Cherry shrimp with a betta?

[zelilaa]

Hello! I have a Betta (pinkish cellophane opaque delta-tail with silvery shine on back ) And he lives in a HUGE two gallon bowl. Some people say this is too small, but trust me, it isn't!! He looks like a munchkin in his bowl His about 2.5 inches with the tail and all. He his 100 % healthy, blowing bubbles scattered all over his bowl, and eating food immediately. I feed him 3 pellets a day, and every once in a while (randomly no more then three times a week) I feed him a freeze dried blood worm for the day instead. I do a 25 % water change every 3 days. Do not tell me that is not enough.. It has been working fine. I have no filter But I WILL be buying one with the Betta and Cherry shrimp in mind sometime THIS month. It is not heated, but that's OK because it stays at a perfect temperature of 78 degrees (Fahrenheit... if you thought I mean Celsius your a dummy

)

In the bowl is a 4 inch glass whale. He loves it, and when he's not chilling by the surface he lies down on the floor and squeezes in next to his glass buddy, the whale! It's very pretty and dark blue. Please do not tell me to take out the whale because it's been in there for two weeks, my betta is perfectly healthy, and it's coloring does not leak into the water. The whale is solid glass and is completely smooth with no hard lines or anything. DON'T lecture me about the whale. I took up this whole paragraph to explain him because I do not want people lecturing me about him. Oh and uh, I also have a clear glass stick hanging off the edge of the bowl (inside, leans in to touch the wall of the bowl around the middle so its at an angle) With a red- orange ball at the end. Um.... It's about 5 inches (in the water) It's been in there one week. My Betta likes squeezing behind it. (By squeezing I'm exaggerating cause he has like... 1 centimeter of loose room in between him and the stick AND the side of the bowl.

The gravel I use are large outdoor pebbles. They are all smooth, and and are about 1-2 centimeters wide. They do NOT hurt Spoons. ( The delta-tail's name ) I am telling you about the gravel because since my question is about shrimp I want to make sure this is OK gravel. I MIGHT be able to change it if 100% necessary, but I prefer NOT to. ALSO, I have a (sorta) plant in there. AKA, a 'Betta bulb' I just placed in there yesterday after buying from petco. It is currently just a brown hairy bulb. Very large. about 2.9 centimeters. Biggest bulb I could find

So here's my question <grins> I would like to get two (or three) cherry shrimp. I would (duh) keep them in the same bowl and Spoons. I know they like hiding spaces one for each indivisual shrimp. I can create those easily with mini inch inch terra cotta pots from Micheals, Or get a cute fake plant at the bottom with hiding spaces. Point is... I can get those. Don't worry about that! And I realize they like heavy vegetation... But that's mostly because of the hiding spot. Like I said, I'll make those. And it's secondly because of the fact it's often their food. I will feed them! I realize they are omnivores. They eat algae (I don't have any). I read they will eat Tubifex Worms. First of all, I read a whole chapter about the history of Tubifex worms in an aquarium breeding book I found in my house library

. But I do not know if Spoons will want to eat them too? Please go back to the first paragraph is you already forgot what Spoons eats.

Also they will eat blanched veggies. I can do that easily!

My MAIN QUESTION is ... when it comes to feeding the cherry shrimp would be.. "HOW MUCH DO THEY EAT??" No one says this anywhere! If I feed them a blanched slice of cucumber, how thick would the slice be? How long before I take it out? What about peas? How many peas would I feed them? Or if Spoons doesn't want to touch the tubifex worms and I feed them that, how many of them will they eat? I don't want to kill them and dirty the water when it comes to feeding time. Remember, this would be TWO cherry shrimp.

To re-cap... (yes you still have to read this part too!) I have a betta in a two gallon bowl that is plenty big. He is happy and healthy. I do 25% water changes every three days. I would like to get a couple cherry shrimp too. Can I get them with my Betta safely? And what/how can I feed them if so? Thank you!

