Betta's And Shrimp?

[jacko9901]

i was planning on adding a few shrimp to my betta tank but i was wondering if he will eat them. i've added a river shrimp before to see and he killed it.

its quite well planted so i'm not sure if they will have enough places to hide

i also have glowlight tetras but i dont think they will eat them

thanks

 

[Honeythorn]

I think your experiment proved that he is not compatible with shrimp. It's entirely possible that he saw them as one of two things

A- Food

B- Intruders into HIS territory. They are rather territorial little fish and dislike new additions for the most part.

I wouldn't risk it to be honest.

 

[griddlebone]

yea... one of my bettas ate a shrimp i put in there before, he thought they were food, but my second betta doesnt mind them. It really depends on the fish, and since he didnt like them before, he probably wont like them now.

 

[Honeythorn]

You could try removing the betta to a tub, adding the shrimp, rearrange the tank decor or shift some plants about if possible to make it seem a little less like his well trodden territory, then re-introduce the betta. It may work it may not, it's up to you if you want to try of course.

 

[saltynay]

What is the size of the tank?
You could try with amano (Caridina japonica) grow to 4cm or any Palaemonetes species which are the ones normally labelled as *insert country* glass/ghost shrimp they grow to 5-8cm

 

[Devorax]

Umm, are you sure they were 'river shrimp'? From what I can gather, river shrimp are purely coldwater shrimp and will die in tropical temperatures the betta requires. Could it be at all possible that the shrimp died of being overheated and then the betta ate their corpses as a tasty snack?
Of course I could be completely wrong but it's what I know, and FWIW, none of our bettas even look at shrimp, we have amanos and cherry. HTH.

 

[jacko9901]

thanks forthe replies wont risk it then probably

Devorax not sure if they are cold water or not, the water they were in was cold as they were sold as live food. i just nabbed one of my brother coz he feeds his turtles some every now and then. they are labeled river shrimp in the LFS.

i might experiment with a tropical shrimp but i probably wont. i didnt see the betta kill it but it was dead after about an hour of adding it.

 

[Devorax]

That sounds to me then that they didn't handle the water temperature for sure. I'd suggest getting some amano shrimp, 3 or 4, and keeping them in their own small tank until they have molted a few times (to get bigger) and then add them to the betta tank. If you don't have space for another tank, put a few plants in there to act as cover for the shrimp and add them then instead. With a bit of luck, they can keep out of the way of the betta if he does see them as food until they are bigger, in which case he will leave them alone, probably...lol They are fast swimmers, and can outrun a betta unless he really 'means it', so to speak.

 

[saltynay]

Sounds like you did something wrong with introduction not the betta. No offence meant but inverts need a slower introduction to there new environments then fish as they are very sensitive to water quality and temperature changes. Most shrimp have there metabolism linked to the water temperature and because of this will be sluggish in cold water but live longer or very active in tropical waters but live shorter lives just like any animal sudden changes from one extreme to the other will cause them to go into shock and die.

 

[Devorax]

Furthermore, tbh, if the betta did kill the shrimp, he would surely have been 'disposing of the evidence'. If you found a good quality corpse, that is, one not eaten away or nibbled on, then in all likeliness your betta is going to be fine with any shrimp, as he would surely have seen the dead body as a quick meal, but since he didn't, he doesn't see shrimp as food, so you can keep them. Which is great, cos they are fascinating little things.

 

[robdos]

I pondered this for ages.

My betta is in a 5.5 gallon planted tank with a coconut shell. The betta was alone with two white clouds (I used then to cycle the tank, now re-housed) and he pestered the clouds for about 30 mins then gave up.

I added some japonica shimp, which are quite large, he pestered those for about 30 mins and gave up too.

So this week I've added some tiny cherry shrimp, and he just isnt bothered in the slightest. TBH I cant find them half the time so I think they will keep clear of each other....

 

[aimsley_87]

I have 3 Armano shrimp and my betta doesnt seem bothered at all by them. They keep out of his way and he is happy with that!

 

[jacko9901]

the corpse of the shrimp was more or less a good quality corpse. i'm pretty sure it still had its eyes and all its legs so it probably dies of other reasons like the water was too hot. the betta did have a nip at the corpse though.

heres a pick of the tank. do you think its planted enough.

it hasnt got any real bushy plants. i did have combomba in there but it just rotted away so i got rid of it.

 

[Devorax]

It will depend largely on how active the betta is really. If he is all over the tank often at a fair rate of knots (whoch I doubt, but some are like this) then probably not. But if is like most bettas that seem to be described on these pages, he isn't a prolific swimmer and takes his time moving around, then there is plenty of cover in there for the shrimp for them to see him coming and get out of his way. There are places of cover in the tank (which looks very nice btw), so they will be fine.
In all likeliness though, as he has a nibble at the corpse and didn't value it as food (because he didn't carry on), you should be perfectly okay with several shrimp in there no problems. I think it would take a pretty aggressive betta to attack shrimp on a regular basis.
Good luck with it!