# Ghost shrimp with male betta?



## kgs1992

Well, I have a male betta in a bowl. All details below (if I miss out on anything, please ask).

*Housing *
What size is your tank? 5 litre 
What temperature is your tank? 79-82 °F
Does your tank have a filter? No.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No.
Is your tank heated? No.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None.

*Food*
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Micro-pellets and Bloodworms alternatively.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once daily. 

*Maintenance *
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week. And I add a few drops of the water conditioner to around 100ml of water and add that to the bowl on the 4th day after water change to neutralize ammonia build up.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner to remove Ammonia, Chlorine and Chloramine.

My questions are:
1. Can this setup handle a 1-1.5 inch ghost shrimp?
2. Will the ghost shrimp keep the tank clean?
3. Will I need to add a live plant for the shrimp, or should I feed the shrimp with pellets?
4. If the setup is not suitable, what should I change to accommodate the shrimp?
5. Is there any way in which the shrimp can harm/kill my betta? (My betta is not so aggressive.)
6. Should I put in small hiding places for the shrimp if the betta decides to pick on him/her?

I know that's a lot of questions, thanks for taking the time to answer and help me out!  I'll appreciate any advice you can provide. Thanks!


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## kgs1992

Also, I may get a 2.5 gallon tank sometime soon, will that be a more comfortable fit?


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## Oldfishlady

That depends on the Betta...some tolerate shrimp and other don't...IMO/E the tank size of 5 liters or 1.3gal would be fine as far as bioload, however, with or without the added shrimp your water changes need to be increased to maintain water quality for the Betta alone...

In 1.3gal unfiltered without live plants need twice weekly water changes...1-50% and 1-100% to maintain water quality

You add shrimp because you like them and want them...you should never add tank mates with the intentions of them being used for clean-up....since our tanks are closed systems they can't support nutritional needs and it is the hobbyist job anyway....just part of keeping aquariums.......

Feeding-usually a little extra Betta food 2-3 times a week is all that is needed to meet the nutritional needs of a single ghost shrimp...you have to be careful adding too much food or different food like algae wafer for shrimp because Bettas tend to be pigs and will overeat and you end up with a sick Betta...lol...little buggers......

Making the needed water changes may also be a problem unless you add some live plants and this would help in many ways too....a place for the shrimp to hide and feed in and live plants can help with water quality to a degree depending on the species of plant and number...making the needed 100% water changes with shrimp can sometimes be a challenge.....but not impossible......


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## small fry

I am just going to add something really quickly. In somewhat rare cases, Ghost Shrimp have attacked and ripped up male bettas' tails. This _usually _happends when the Ghost Shrimp is underfed/not fed, but it will even happen with a well fed Ghost Shrimp. If you do get a Ghost Shrimp, watch your betta's tail carefully. It is a good idea to have a little bit bigger tank before you consider adding a Ghost Shrimp, as a bigger tank would decrease the risk of an attack by your betta, or by your Ghost Shrimp.

Also, one last thing. Make sure that when you get a Ghost Shrimp, *make sure *that it is actually a Ghost Shrimp! There is a species of shrimp that is very similar that is highly aggressive and has been reported to kill bettas. I honestly think quite afew of the stories of bettas' tails getting ripped up by Ghost Shrimp is caused by the other species looking similar to Ghost Shrimp.


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## Oldfishlady

Ghost or glass shrimp of the (Palaemonetes paludosus) should not be a problem for a healthy Betta....

There are other species of shrimp that look like ghost shrimp that may or may not be harmful to the Betta, however, it is hard to believe a shrimp could injure a healthy Betta-their claws are not big enough or strong enough...I have read post of this happening and IMO-either the Betta was sick/weak and could not swim away or it was already dead and the shrimp was feeding on it...or the shrimp was mis-identified and it was a crayfish which can injure a Betta.......


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## small fry

Oldfishlady said:


> Ghost or glass shrimp of the (Palaemonetes paludosus) should not be a problem for a healthy Betta....
> 
> There are other species of shrimp that look like ghost shrimp that may or may not be harmful to the Betta, however, it is hard to believe a shrimp could injure a healthy Betta-their claws are not big enough or strong enough...I have read post of this happening and IMO-either the Betta was sick/weak and could not swim away or it was already dead and the shrimp was feeding on it...or the shrimp was mis-identified and it was a crayfish which can injure a Betta.......


I think I can agree with that. 

I did have a Ghost Shrimp that was pretty strong, though. It was trying to pull a cluster of Ramshorn eggs apart (if you have ever seen those, they are like hard gel), and he was really pulling and pinching that stuff. However, it would be MUCH more diffecult to grab a healthy (active) betta's tail, and then even try to hold on when the betta goes crazy. :lol:

I thinkmany, if not most of "Ghost Shrimp betta attacks" aren't even done by Ghost Shrimp.


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## DormDrax

I had 12 ghost shrimp for many months then at one point almost had 20 because they kept breeding... 

Then suddenly they all died >_> and I only found half of the corpses. 

So your betta may not mind them for the longest time then one day just WANT them gone.


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## small fry

That is awful! Sounds like a medication poisoning to me, though. All those Ghost Shrimp at once, that would be one busy day for your betta.

More stuff kills shrimp and snails that people realize. I accidently killed one of my favorite Mystery Snails with Aquari-Sol a long time ago. If you started adding anything to the water, then that might have caused it. Just a thought.

