Keeping ghost shrimp with bettas

[Rachel]

I'd be interested to hear people's experience with keeping ghost shrimp in their betta's tank.

I've had some ghost shrimp in a quarantine tank and last night decided to put a couple in my divided tank that houses two male bettas. There are plants in there and places where the shrimp could hide.

Well long story short (ok the story actually took place in less than a minute) within a few seconds of putting the shrimp in my bettas turned vicious and both were trying to attack them. I immediately netted them out and returned them to their QT tank, as I couldn't watch it anymore or wait to see what was going to happen.

It's instinctive for bettas to obviously go after what they consider to be moving food in their tank and I'm not all too surprised at their reaction due to this. It seems as though some people have had success with it though since you do hear about them being recommended as a betta's tankmate.

For me though, it looks like I'll be setting up a little ghost shrimp tank now where they can eat their algae wafers in peace.

[Mellyn]

I put some ghost shrimp in my tank with my bettas. How big is your tank?Mine is a divided 5 gal, so each betta has about 2.5 gals to swim around. If the tank is small, the betta may be a bit more aggressive.

My bettas chase the shrimp when the shrimp are swimming around, but they never notice the shrimp when they're eating stuff at the bottom of the tank.

In my 10 gal, my shrimp seem to be doing alright. I have 7 in there and while I can only see 6, I think they're all still in there.

Make sure you have lots of hiding places near the bottom. Maybe even ones that the betta can't get into. I have a flat peice of slate that I've leaned against the side of the glass - it's too small for the betta to fit, but just right for a shrimp.

Also, I only put the largest of the shrimp in with the male betta. I don't want the small ones to become dinner.

[shanna]

You've heard about my ghosy shrimp before. I have my ten gallon with just two ghost shrimp now. I introduced my betta to it.. three days ago? They're doing fine. I do have a lot of hiding places for the shrimp though: four plastic plants, four live ones, around five rocks, and this plastic tank decoration with a 'cave'. They can always escape if they're being harassed, but I haven't seen any of that yet.

If anything the shrimp attack my betta. They run forward to chase him away and he backs up. I guess it could depend on your betta, though? Mine seems to be very laid back.

Also, I have one shrimp that's about an inch and a half long, and my other is less than one inch--a big one and a small one.

[twoluvcats]

i lost 6 cherry shrimp to my bettas...i only have one guy that won't eat them. Elmo killed any shrimp, including ghosts that i put in the tank with him. If they've never killed one before, you might get away with it...but man my guys would even go bushwacking thru the javamoss to get the shrimp...nowhere was safe. I don't plan to reintroduce shrimp to any of those betta's tanks. Pig will be the only one with shrimp in his tank. LOL

[Rachel]

twoluvcats said:

If they've never killed one before, you might get away with it...but man my guys would even go bushwacking thru the javamoss to get the shrimp...nowhere was safe. I don't plan to reintroduce shrimp to any of those betta's tanks.

That's exactly how my bettas reacted to the shrimp. The shrimp were just walking around on the bottom, but my fish noticed them quickly and soon they were frantically trying to escape betta chomps. After I took the shrimp out, one of my fish circled the bottom for about 20 minutes looking for more. They may work for some other people, but I just don't think they're a good combo for my particular bettas.

I am happy to report that the shrimp are doing well in their own tank now. They're interesting to watch as they tend to follow each other around and stick in a little pack. I have an airstone in with them and a few of them like to swim right up through the bubbles together. They'll do this one after another for a few minutes. Fun stuff.

[fuzzyferretluver]

Do the bettas attack them and kill them, or do they eat them afterwards?
I was going to get some ghost shrimp for my community tank, but the LFS didn't have any there at the time.

[bettaamatuer]

I got a ghost shrimp a week ago and put it in my betta's, Storm, tank. Storm checked him out and he seemed to not care. A few days passed and i noticed my shrimp not moving at all. Then, all the sudden Storm came up and bit the shrimp. I knew the shrimp died and took him out. I don't know what got Storm all fired up. I am not sure if I will try a shrimp again. they are only 26 cents, so i might try another.