don't expect them to get rid of the deterius or fish waste at all, but they keep the substrate clean(ish) nonetheless.


Susan cleared up the fact that they're carnivores for me... forget the algae wafers.
I feed my cory every day now.
cb


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## katanamasako

MWA_HA_HA said:


> Ghost shrimp can easily be confused with another more aggressive species of shrimp and shipments are mixed up very often. Sometimes the "ghost shrimp" you're purchasing can be another species if shrimp. A true ghost shrimp will rarely ever nibble on a bettas tail unless you barely feed it or the bettas Dieing


that explains why a couple of mine have lil red dots on their joints and others are perfectly clear. the ones with the red dots are bad to slaughter the others while they're molting, regardless of the cover in the tank. they're also a teensy bit bigger.


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## jasonmk1j

snail said:


> Someone else mentioned in another post that they had problems with shrimp nibbling on the Bettas tail, so keep an eye on that.


I had a couple of Amano shrimp that got as taste for my Betta's healing fin, I found the thing attached to him, apparently they need some meaty food when they're mating, which they did as soon as they were thrown (quite literally) into my little plant recovery bowl by the kitchen window.

They were taken to a friends tank at work and one of them got eaten *r2


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## ElChef194

so i have abt 15 ghost shrimp in with my betta along with a nerite snail. i have the tank lightly planed with a moss plank in the center of the tank and anacharis along the back wall and corners. when my anubias starts to grow a bit more, i will move a clipping from it to this tank. 

anyway, the shirmp will hold their ground against carnage (named after the villain from spider-man) when it comes to food; and, unless he is feeling frisky, carnage will usually back off. mostly, he swims up close to them to check 'em out, or ignores them completely. one thing that i have been told is unusual is that he will chase the shrimp pellet fragments i feed the shrimp to the bottom of the tank. i do not think that it is a lack of nutrition, b/c he gets fed twice a day ( hakiri betta gold- 2 pellets 2x daily), but more that he is a bit of a fatty.

my initial intention was, as stated before, to breed the shrimp for food, but now i have grown attached to the little guys and will use them as a food source to quell the herd as it were. they are showing no signs of reproduction nor the want to. however, they do really love that moss bed i bought last week.


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