Would Cherry Shrimp Be Ok With A Bettta

matthewkeogh50

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So i am buying a new tank and was wondering what to put in it would cherry shrimp be ok with a male betta aslo please feel free to tell me other fish that are small and peaceful that will be ok with the betta 
 
Thanks 
Matthew
 
I currently have a 10 gallon with 1 male betta, 4 guppies, and 5 neons. Everything between them is peaceful. I thought I had this super nice and friendly betta and everything would survive with him. I had already kept ghost shrimp in this tank and haven't had a single death in the past 3 weeks. 
 
Then I added one cherry shrimp from my large tank....the betta had torn it to pieces within hours. I was very disappointing. I wouldn't try it if I were you.
 
Some times you get a Betta that will just swim about ignoring RCS and most other smaller tank mates (I've got one of these). Other Betta will search and destroy everything and anything that moves (I've had one of these too)
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Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It depends on the Betta. I would make sure that there are lots of good hiding places for the RCS if you decide to give it a try.
 
The short answer is most likely not.  Larger shrimp like amanos and ghost tend to fare better since they are bigger and less likely to be seen as a snack.  Cherry shrimp are just the right size for them to snack on.  Like everything else there are some people who do have some success with it but it is rare and tends to eventually end badly for the shrimp.  If you do decide to add cherry shrimp (or any of the other dwarf varieties) make sure they have places to hide that the betta can not get to them.  If it does work you will most likely not see them running around the tank since they will hide most of the time.  Also if they feel threatened, they normally do not breed either.
 
I have had about 2 deaths in my Cherry Shrimp tank when my betta was in there.
He only hunted for the smaller one, and ignored the larger females.
 
as wildbetta says you probably wont see them as the only real way you can keep them is in an extremely well planted tank, in which case they will just hide in amongst the plants. Larger shrimp may be a better idea, how ever as with a lot of shrimp water temp and ph are not always compatable with b.splendens.
 
I'm having great success keeping RCS with my male betta. A healthy shrimp will be able to out swim a betta (sounds cruel letting them get chased but it's natural, in the wild shrimp are purely a cleaner and food source for bigger creatures), they are simply too quick for something like a veil tail to catch. As long as there are plenty places to hide, a decent sized population, your tank is cycled (and has been for several months) and there are no changes in water conditions, then RCS make a great addition to a good sized tank. If you are worried about losing a few shrimp maybe stick to ghost shrimp which are larger and cheaper to buy.
 
I have a red rili and fire red crystal shrimp in my 10g. Right off the bat the betta attacked the fire red. It dodged 3 attacks and ran under the driftwood. I have a very holey piece of Malaysian driftwood that also has nice cracks to hide in. I also dig under the wood so they have a hole that's covered from the betta underneath. Both are still alive after 2 weeks. If they have sufficient hiding spots, betta's and shrimp are okay. The only down side is if your shrimp see your betta, they hide. So I see mine after shut off the plant light and turn on the room light(Trying to prevent algae growth). They seem really happy and molt. Still going to see if they reproduce(Takes about 28 days).  

All in all, if you have enough hiding spots they will live, but you probably won't see them too much. I have to run around the tank looking into holes/check usual spots to see mine. I still love the combo, though!
 

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