# Red Cherry Shrimp for a 5 gallon



## bilbey123 (Oct 25, 2011)

hey guys I was wondering how many red cherry shrimp i can house in a 5 gallon with a female betta. I was planing on getting 5, is this to much? to less? 
i have heard they bread like crazy so if i only get 5 that would limit the chances of this happening wouldn't it ?

any help will be appreciated thanks


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

RCS (Red cherry shrimp) are one of the easier shrimp to keep and 1 female RCS can produce about 10-20 shrimpletts. If you want to limit your numbers-try to buy just males, however, baby shrimp are great food for the Betta-plus they give the Betta something to hunt. IMO five will be a good number to start with and depending on the cover-they may or may not do well with the female Betta. Every Betta can be different in their tolerance-some will hunt and kill every single one of them-while others could care less and you end up with a lot of shrimp. 

In one of my 5gal NPT's that I use for spawning I have roughly 20-30 adult RCS that I have to thin out on a regular basis. The male Betta doesn't seem to bother them as much as the female-but I am sure they both eat the baby shrimp when they can find them.

If you have plenty of cover like java moss-you should still get some baby shrimp to survive. The baby shrimp are really tiny and usually the Betta will eat them first. Also, depending on the type of filter-with the HOB type the baby shrimp usually will end up in them-some survive the trip through the impeller and some don't-Its a good idea to check the filter box a couple of time a month. I have found large colonies of shrimp living happy in mine....lol.... Sponge filter are best for shrimp IMO especially in the smaller tanks. Its not uncommon for the shrimp to escape by crawling up cords and filter- especially if they feel threatened or bad water conditions.


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## Freyja (Jun 22, 2012)

I've also been debating getting RCS for Voldsom because Freyja will munch on them and I dont fancy getting her expensive snacks.


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## bilbey123 (Oct 25, 2011)

cool thanks for the replies, there are only $1 here so $5 isn't to much if she eats them all. I dont have loads of cover so that might kill off a couple of the babies i guess? I think i will get them soon, thanks guys


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## NapoleonUWS (Apr 23, 2012)

I have two 4G tanks, each has one male betta, two nerite snails and two ghost shrimp... the male bettas do not seem interested in the snails or the shrimp...
No breeding yet (that I know of!)


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