Shrimp with betta

[Mogymog]

Ok, was thinking of getting a shrimp or 20 or so.. to go with my BEtta in his 5.5gal tank. For cleaners, whats the best, or most typical kind I could put in there to see how he'll do and not like murder/eat/soforth the shrimp? And like, how many would be good.. and basicaly any and all info that could be given would be appreciated... and um, i know nothing about fresh/salt shrimp, or are aquarium shrimp generaly fresh or what?

[Abbeys_Mom]

Do you have filtration and aeration on your tank? If you do, I would recommend ghost shrimp. They are usually sold as feeder shrimp. I would stick with 2 or 3 because they do get big. Make sure you have enough hiding places for the shrimp, the betta won't be able to eat them except when they are moulting. Then they are at risk for a day or two.

[Nautilus291]

I have 2 ghost shrimp they do a great job. they stick there little arms inbetween the stones to find food. Its really cool to watch. I bought them a week ago and one of them was around 3/4s of an inch long. And somehow he has grown to an inch and a half all ready!! The other one is still the same size, but this guy is one steroids or something.

[Mogymog]

yeah I have filtration and aeration. Though not sure quite how good my aeration is I do have it. So ghost shrimp ok. I'll go check some out soon as I get a chance too. Thanks.

[f1oored]

I added an algae eating shrimp to my betta tank a few weeks ago. He's gone now. I'm pretty sure he was a 5 dollar snack for my betta. He was fine until he moulted, then Tyson ate him (or so I guess). There is no sign of him anywhere and I'm pretty sure he didn't climb out. If you are going to have shrimp, buy the cheap ones and make sure they have places to hide where the betta can't go (as abbeys mom aka "king of the arcade" said).

[Mogymog]

OK, I got 3 ghost shrip tonight. 1 is fairly large, well bout 1/2" large. The other 2 are smaller and I';m sure the smallest will probably be eaten sometime soon. While, I'll feel sad, atleast it's not really super bad as they where only 30 cents, so if my betta has a live meal, atleast he got something good. I do got a nice hiding spot that I know they can get into, though not too sure about the Betta, I don't think he can get into the 'secret' save in this hidey thing. So hopefully, this will be good, and fun for awhile.

[Abbeys_Mom]

I hope they all make it. They are neat little guys.

[jeffs99dime]

as do i....

[Mogymog]

Though now that I have them.. and had them a day. I just realised there are questions I have about the ghost shrimps... can they be sucked up into the filter? It has a grating on it, but they aren't small slits, and can they climb out of the tank? I saw one on a silk leave last night, so was wondering if they could get out and run off and die somewhere.

And I wish they wheren't so hard to find! Gah, invisible little buggers.

[Abbeys_Mom]

I don't think they would leave the tank, and if they are healthy, they shouldn't get sucked into the filter. If you are concerned, you could always switch to a sponge filter.

[Mogymog]

Hmm.. after looking at sponge things, don't think that work to well for the space in the tank. Well, they seem to be doing ok and I found all 3 running around under the sucker thing which is about 4"s from the bottom so I guess they can come and go as they please. Ok cool.. now just the ver being worried about them getting devoured as a snack.

[cocoa_pleco]

yeah. Those shrimp are cool. Before mine mysteriously got eaten, he used to sit upsidedown at the top of the water and wait for food. And they stick their claws in gravel and eat like people

[hastatus]

I have a Betta in a Hex5 with 3 Ghost shrimp and a pair of Dwarf African frogs and a couple nerite snails. All 4 species seem oblivious of each other. They will bump into each other, especially at feeding time, but no chasing. The Betta has always bullied any other fish that has been in the tank. The shrimp and snails clean the tank, gravel, plants nicely. I do weekly 5qt. water changes with gravel vacuum and use the Eclipse filter.

[jeffs99dime]

actuall, ghost shrimp can be sucked into the filter. they're good climbers. at least mine were