Shrimps or crayfish compatible with Bettas?
- Thread starter Tomimee
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According to the following, http://nippyfish.net/bettas-101/tankmates-for-bettas/ it's not a good idea to put brightly colored fish into the same aquarium as a betta due to the betta thinking it may be another betta. So, to be safe I wouldn't recommend anything brightly colored. The orange dwarf cray may do good, but it'd largely depend on the individual betta.
Some possible alternatives to the cray could be ghost shrimp (mentioned in above article. These are cool because you can see the color of the recently eaten food through the transparent sides of the shrimp), bamboo shrimp (may be ignored due to being a brown shrimp), or possibly even amano shrimp. There are other possibilities, but just be sure the invert has similar water parameter needs as the water you're going to keep the betta in.
Hope this helps!
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Some possible alternatives to the cray could be ghost shrimp (mentioned in above article. These are cool because you can see the color of the recently eaten food through the transparent sides of the shrimp), bamboo shrimp (may be ignored due to being a brown shrimp), or possibly even amano shrimp. There are other possibilities, but just be sure the invert has similar water parameter needs as the water you're going to keep the betta in.
Hope this helps!
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
Thanks for the reply the article was very helpful.
I originally wanted to add some rcs to the tank but was unsure of whether the betta would eat it or not. After reading a few articles I found out that the only thing rcs would add to my tank was a nice tasty treat for my betta!
Are ghost shrimps large enough to not get eaten? How about Amano? What would I have to feed the bamboo shrimp?
I originally wanted to add some rcs to the tank but was unsure of whether the betta would eat it or not. After reading a few articles I found out that the only thing rcs would add to my tank was a nice tasty treat for my betta!
Are ghost shrimps large enough to not get eaten? How about Amano? What would I have to feed the bamboo shrimp?
According to the following article, http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-shrimp/amano-shrimp/ the amano shrimp grow to two inches. It also mentions they are likely to be eaten by aggressive tank mates, so again, it would largely depend on the individual betta. I would think you'd have a better chance to successfully keep these with female bettas since they're not usually the fighting gender, but I could be wrong on that.
On the same site I found info about bamboo shrimp (http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-shrimp/bamboo-shrimp/), which mentions it eats micro algae (you can probably crush up an algae water for them), micro organisms, and other fine particulate matter. These do grow up to three inches, so just keep that in mind.
Again, same site mentions ghost shrimp (http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-shrimp/ghost-shrimp/) which can grow to two inches, though 1.5 inches is more common.
You can click the above links for full info on the shrimps.
Now, my recommendation is to start with a couple ghost shrimp due to being fairly cheap. They're commonly used as feeder shrimp, so you can usually purchase them for a few cents. This will allow you to gauge the temperament of your betta, so you'll know if it's aggressive or not.
If all goes well, I may consider adding an amano shrimp or two, just to better gauge the betta's temperament with the new shrimp (remember, aggressive betta and the shrimp will end up like the rcs). However, PLEASE NOTE that shrimp do best in groups of at least six (the smaller "schooling" species, e.g. amano, rcs, ghost, etc. However, larger more solitary species are fine with three or four to an aquarium, e.g. bamboo shrimp), but you really only want to start with one or two so you don't lose too much money in case your betta eats them.
Alternatively, you could purchase a couple bamboo shrimp instead of amano shrimp. The most important thing is to start with the cheapest shrimp (ghost shrimp) and head to the other one, potentially the one you actually want, after you observe the shrimp happy and healthy.
Lastly, if you don't see any ghost shrimp after you put them in the aquarium, don't automatically assume they've been eaten. They're called ghost shrimp for a reason. I've owned some that I didn't see for days and one day I saw them again. However, they should be a good gauge of your betta's temperament to help determine which tank mates would be best for future ventures
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
On the same site I found info about bamboo shrimp (http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-shrimp/bamboo-shrimp/), which mentions it eats micro algae (you can probably crush up an algae water for them), micro organisms, and other fine particulate matter. These do grow up to three inches, so just keep that in mind.
Again, same site mentions ghost shrimp (http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-shrimp/ghost-shrimp/) which can grow to two inches, though 1.5 inches is more common.
You can click the above links for full info on the shrimps.
Now, my recommendation is to start with a couple ghost shrimp due to being fairly cheap. They're commonly used as feeder shrimp, so you can usually purchase them for a few cents. This will allow you to gauge the temperament of your betta, so you'll know if it's aggressive or not.
If all goes well, I may consider adding an amano shrimp or two, just to better gauge the betta's temperament with the new shrimp (remember, aggressive betta and the shrimp will end up like the rcs). However, PLEASE NOTE that shrimp do best in groups of at least six (the smaller "schooling" species, e.g. amano, rcs, ghost, etc. However, larger more solitary species are fine with three or four to an aquarium, e.g. bamboo shrimp), but you really only want to start with one or two so you don't lose too much money in case your betta eats them.
Alternatively, you could purchase a couple bamboo shrimp instead of amano shrimp. The most important thing is to start with the cheapest shrimp (ghost shrimp) and head to the other one, potentially the one you actually want, after you observe the shrimp happy and healthy.
Lastly, if you don't see any ghost shrimp after you put them in the aquarium, don't automatically assume they've been eaten. They're called ghost shrimp for a reason. I've owned some that I didn't see for days and one day I saw them again. However, they should be a good gauge of your betta's temperament to help determine which tank mates would be best for future ventures
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Fishy Fever
Aquarium Advice Regular
I like amano shrimp a lot more than ghost shrimp. They are faster and hardier. They can survive carnivorous centerpiece fish in my experience. So if you haven't bought any ghost shrimp yet, I would consider the change. Or once your ghost shrimp die out, you could add the amanos.
Homer8
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I had a betta with RCS and he pretty much wiped them all out
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MineShaker
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Maybe a Mexican CPO dwarf crayfish would work
Sent from the crayfish lover Mine Shaker
Sent from the crayfish lover Mine Shaker
I put 4 cherry shrimp in with my betta in the evening. He chased them as I went to bed. I wasn't happy. The next day and days following, we leaves them alone. No problem. I'm new to bettas. I'm a reef tank guy and this is my kids. It's only a 2 gallon tank. May move to 5 gallon. Good luck!
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