my betta's new tank mate - what to feed?

[swanandmokashi]

My betta got a new tankmate - Joseph the ghost shrimp on Friday. Things have been ok between the two and the betta has not tried to eat the shrimp. I guess he doesn't like the shrimp that much , but is neither bothered by his presence in his bachelor pad.

Now the question is what to feed the shrimp ? Anything that goes in the tank in form of food goes directly in the betta's tummy I have a bag of algae wafers but it is more than 1 year old and I am not sure if I should use that or buy a new one , or something else for the shrimp.

If we feed the shrimp , algae wafers or some other "bottom dwellers' food, i wonder if the betta will go for it or leave it alone?

 

[Billsgate]

Well, basically, i feed my ghost shrimp nothing. BUT i don't know if there would be enough food in a 3gal for your ghost shrimp. Maybe you could try to get some flakes to the bottom of your tank...just push one down and make sure Nigel doesn't see it, that way your shrimpie can feast on it...
Are there any live plants in your 3 gal? If so, i think you probably wouldnt need to feed your shrimp, as he could easily feed on plant waste....i think....i saw my shrimp eating plant waste once...so maybe yours would 2

Good luck!

 

[swanandmokashi]

yes i have a good clump of java moss in the tank . the shrimp seems to be hiding in it most of times , and giving a majestic guest appearence once in a while

 

[Endgame319]

Shrimp eat flake food. You can use an eyedropper or something to suck up the flake, then put a flake right beside the shrimp.

 

[smilla4]

They're scavengers, they'll eat anything. So far I've seen mine eat flake, pellets, algae wafers, zucchini, brine shrimp 8O (cannibal!), bloodworms. In fact I've also seen them eat their dead. Not pretty.

They also eat their own shells after the moult. Or at least most of the shell it seems. I guess it depends on how much calcium they need...

Just be careful not to overfeed the betta. Mine has figured out the algae tablets, so I can't feed them to anyone (he'll eat till he explodes). I suppose they have individual tastes though.

 

[An t-iasg]

I've read on here before that you can feed the ghost shrimp inexpensive flake foods. The other suggestions on what to feed the shrimp are good too! If the tank is bigger, you may be able to get away with not feeding the ghost shrimp anything in particular. If I get a ghost shrimp, even in my 5.5 gallon tank, he probably won't be able to scavenge for much, so I'll supplement with some flake food.

How is the java moss working out? I promise I'll post some pics of my bettas in their moss "nest" . My computer was down for a few days.

You said Joseph is hiding in the java moss a lot? How does Nigel like that? My one betta guards his moss like a pit bull, lol. He doesn't like it one bit when I remove it to do a water change.

 

[swanandmokashi]

good news is both are getting along very well now .This was surprising after what I have heard abt a betta-shrimp relationship here .Now the shrimp is comfortable in his new home and goes all around the tank , in fact they both occasionally go very near each other , "kiss" and depart in their own direction 8O its pretty funny to watch. Some extreme illicit romance going on there just kidding.

But yeah they seem to be getting along with each other good. Nigel doesn't mind sharing the java moss with Joseph either

My wife now thinks I was lying when I said that bettas are aggressive and he might eat any shrimp we put in.He just turned out to be a sweetie

I have some algae wafers my friend gave me as I mentioned earlier. But they are more than a year old. Is it ok to us them ? its the hikari ones for plecos and algae eaters. its still sealed ..

Also how much should i feed him, he seems to be constantly searching (and perhaps eating off ) the java moss.

 

[An t-iasg]

That's great that Nigel and Joseph get along nicely! That would be fun to watch, instead of the betta chasing the shrimp down like a meal!

I've read here that if the shrimp appears to be searching and swimming around, then it is probably looking for food.

If the wafers are still sealed, I think they'd be ok. I would go ahead and feed them to Joseph and hope Nigel doesn't get too greedy!

I've never had any algae wafers. I think they would be ok after a year. Just check them out -- if they still have a good color and texture, and don't smell particularly bad, you'll be ok. Not that I go around smelling algae wafers!!! But you know what I mean. Just make sure they still look fresh and not old and spoiled.

 

[swanandmokashi]

That's great that Nigel and Joseph get along nicely! That would be fun to watch, instead of the betta chasing the shrimp down like a meal!
.

Yeah it is

 

[krap101]

yeah a whole algae wafer is way too big for one shrimp. it would take them like a week to eat one i think. i think you should like break it into 8ths and put em in when you feed your betta. even if nigel does eat the wafers he cant eat them in one bite. but make sure you keep it bigger then his/her mouth. for my fish they usally peck at it and takes them awhile.

 

[Mere Air]

I have several ghost shrimp and feed them whatever I'm feeding the Betta and African Dwarf Frog (ADF), usually either frozen/thawed blood worms or adult brine shrimp. But, I also use a tank divider to segregate the Betta so the ghost shrimp and ADF can dine in peace. To ensure everyone gets their fair share, each critter is individually hand fed.

 

[krap101]

ic i dont have a problem feeding ghost shrimp even with the clutter of my tank. but i never figured out how to feed adf ;'(. mine got stuck behind the breeding net or the heater and died ;'(. i got it free. it was a hitchhiker in some of my plants .

and i would never figure out how to hand feed them.

 

[Mere Air]

First I place the frozen blood worms in a small cup of tank water and swirl them. That thaws them almost instantly. I pick out a nice fat juicy one, with an eye dropper. Then I dangle the eye dropper just over the ADFs nose and release the blood worm. Sometimes she even holds the eye dropper like a baby bottle.

I feed her four bloodworms, once a day. Twice a week she gets frozen/thawed adult brine shrimp instead. A lot of people with ADFs hand feed them.