Bettas with shrimp?

[blackmolly]

i'm wondering if anybody has had some success stories, or if anybody has been able to make this work. i would really like to add a betta to my ten gallon (my blue boy died at the ripe old age of 4 a few months back)... but i know i want shrimp. i read that it's mostly on a fish by fish basis... do you think if i got the shrimp first and then got a very young betta i'd have any luck? i'd prefer a male betta, but i would do a female if it would increase my chances. thanks!

 

[Bettababe1011]

Maybe start with some ghost shrimp, and if the betta does well with them, you can try some fancier shrimp. Just a couple at first, and add more if it works well.

 

[blackmolly]

thanks for responding so quickly! i think i might try that, but i'm open to other suggestions as well. do you think a male or a female would be a better choice?

 

[Bettababe1011]

They are both carnivores, and if they like shrimp, both genders will have a fancy meal.

 

[blackmolly]

good point... i'll probably do what you suggested in the first post. the key is going to be stopping myself from wandering over to the betta section and falling in love before that.

 

[KaylNeko]

You can try going for female ghost shrimp, too. They reach an inch and a half, as opposed to males which reach 3/4 inch. My betta's fine with everybody, so I got lucky, but that's the advice I gave a friend of mine who recently got a betta and wants some shrimp. That, and maybe get a bunch of Hornwort to throw into the tank--it's a floating plant that's super easy care (so far for me, it's been toss it in and forget about it except to clean out a few handfuls now and then so the top doesn't get full). The shrimp and the betta all love it, and it makes for some hiding places for the shrimp.

 

[lee1983]

i have a female betta a few months back i bought some cherry shrimp off ebay they were around 1cm long so i thought they were safe she ate the lot they werent even safe hiding in my moss and ferns because once she tasted shrimp she actively hunted the rest out

 

[tinkster87]

Ghost shrimp or Amano shrimp might be worth a try but I wouldn't even try Cherry Shrimp, I tried and soon failed.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Amano & ghost shrimp will do fine
I was thinking bamboo shrimp because they are large but have no experience with them
Add a lot of hiding spots or do a heavily planted tank

 

[KaylNeko]

Bamboo shrimp do better in a pretty well established tank since they're filter feeders and not scavengers. Someone who has more experience than I--want one, but both tanks less than four months old--would dosing with something like infusoria do the job for them?