# Shrimp or cory, which is better?



## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

After four days of reading thread after thread sometimes I think I now have more questions than when I started! Glad I am learning enough to give my babies good homes though. I tossed on the shrimp vs. cory to room with bettas. I was looking at setting up my spare 10 gallon to house a few of my boys. Should I add cory's with them? I was thinking of dividing it into 3 or 4 section and was hoping to use shrimp, but I only have 1 docile make and when my sorority is finished he gets to go in there. What else do I need to best set up my 10 gallon for a bunch of boys besides plants, gravel, heater, filter, thermometer, and tank dividers?


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## Alcemistnv (Jan 29, 2012)

the thing with cories is that for a 10 gallon, you can only use small cories like pygmies, and you can have one betta. Spliitting the tank doesn't give the cories enough room to swim around, and it also increases the bioload past capacity. 

I originally had a 10 gallon with cories and one male, but then I decided to return the cories and divided the 10 in 4 for my boys c:

So I'd go with shrimp


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## FeatherStone (Mar 6, 2013)

I have a 10g with a cory, betta, a shrimp and some neon tetras. Go with the shrimp. The cory is too active, and I got him before realizing how many you have to keep together for them to be happy (my LFS has some small albino ones, but no pygmies). Shrimp should be ok so long as your betta isn't a shrimp eater... mine isnt so long as he's fed each morning


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## Kuronue (Oct 12, 2012)

In a divided 10g tank, go shrimp. Cory cats need wiggle room and are shoaling fish.


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## Artemis (Mar 9, 2013)

The betta will likely kill the shrimp.


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

I have 4 Bronze (or Green) Corydoras and 3 amano shrimp in my 10 gallon with 1 male betta. He doesn't mind them but the tank is heavily planted. If you're going to divide the tank, I'd go with shrimp. However you cannot be sure that one of the 3 bettas will be aggressive enough to kill/eat shrimp. With a divided tank, there is less room for any victim to escape a betta's jaws. Cory's MUST live in groups though, and they definitely need more space than a divided section of a 10 gallon tank...a 10 gallon itself is quite cramped for them as it is.

It largely depends on the betta...I had a CT that wouldn't let ghost shrimp or Corys live in peace so I had to return the cory's. The shrimp unfortunately all died.


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