# Red cherry shrimp and betta



## wombatgirl

So, in talking to my local fish guy (a friend at work who is very knowledgeable about tanks and fish, but not necessarily in bettas) told me today that if I got Red Cherry shrimp in a tank with my betta, he'd eat them all.

Have any of you been able to raise red cherry shrimp with bettas? I want to add some shrimp to the 5 gallon tank I'm currently planning, but the only ones I know about are ghost shrimp, and they're *so* hard to see. I'd really prefer to be able to see the shrimp.


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## kfryman

For cherry shrimp you need lots of hiding places where the betta cant get to them all over the tank like moss. They are bright red and aren't as aggressive as ghost shrimp so they might be snacks.

If you are willing to spend your money on something that doesnt work out go ahead.


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## Silverfang

to be blunt, it's a crap shoot with shrimp and bettas. I had one boy who seemed so calm and peaceful chomp a shrimp in half and hunted the rest till they climbed out of water and died. IT depends on the fish, the shrimp, and the hiding spaces.


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## Aus

Bettas are predatory fish by instinct, and in my experience all of mine will hunt down smaller shrimp and eat them. I like to add half a dozen to my tanks every few months, as the tanks are heavily planted and the shrimp have lots of places to hide - therefore, the fish take months to track them all down usually. Sometimes the shrimp even breed in there, and the fish pick off the babies. I just reduce pellet feeding when I notice this happening, and have never had a fish bloat. 

I have to say that with the occasional RCS snack my fish have never looked better or been more active, the stimulation of having something to hunt that is a bit challenging really makes a difference to their behaviour and fitness in general. The fish in planted tanks with RCS are all heavily muscled and thicker in the body than those who do not get shrimp, since they actually do more with their bodies than float about looking pretty. 

As to concerns about the fish 'choking' - my bettas eat shrimp the length of thier own heads, shell and all, and have never had problems. I don't know anyone who's fish has actually 'choked' and if they did it must have been sheer bad luck. It certainly isn't a common thing. 

So, yeah. If you intend to have cute shrimpy pets and can't stand the idea of them being eaten, don't put them in with a predatory fish..

I do have Darwin Algae Shrimp (sort of like ghost shrimp in size) with my wild bettas and after a week of being picked on they are pretty much left alone now. 

If I had a less aggressive betta splendens and wanted more permanent shrimpy tank mates, I'd probably go with larger varieties of shrimp like ghosts or the Darwins and see how those went.


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## wombatgirl

It's not so much that I'm worried about them eating some of the shrimp, but more that I'd be a little annoyed at buying some semi-pricy shrimp, and finding no shrimp and a fat betta the next morning. Know what I mean?


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## Freyja

My female betta Freyja made quick work of her ghost shrimp and she's a wee lass. Ive not added shrimp to Voldsom's, my halfmoon male, tank. I may try that today or tomorrow. Get him some ghost shrimp and see how he does.


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## Aus

wombatgirl said:


> It's not so much that I'm worried about them eating some of the shrimp, but more that I'd be a little annoyed at buying some semi-pricy shrimp, and finding no shrimp and a fat betta the next morning. Know what I mean?


Ha. Yes, I do.

The answer's really to invest in some java moss and java fern (pick ones with really tangly rhizomes and let them semi-float) and maybe some wood they can hide behind. I heard blyxa's good too, if it's fairly tightly bunched, as the fish have a hard time wiggling into it. 

I added six shrimp to my vicious little VT girl's tank about every three months - sometimes there's one or two left over from the lot before, but with such small bioloads it doesn't really matter. 

My big plakat cleans them all up in a matter of two weeks, though I found one the other day who'd somehow managed to last more than a month. 

Try it, anyhow. You'll see a difference in your fish once they've hunted and chomped a few.


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## ao

I took these photos just for you  
See the seeweed forest? thats where my shrimps hide. And my betta is half the size of the average betta right now XD I think he's eaten one or two of the smaller shrimps... but Im not that curious to find out. putting smal shrimps in a betta tank is like saying. I give you permission to eat your shimps :O

RCS are about $2/ea here... 









and this is a shrimp in hiding!


