# ghost shrimp attacking male betta!



## animalgirl18 (Jan 16, 2011)

I have a 5 gallon tank for my male betta and I heard that ghost shrimp make great tank mates for bettas. I put 2 ghost shrimp in and made sure I had plenty of hiding spots. These guys continuously swim to the surface of the water and GRAB my betta. I obviously care more about my betta than I do about the ghost shrimp. what should I do?


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Flush em.


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

I have read about this happening, It is the only reason I have not gotten any for my tank..Can you take them back to the store where you purchased them?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Alex09 said:


> Flush em.


*NEVER**.......FLUSH* any dead or live animal...this is not only *CRUEL* it can have a negative impact on our environment.....please be kind and respectful to the creatures in our care and to our environment....

As for the ghost shrimp attacking the Betta...this is odd-although ghost shrimp can be one of the more aggressive shrimp they usually are not problematic for our fish unless the fish is sick, injured or in a weaken state...take the shrimp back to the pet shop......


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## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

Take 'em back to the pet store. I had two ghost shrimp with my VT betta, Astaire, in a 5 gallon tank. They attacked him too and ate his fins. I'm never going to buy these evil little creatures again.


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## animalgirl18 (Jan 16, 2011)

Yea I guess I have no other choice. I'll take them back asap. I'll probably never buy shrimp again unless I use them to feed to bigger fish. My betta's fins are torn up :/


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

awe, I am sorry about your fishes fins...Make sure to add a little bit of aquarium salt to help them heal.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I would start making some 50% water only daily water changes for a few days and then increase your regular water changes with an added 50% every week to prevent any secondary infections....


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

This is probably a closely related shrimp that will attack fish. A true ghost shrimp will never bother a fish larger than itself in less they are desperately starving.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

First off let us see pic of the shrimp in your tank. Many stores sell shrimps labelled as "Ghost Shrimp" but are not true ghosties. Assuming it is a true ghost shrimp I find him attacking the betta hard to believe. Are you sure the shrimp is not just inspecting him? My shrimp initially inspected my betta's thinking it was food. Once he figured out it wasn't it became a non issue.


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## tsoto80 (Nov 26, 2010)

I never had a problem with my ghost shrimp. Usually when one of the bettas stalks them they swim away (or jump) when the feel the betta getting near


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## animalgirl18 (Jan 16, 2011)

Yea I'm positive they are ghost shrimp. I took them out of my bettas tank and put them in a separate smaller tank. My betta looked better and happier last night when I took them out but today he's been lethargic and he's been hiding in a shell at the bottom of his tank all day! I moved the shell because I hadn't seen him for hours and when he swam out he had little white stuff on him. I'm not sure if it's ick or some type of fungus. I have anitfungal treatment to put in water but I don't want to put that in the water if he doesn't have fungus. ahhh


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