P.S) I am also posting an identical post to this to another fish forum. I hope that's O.K

P.S.S) I know the Betta MIGHT eat or try to eat the fish.. but I highly doubt it and It's worth the risk to me :3
P.S.S.S) PLEASE DO NOT tell me the bowl is not big enough for a Betta alone, the whale is not safe;take it out, here is a link to a place where you can buy a nice bigger tank for cheap... ETC. I'm not asking for that! I am just asking whether it's OK to add cherry shrimp and what/how to feed them.

OK I'M DONE WRITING! ROFLMAO
oops umm no i'm not :3 I'd like to apologize my stupid avatar. I'm changing it ASAP, but I'm too busy right now XD

 

[Lowryder]

I think your betta will eat your shrimp. They may survive for alittle but in the end they will be food.

I have some shrimp with my keyholes and they are doing fine. I am not sure what kind they are but they are larger, they look like glass shrimp, not sure though.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I also believe the shrimp would get eaten, especially in a space that small.

But, to answer your question...its hard to say how much they eat exactly. I have a tank full of Cherry Shrimp and I feed the tank a few spirulina algae wafers or 5-6 pellets every other day. If you get 3 shrimp, I would feed them more than just veggies....try to get some algae wafers too and feed them a small piece every day or every other day.

 

[severum mama]

I also believe that the shrimp will be eaten. JMHO, but 2 gallons is going to start looking smaller and smaller as the betta grows (I always suggest 5 gallons minimum) even though it may look fine now. And for what it's worth I would suggest daily water changes. Betta breeders, for example, often keep bettas in bowls or mason jars, but do 100% water changes daily. I don't think it's necessary in your situation to go that far. However, with what little biological filtration capacity you have in an unfiltered bowl, it's basically akin to the fish swimming around in a toilet, especially as it grows.

 

[JohnPaul]

Given that your betta has already been in the bowl and established it as his territory, I would give you about a 25% chance that the shrimps survive. Bettas are very particular in their behavior; I've owned some that were perfectly fine with dwarf shrimp, and others that literally would kill any of them put in their tank within the first 30 seconds. The only way to know is to try it and see, but be warned that the majority of bettas I have owned have looked upon shrimp as food, not tankmates.

If you try it and the betta is content to leave the shrimp alone, the answer to your question about feeding is: virtually nothing. The primary diet of dwarf shrimp such as Red Cherrys is the algae and other natural microorganisms that make up the biofilm that grows on the surface of everything in your tank. If you feed a blanched veggie, then leave it in the bowl for maybe 3-4 hours...the shrimps will pick at it some and that will be enough. If you feed flake food, you would (quite literally) take ONE flake...ONE...crush it up between your fingers to turn it into a powder, and then disperse that into the water of your bowl. The little food bits will settle on to the surface of the substrate and the grazing shrimp will find it.

As for hiding places, actually when shrimp feel safe they have no need of hiding places at all (other than when they molt), and certainly not at a rate of 1 cave per shrimp! As long as you have some plants, they will be fine. Basically, if the betta decides the shrimps are food, then no amount of hiding places is going to save them in a bowl that small. And if the betta chooses to ignore the shrimps entirely, then quickly enough the shrimps will learn the betta is not a threat and they won't feel a terribly strong urge to hide. They'll still be less active (and less amusing) than they would be if they were in a shrimp-only tank, but at the very least they should be out & moving around the bowl.

If the Red Cherrys end up getting eaten, you could always try a larger species like the Amano shrimp (which gets about as large as an adult betta, and thus is much harder to eat) or else a fancy snail like an Apple Snail, Nerite snail, etc.