It still could have certainly been your betta, though.


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## DormDrax

small fry said:


> That is awful! Sounds like a medication poisoning to me, though. All those Ghost Shrimp at once, that would be one busy day for your betta.
> 
> More stuff kills shrimp and snails that people realize. I accidently killed one of my favorite Mystery Snails with Aquari-Sol a long time ago. If you started adding anything to the water, then that might have caused it. Just a thought.
> 
> It still could have certainly been your betta, though.


Well... it happened over a course of a week actually... 

and no it couldn't have been medication because I haven't done anything lol


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## small fry

DormDrax said:


> Well... it happened over a course of a week actually...
> 
> and no it couldn't have been medication because I haven't done anything lol


Oh, Ok. That makes a little bit more sense. Sorry for the lose of those shrimp. :-(


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## kgs1992

First of all thanks a lot for replying to my questions people! 
And this post might be a long one, sorry!


Oldfishlady said:


> That depends on the Betta...some tolerate shrimp and other don't...IMO/E the tank size of 5 liters or 1.3gal would be fine as far as bioload, however, with or without the added shrimp your water changes need to be increased to maintain water quality for the Betta alone...
> 
> In 1.3gal unfiltered without live plants need twice weekly water changes...1-50% and 1-100% to maintain water quality
> 
> You add shrimp because you like them and want them...you should never add tank mates with the intentions of them being used for clean-up....since our tanks are closed systems they can't support nutritional needs and it is the hobbyist job anyway....just part of keeping aquariums.......
> 
> Feeding-usually a little extra Betta food 2-3 times a week is all that is needed to meet the nutritional needs of a single ghost shrimp...you have to be careful adding too much food or different food like algae wafer for shrimp because Bettas tend to be pigs and will overeat and you end up with a sick Betta...lol...little buggers......
> 
> Making the needed water changes may also be a problem unless you add some live plants and this would help in many ways too....a place for the shrimp to hide and feed in and live plants can help with water quality to a degree depending on the species of plant and number...making the needed 100% water changes with shrimp can sometimes be a challenge.....but not impossible......


I'm planning to add some small live plants (suggestions welcome).
Yes, I'll try my best to keep up with the water changes. And yes, I do like shrimp. The bowl would look very lively with a shrimp scavenging around the tank, I was only wondering if it would also help in keeping the tank clean as an added benefit as I'd read about it somewhere.
Okay, I'll be careful about the amount of food I add and I guess I'll just add the same pellets that I use for my fish.
As for hiding places, I'm planning to put in 2 live plants (as I already said), also, I'm planning to add in a small hollow tube like hiding place (anything that I should keep in mind while placing this?) & I already have a fake plant inside the bowl.
Yes, I know how difficult shrimp can be. My friend's shrimp jumped out of the net and landed up behind the tank. There was no way to bring him out & he unfortunately died! 



small fry said:


> I am just going to add something really quickly. In somewhat rare cases, Ghost Shrimp have attacked and ripped up male bettas' tails. This _usually _happends when the Ghost Shrimp is underfed/not fed, but it will even happen with a well fed Ghost Shrimp. If you do get a Ghost Shrimp, watch your betta's tail carefully. It is a good idea to have a little bit bigger tank before you consider adding a Ghost Shrimp, as a bigger tank would decrease the risk of an attack by your betta, or by your Ghost Shrimp.
> 
> Also, one last thing. Make sure that when you get a Ghost Shrimp, *make sure *that it is actually a Ghost Shrimp! There is a species of shrimp that is very similar that is highly aggressive and has been reported to kill bettas. I honestly think quite afew of the stories of bettas' tails getting ripped up by Ghost Shrimp is caused by the other species looking similar to Ghost Shrimp.


I shall bare that in mind too. I'll try to get a bigger tank, but at the moment, it's nearly impossible, so maybe I'll delay getting the shrimp by a few days.
I'm pretty sure that it is a ghost/glass shrimp, however, I'll ask the guy at the pet store once again when I decide to bring one home. 



DormDrax said:


> I had 12 ghost shrimp for many months then at one point almost had 20 because they kept breeding...
> 
> Then suddenly they all died >_> and I only found half of the corpses.
> 
> So your betta may not mind them for the longest time then one day just WANT them gone.


So sorry about your shrimp! :/
I hope my betta won't mind him in the tank. But if he does eat him, I won't get another one thereafter. 



small fry said:


> That is awful! Sounds like a medication poisoning to me, though. All those Ghost Shrimp at once, that would be one busy day for your betta.
> 
> More stuff kills shrimp and snails that people realize. I accidently killed one of my favorite Mystery Snails with Aquari-Sol a long time ago. If you started adding anything to the water, then that might have caused it. Just a thought.
> 
> It still could have certainly been your betta, though.


The only thing I add to the water is water conditioner to remove chlorine, chloramines, ammonia & nitrate. Also I heard that if any copper based medicines are to be added to the tank, I must first separate out the shrimp.


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## kgs1992

*UPDATE:*
Housing is now 6 gal & I've bought the ghost shrimp already.
My betta is currently getting acclimated in the 6 gal.
My ghost shrimp is still small & I think he should spend a week in the betta's old bowl before I put him into the 6 gal.


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