# Could my new betta have killed 20+ red cherry shrimp in a few days?



## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

Or is it something else? I put my new betta in my tank on Wednesday. This morning I could only spot two RCS when usually they are all out and about. The tank has been running for 3 years and the shrimp tolerated my old betta just fine. Could they all need hiding from stress, or something wrong with the water, or could my new betta have killed them all? I can't see any dead shrimp at all, and my new betta isn't looking fat. There was about 2 weeks between my old betta dying and adding the new betta.

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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I wouldn't think so without showing physical signs. He could have chased them enough to stress to death. Or, they could be hiding if you have lots of hides and dense cover. I pulled a clump of Subwassertang so I could rescape and found 10 shrimp so anything's possible.


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## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

Hmm strange. I guess they could be hiding, they aren't used to being chased anymore as my old betta gave that up months ago.

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## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

I had a closer look through the tank tonight and there are definitely a few (parts of) shrimp bodies lying around. The little bugger has gone on a killing spree!

I'm a bit upset because it was such a healthy and flourishing colony, now there are only a couple of scared looking survivors :-( 

I don't have another tank that I could move Nebula into, I can only swap him into my other Betta's tank, though this could just cause him and Frost stress (I've only had them both for a week). 

I guess I just have to accept that fact I can't have shrimp anymore :-(

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## StellaMaris (Apr 9, 2016)

The same thing happened to me in my 10 gallon, except I had an old 3 gallon aquarium lying around so my Betta got downsized to save my remaining shrimp! My first Betta didn't care as long as they were on the bottom, but this Betta has to be in a tank by himself-- he even tried to take out the snails by knocking them off the glass/driftwood! I ended up putting a group of rasboras in the 10 gallon with the shrimp and snails.

At least your Betta seems to be eating some of them? Mine just killed them. Whole shrimp bodies strewn between all the plants... it was a pain to get them out of the tank!


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## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

I guess it won't hurt to trial swapping them for a week or so?

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## MadtownD (Aug 29, 2014)

Wow, sounds like he was quite efficient 

Related question: Does this leave you with ideas on how to know if a betta is likely to be a shrimp killer? I mean, some seem to give up after a few days, while most will of course be predators. Just so I can learn from your experience!- Did you see any difference in temperament between the two bettas that might be a prior-to-the-killing-spree clue?


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## dengveevi (Aug 30, 2015)

I watched one of my boyfriend's betta eat one of his cherry shrimp once. Well, he tried anyways, he only managed to chew it a couple of times before dropping it. Poor thing.


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## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

The only clue I got to this behaviour was that he started chasing shrimp the minute I added them to the tank. He was still chasing them an hour later. Frost however looked at the shrimp for a few seconds, attempted a nip but then moved on to something else.

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## xquisit (May 1, 2016)

I think my bumble bee Goby ate 25 shrimp within 25 hours...

that's one shrimp for each our 

(I think my Betta helped him, my mom saw him eat one)


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## bettafishsam (May 23, 2016)

My betta thor TORTURED my cherry shrimp by eating the legs off. It was quite gresome.


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