 

[zelilaa]

Thank you SO much everyone! I just do not understand how the betta could possibly eat the shrimps... They are like 2 centimeters and his mouth is sooo teeny and his stomach is even teenier.. But OK. I will try it out with one shrimp (the biggest in the store!) and if he eats or kills that I will try out some different invertabrates. Although.. There is NO algae in my bowl, nor will there be as it is not in direct sounlight, in a usually darkish room, and only with a small l.e.d light. I think If I get a couple I will do what John Paul recomended with the flake as that seems easiest XD Also, on hiding places, thanks for the recommendation! I won't put anything in there.. It's small enough and I don't want it to be crammed.
P.S) The bowl is now filtered! I put in a small 1-3 gallon whisper filter, my betta loves it. He will swim right up to where the water goes back into the bowl and try swimming against the current. He swims in circles around it and chills in the back. At first he was darting all around going, "WTF IS THAT??" But in about 6 minutes he was used to it and exploring the object all around.
P.S.S) If Spoons decides to eat the first big shrimp, I will set up a little place for them in my other and currently empty bowl just for them and maybe a male guppy.
Thank you all, HUGS AND KISSES, Zeli!

 

[taylorodw]

YAY! I am so glad you put a little filter in there. That alone improves your bowl by 100%, even though it is still small.

 

[HN1]

YAY! I am so glad you put a little filter in there. That alone improves your bowl by 100%, even though it is still small.

+1.

 

[JohnPaul]

I just do not understand how the betta could possibly eat the shrimps... They are like 2 centimeters and his mouth is sooo teeny and his stomach is even teenier.. But OK. I will try it out with one shrimp (the biggest in the store!) and if he eats or kills that I will try out some different invertabrates.

Well the last betta I had (a female, and she was a real....um...well I'll keep the thread rated PG) attacked an amano shrimp that was actually a little bit LARGER than she was. She tolerated absolutely nothing else in her tank but her.

You are right, a fish that small can't EAT (whole) a large shrimp. But what they do is they lunge at it, maybe rip off a leg and eat that. Then will lunge again, try to take another bite out of it, etc. So they kill/eat it in little pieces at a time.

Congrats on the filter, btw. Bettas do like playing in the outflow, as you have discovered!

 

[zelilaa]

Well the last betta I had (a female, and she was a real....um...well I'll keep the thread rated PG) attacked an amano shrimp that was actually a little bit LARGER than she was. She tolerated absolutely nothing else in her tank but her.

You are right, a fish that small can't EAT (whole) a large shrimp. But what they do is they lunge at it, maybe rip off a leg and eat that. Then will lunge again, try to take another bite out of it, etc. So they kill/eat it in little pieces at a time.

Congrats on the filter, btw. Bettas do like playing in the outflow, as you have discovered!

Yes I realized that this morning when I fed my betta a HUGE blood worm for the day. He grabbed it in his mouth, swallowed half of it, and then like shook his head around to get it to split in half to finihs eating it. He's so awesome! And he found his new favorite hiding/ sleeping place in the bowl. My filter is suction cupped onto a plexi-glass peice hanging inside the edge of the bowl. We had to put in the plexi glas cause the filter cant suction cup to the round fish bowl insides =P So his new spot is either behind the plexi glass or in between the two suction cups. Also, he's super smart! He can't blow his little (nvm... not so little!) bubble nests into the current water, so he built it behind the filter, and its twice its width and twice his length. He's so frigging AWESOME!!! I love spoons! <3 <3 <3

 

[zelilaa]

Got a new tank now! SOOOOO Is it ok to put the shrimp in a filtered, 2.5 gallon rectanguler tank? Have two betta bulbs one has the plant peeking out other is prouted about 3cm, and 3 fake plants.

 

[Mnae007]

My bettas have had a terrible tendensy to nip on shrimps and snails`s eyes, and trust me, they will xD You could put in a flying fox or some sort of anonymous algae eater if you have to, but i`d say leave it.

And to throw in something else; a shrimp i had jumped my female betta and tried to eat her, so i guess its possible it could go that way too..

 

[Mnae007]

Oh right xD Well, i`d say no, cus my betta and my shrimps didnt get along in my 16 gallon eighter..

 

[JustOneMore20]

2.5g would make a great shrimp tank. You could definitely start with a handful of red cherry shrimp...maybe 5-10.

