How likely is it that the Betta won't kill/eat them?

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T1992

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 7, 2015
Messages
2

Hello! :n00b:

I bought a 2.65 gallon tank kit to serve as my room/desk top tank. I knew my stock options would be limited when I got the tank (I have 20 gallon in the living space) and I bought the tank with Betta in mind. I've cycled the tank and will be ordering my special fishie :D within the week (via Ebay). While searching for my quality Betta I came across the numerous freshwater shrimp out there. I've read in quite a few different forums/articles that shrimp make good tank mates for a Betta (male or female). I always thought that (most) Betta's won't allow tank mates but the articles said even aggressive Betta's won't bother the shrimp unless they're scud shrimp which the Betta may eat but if there's live plants in the tank the scud's will be fine too.

:confused: Is it really true that if I got regular shrimp like the cherry or yellow or orange kind they and the Betta could co exist? :confused: I should ask how likely is it that the Betta won't kill/eat them? Would it be worth the try?

:nono: I just don't want to set the little shrimp up to just be eaten or chased and stressed but I could always move them to the 20 I guess.

:thanks:
 
Most likely the shrimp will do fine with the betta.

My 1st Betta tank had a male betta and a set of Amono shrimp. The shrimp hid from the betta during the day in a knot hole in drift wood. The hole was large enough the betta would swim thru it from time to time scattering the shrimp. But otherwise, I never lost a an Amono to the betta.

My current tank is a 13 gallon wide tank filled mainly with neon tetras and about a dozen red cherry shrimp. We recently added a female betta after the loss of gourami. We've never see the betta chase the shrimp.

Actually, the only shrimp I've known to lose to a fish was a baby to a neon tetra. We found a shrimp with eggs and moved her to a spare 1 gallon tank till the eggs hatched. After the babies had a few weeks to grow, we decided to try to move them to the main tank. But I made the mistake of depositing the 1st on right where the neons are used to getting fed. They chased the shrimp, and while the neon nearly choked on the shrimp, after about 5 tries, he got the shrimp down. After that, we waited until AFTER the neons had been fed and deposited the rest of the babies in an out of the way corner. Haven't lost any other shrimp to fish yet.
 
It all comes down to the attitude of the Betta. Shrimp like Red cherries are very bright and many bettas do not like that and will pester/eat them. If you want shrimp your best chance IMO is ghost/glass shrimp or Amano. They are clear and hard for the Betta to see.


Caleb
 
It all comes down to the attitude of the Betta. Shrimp like Red cherries are very bright and many bettas do not like that and will pester/eat them. If you want shrimp your best chance IMO is ghost/glass shrimp or Amano. They are clear and hard for the Betta to see.


Caleb
Or maybe they DO loke the coloration as it makes them easy to spot for a snack :D

Ive had all my bettas snap at my shrimp from time to time. Its really rare that i see him actually get to eat them. They are much much much faster than bettas. But almost every fish in the trade will snap at shrimp.

They key to keeping shrimp with fish is keeping enough of them together woth enough hiding places that its not a problem to lose a few here and there.
 
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