Bettas and bottom feeders

[~Col~]

Hi Everyone

I'm considering buying a betta tank sometime in the next few months (providing my husband doesn't find out LOL).

Anyway, I know it's pretty hit and miss with bettas and their aggression towards tank mates, but I was wondering if anyone has ever tried them with Cherry Shrimp?

My LFS has a betta in with their cheery shrimp and while I was worried about him thinking it was a buffett, the tank looked great.

What do you think? Or is there another type of bottom feeder that you would recommend.

I'm looking at a 5g with filter, light, heater and heavily planted with live plants.

[rich311k]

Depends on the betta some do ok with shrimp some do not. In a 5 gallon there is no real need for any tank mates. The betta will be quite happy by himself.

[dnphillips08]

I have one of my Betta with a few ghost shrimp in my 5 gallon and they do fine. Then again he is a pretty easy going Betta though.

[korith]

Well bettas in the while feed on stuff like shrimp in the wild. They'll be hit or miss, depends really on the temperament of the betta. I had a 20g long planted tank, with about 2-3 dozen ghost shrimp in it. The only fish in it was a lone betta, they lived peacefully for several months. Then one day I woke up to find every ghost shrimp dead. The betta went on a killing spree out of the blue. The ghost shrimp were about 2-3x the size of a red cherry shrimp.

Could try snails of some sort, though some bettas are known to pick away at them too. Depending on the tank size you could put a few other fish in with the betta, if the tank is too small I would just go with a lone betta.

[chrisfraser05]

My betta killed his first platy within hours of coming home but he now lives with a few corries and 6 cherry shrimp. He's never bothered with them at all. He just doesn't like bright fish!

[vgalvanrico]

try upgrading that 5 gallon if you really want more tank mates like otocinclus, a small school of cory cats, cherry shrimp, ghost shrimp, african dwarf frogs or you could even add a school of glowlight tetras as these guys get along pretty well (just remember an inch of full grown fish per gallon and bettas grow to about 2.5-3 inches). Also if you want to stay with the 5 gallon you could have a couple plants and a malaysian trumpet snail or two. hopes this helps and good luck! thumbs2:

[timdeville]

Hi, after setting up a 4 gallon tank for my betta i put a fan shrimp in with him soon after. At first the betta was curious but never attacked the shrimp (the shrimp even took an interest in the betta at first!) but after a while they took no notice of each other. I think it mostly depends on the size of the shrimp and how long the betta has been in the tank for on his own (mine doesn't like intruders in his tank). As the other posts have said, i think its more down to the individual fish also.

[~Col~]

Thanks for all your replies!

I'm still in the planning stage although the itch to get a betta tank set up on my study desk at home is getting harder to ignore. LOL!!

I'll see if I can sneak a bigger tank, but may be stuck with the 5g so I'll probably have the betta in there with a snail or two or a shrimp or two. I guess I'll see what he's like when I eventually get him. :)

Thanks again!

[HeatherB]

Sometimes it depends. I would go with ghost shrimp if I were you. They are really cheap so if they get eaten it's ok.

When I add shrimps to mine, I make sure to 'heavily' feed Mr. Betta with something he really likes, like bloodworms. And then net the shrimps in, trying to get them toward the bottom. Sometimes they do well for a long time and then BAM...lunch.

I also tend to ask for larger ones. Or if they just have small, I put them in my larger tanks that have more plants/cover until they get a little larger.

Perhaps some species of cory? I know they have smaller ones. You may be OK with them and a betta if you keep up water changes and have nice filtration. I love my cories!

[Hillbilly88]

it just depends and even if it works out for a while its probly a time bomb, ive had bettas with almost every kind of tropical fish and had some weird work outs and some that didnt at all. i had a betta kill 3 of the 4 corys i had in a tank one time and left the other one alone for almost a year till he died. most bettas are like the under apprieciated minimum wage work and one day out of the blue *bam* postal with an automatic rifle, and everything in your tank is dead and the betta is just swimming around the next day like 'wtf happened here man? idk i was asleep when it happened'

[vgalvanrico]

Thanks for all your replies!

I'm still in the planning stage although the itch to get a betta tank set up on my study desk at home is getting harder to ignore. LOL!!

I'll see if I can sneak a bigger tank, but may be stuck with the 5g so I'll probably have the betta in there with a snail or two or a shrimp or two. I guess I'll see what he's like when I eventually get him. :)

Thanks again!

you know african dwarf frogs and bettas are compatible and interesting to watch

[Gisela]

My Betta Montezuma lives happily with Mr. Amano, my Amano Shrimp. Will buy to more Shrimp.