Better Water Without Ghost Shrimp

[SoCalMom]

you know, i found shrimp in my little tanks made the water go cloudy, also, but in the big tanks with filters it doesn't matter how many you put in. i was feeding those algae wafers too, and honestly i think it's THEM that cause it more than the shrimp. your little pieces may have been disappearing because they dissolved, which could create a number of reasons for the cloudy water (food particals, algae bloom, bacteria bloom)

Buying shrimp to keep the water cleaner is silly. They can't feed on scraps when there are none (and there are rarely scraps in a betta tank) and they often need to be fed seperately anyhow, like any other fish. If overfeeding was a habit, then they might do you some good, but otherwise, all they're gong to do is add to the bioload. after all, what goes in, comes out.

I've been thinking about it and I agree with you. I have never gotten algae in my tank, though (at least not the kind I can see)

I didn't buy the shrimp to keep the water clean. I bought them for Alfie and because I wanted to see them in action in my own tank

 

[starrynightxxi]

ah, that was just in response to your "i thought they were supposed to keep the water clean" comment. you certainly wouldn't have been the first person to think that.

 

[SoCalMom]

ah, that was just in response to your "i thought they were supposed to keep the water clean" comment. you certainly wouldn't have been the first person to think that.

Ugh...I'm an idiot

That was supposed to be a joke/sarcastic comment. I just forgot to put a j/k or some sort of smiley lol

 

[starrynightxxi]

 

[Glod]

I'd be inclined to say that since the tank was unfiltered and shrimp don't eat that fast, the extra food you added for the shrimp was enough to cause a small bacterial bloom. Even tho you remove the excess some still has time to deteriorate and affect the water conditions.

Hikari algae wafers are great, but once they've soaked for a bit they tend to disintegrate when you try to remove them. Chances are some tiny pieces were left behind, and that is all it takes.

A Bacterial bloom is unsightly but is pretty much harmless and would go away once the extra food had been used up. As has been suggested, now that the extra food is not addded, since we tend to feed our bettas only enough for them to eat at any one sitting - no extra food, no bloom.