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## Rerram

I put a large ghost shrimp in my betta's tank. They did not bother each other for several days. Then one morning, I got up and found a ripped open shrimp shell. So, at some point in the night, he thought the shrimp looked tasty and ate him.


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## scootshoot

I have a half dozen RCS sharing a 15 gallon long with 4 ghost shrimp, one female crowntail and Neons.

If you want to improve the odds of compatibility introduce the RCS first and juvenile bettas later as it will improve the odds of them coexisting. It's sort of like dogs and cats being introduced together as a puppy and kitten and allowed to grow up together.

Guarantee if I had the female first in an established tank followed by RCS later she would look at them as food.


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## Pilot00

Aus said:


> Bettas are predatory fish by instinct, and in my experience all of mine will hunt down smaller shrimp and eat them. I like to add half a dozen to my tanks every few months, as the tanks are heavily planted and the shrimp have lots of places to hide - therefore, the fish take months to track them all down usually. Sometimes the shrimp even breed in there, and the fish pick off the babies. I just reduce pellet feeding when I notice this happening, and have never had a fish bloat.
> 
> I have to say that with the occasional RCS snack my fish have never looked better or been more active, the stimulation of having something to hunt that is a bit challenging really makes a difference to their behaviour and fitness in general. The fish in planted tanks with RCS are all heavily muscled and thicker in the body than those who do not get shrimp, since they actually do more with their bodies than float about looking pretty.
> 
> As to concerns about the fish 'choking' - my bettas eat shrimp the length of thier own heads, shell and all, and have never had problems. I don't know anyone who's fish has actually 'choked' and if they did it must have been sheer bad luck. It certainly isn't a common thing.
> 
> So, yeah. If you intend to have cute shrimpy pets and can't stand the idea of them being eaten, don't put them in with a predatory fish..
> 
> I do have Darwin Algae Shrimp (sort of like ghost shrimp in size) with my wild bettas and after a week of being picked on they are pretty much left alone now.
> 
> If I had a less aggressive betta splendens and wanted more permanent shrimpy tank mates, I'd probably go with larger varieties of shrimp like ghosts or the Darwins and see how those went.



Added a shrimp breeder tank in the to do list to supply food for the future sorority... Question is what size of tank do they need to breed?


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## Aus

As long as the tank is clean and filtered, and they have enough food, shrimp will breed in any size tank (they breed in my 3.5 gallon easily enough!). I should think a 5 gallon tank would support up to 50 shrimp or more, but again it depends on water quality not tank size. Shrimp don't mind being crowded but they do mind ammonia.. They also need lots of plants (they love mosses) and nutritious food, so a good brand of shrimp pellet is recommended.


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## Tikibirds

what if the shrimp was bigger, like a bamboo shrimp....would the shrimp go after the betta?


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## Aus

I do not recommend bamboo shrimp for several reasons:

1. As bamboo shrimp very rarely breed in captivity, it's safe to say that 99.9% are captured from the wild, putting strain on the wild population. It's possible to breed them, but it;s such a fussy process that few bother, which is sad. And they certainly won't breed in a betta tank or any other kind of regular aquarium set up, so each one sold as a tankmate is just hastening their extinction. 

2. They are heavy filter feeders and require a higher flow of water than bettas generally prefer, in order to sift the water for food. 

Most bamboo shrimp starve to death, because they aren't getting enough algae from the water column to feed on - they actually require 'green water' feedings. If they are scouring the bottom of the tank for food, they're starving.

Oh - and bamboo shrimp are more likely to get hassled by the fish. They can and do stand up for themselves, too, but I'm not sure what sort of damage they might do in that case. Mostly they are pretty peaceful. 

I'd not mind attempting to breed some, one day.


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## Pilot00

Thanks for the info Aus! I think i can manage a sustainable population. Do they breed often or you can make a breading plan?


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## candyman995

Is it best to introduce the shrimp to the tank before the fish then to stop them being eaten as quickly??

Also is it safe to keep any species of crab with betta fish at all????


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