 

[severum mama]

Congrats on the new tank!

Definitely do NOT add a flying fox, CAE, SAE, oto, or any other type of algae eater. The tank is much too small.

Cherry shrimp are a great choice for a 2.5 gallon and will even eat some algae.

 

[MarkA123]

Lol did you put the shrimp in and how did it go?

 

[zelilaa]

hee hee :3 I funny to see how some people have read all my posts ( ie: severum mama, and others didnt even notice how i said i wasn't getting them until CHRISTMAS! ie: mark.) Lol just picking on you Mark. Anyways yes I have not gotten them yet. I will be waiting until at LEAST november. My dad won't let me get anything now as i've only had the betta for 19 days =P And btw, I added two tall (7 inches and the tips go above the waterline) fake plants that my betta LOVES and a small terra cotta pot. There is now NO more room for anything in that tank as in decoration. The bottom is covered with stones and fake plants and decor and the like. Lots of shrimpy hiding nooks :3 And I have a feeling my betta would eat them. He's STILL crazy aggresive and trying to fight his slight reflection on the side of the tank. After he's been in the a week. Silly fishy! And today I fed him one HUGE bloodworm for the day (tomorrow is his fast day anyways) and he shook his head from side to side and broke it in a few pieces and at it like that. Soo... he's a little monster. Like I said, I'll try one shrimp. If it vanishes after a week... I won't get another!

 

[zelilaa]

BTW, does anyone know any chain (across country i mean) LFS that sell cherry shrimp? Because my local petsmart and petco doesn't have them and I can't order on line.

 

[MarkA123]

Lol sorry I just read most of it than got tired and just skimmed thorugh it I'm not good with reading long stuff lol! But I wouldn't put cherry shrimp with the betta it will slowly kill it. Like someone mentioned it will lunge at it and take a leg slowly dismanteling the poor guy. And plus most betta foods have shrimp flavoring because they love eating shrimp and that maximizes the chances that they will like the food. So whenever he smells shrimp he will naturally think food time to eat! I personally wouldn't try it my betta is as peaceful as can be but with shrimp, bettas favorite food I wouldn't try it. You can If you want but you'll have to have a fish net in your hands and another tank set up ready to take the bettas dinner away. Most fish I would try depending on how long they've lived alone, their personality, etc but mine thinks shrimp is food like any other betta with instincts would think.

hee hee :3 I funny to see how some people have read all my posts ( ie: severum mama, and others didnt even notice how i said i wasn't getting them until CHRISTMAS! ie: mark.) Lol just picking on you Mark. Anyways yes I have not gotten them yet. I will be waiting until at LEAST november. My dad won't let me get anything now as i've only had the betta for 19 days =P And btw, I added two tall (7 inches and the tips go above the waterline) fake plants that my betta LOVES and a small terra cotta pot. There is now NO more room for anything in that tank as in decoration. The bottom is covered with stones and fake plants and decor and the like. Lots of shrimpy hiding nooks :3 And I have a feeling my betta would eat them. He's STILL crazy aggresive and trying to fight his slight reflection on the side of the tank. After he's been in the a week. Silly fishy! And today I fed him one HUGE bloodworm for the day (tomorrow is his fast day anyways) and he shook his head from side to side and broke it in a few pieces and at it like that. Soo... he's a little monster. Like I said, I'll try one shrimp. If it vanishes after a week... I won't get another!

 

[musicman]

Congrats on the new tank, a filtered setup is the way to go.

IMHO... If he is fighting his reflection, than it is not safe for him to have roommates. He will kill them. Shrimp are snacks for Bettas. I experienced this when I had 4 ghost shrimp in a filtered 5 gal with my Betta Fawkes. They were active for awhile, then they went into hiding. About every two days another shrimp would go unaccounted for.

If you put some invertebres in with Spoons, be aware. They will "evaporate" one by one and soon enough Spoons will be flying solo again.