# betta and cherry shrimp?



## battered (Dec 24, 2011)

I really want to add some rcs to my 10 gallon, but I'm scared my betta will eat them. Currently I have 4 bronze cories, 3 ghost shrimp and a betta in the tank, along with a couple of mts. The betta has never bothered the ghost shrimp, but he's a real pig and loves to eat. I originally only had 2-3 mts in the tank, but added 4-5 more today because I recently switched to a sand substrate. He's attacked 2 of them already, even though he didn't touch the original 2-3 I put in a while ago. 

The tank is pretty well planted; contains an amazon sword, java fern, anubias, a dwarf sag carpet, water sprite, ludwigia, and a clump of java moss a little smaller than a baseball. Suggestions? How can I make it work?


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

It might work, it might not. I tried some shrimp with my boys. One chomped on the amano shrimp after it molted. The other boy harassed the RCS until she keeled over (didn't see any bit marks..) the amano is still in there,at least as of this morning.

It might work, it might not. I had a pile of moss larger than that and lots of plants. Still didn't work. My girls in the sorority are ok with the ghosties. Hoping to try some RCS in there, but gotta be prepared, it doesn't always work out.


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

Most of my bettas leave shrimp alone - especially ghost shrimp. But some, like my little veiltail girl Jewel, will eat them. It really depends on how many places they can hide, and how aggressive your betta is.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

The ghost shrimp could bully the RCS, if the RCS do end up breeding the ghost shrimp will just eat their babies.

I wouldn't mix them, maybe put them in another tank or something? You always could try, just make sure you have a back up plan.


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## mzxeternal (Feb 24, 2012)

I own 3 females, and I originally had only 1. I also purchased 4 cherry shrimp around the same time I purchased the original betta. Fortunately, not only did the betta not bother the shrimps, they even have bred, and their offspring was able to survive quite successfully in my hornwort plant. I estimate I have about 10 or so now, maybe more it's hard to say exactly. I have seen the betta examine one of the smaller shrimps, the shrimp swam off too quick even if she had tried to attack. I've even seen her and two of the little shrimps biting at the same algae wafer. She seems to be disinterested in them for food.

A friend of mine has a male betta with 4 cherry shrimp as well, and he's had no issues either.

Ultimately, it's a crap shoot, but me and my buddy have had no problems. I would recommend having a plant


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

mzxeternal said:


> I own 3 females, and I originally had only 1. I also purchased 4 cherry shrimp around the same time I purchased the original betta. Fortunately, not only did the betta not bother the shrimps, they even have bred, and their offspring was able to survive quite successfully in my hornwort plant. I estimate I have about 10 or so now, maybe more it's hard to say exactly. I have seen the betta examine one of the smaller shrimps, the shrimp swam off too quick even if she had tried to attack.


The problem really isn't the bettas them selves, but the ghost shrimp already occupying the tank. The betta may eat the shrimp since they are carnivores and if the shrimp don't have enough hiding places. RCS are much weaker than GS and so much more smaller. It could work but it would need to be tested out and have a back up plan.

Your tank sounds nice though...


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

kfryman said:


> The ghost shrimp could bully the RCS, if the RCS do end up breeding the ghost shrimp will just eat their babies.
> 
> I wouldn't mix them, maybe put them in another tank or something? You always could try, just make sure you have a back up plan.


Very true. Species mixes are tricky, and you should always have a backup plan in case something goes wrong.


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## mzxeternal (Feb 24, 2012)

kfryman said:


> The problem really isn't the bettas them selves, but the ghost shrimp already occupying the tank. The betta may eat the shrimp since they are carnivores and if the shrimp don't have enough hiding places. RCS are much weaker than GS and so much more smaller. It could work but it would need to be tested out and have a back up plan.
> 
> Your tank sounds nice though...


Yeah well my shrimps aren't ghost shrimps, they're Red Cherry shrimps. My buddy with the Betta actually had some ghosts, they dissappeared with the betta, and I wouldn't recommend them. They don't seem to have a taste for the cherry's for some reason, at least not in my experience. 

Thanks for the compliment, it's a fully stocked 15 gallon which will be upgraded to a 20 shortly. In addition to the 3 females bettas (which get along really well, the newer two even hang out together at times) , I have a school (5) of glo fish, 6 Neon Tetras, 4 Otos, the shrimps and an apple snail. Overall it's a pretty active tank, well planted with excellent filtration (2 Aqueon 10s... can't have too much filtration). 

My stocking rate is 100% on the nose (assuming adult sizes, which most aren't) on AqAdvisors calculator... I know it sounds like a lot of fish for the size, just wanted to put it out there before I got any naysayers  )


In any case, with the shrimp, I highly recommend having a thick plant they can hide out in that isn't easily accessible to the other fish. The Hornwort worked really well for me, but i'm sure Java Moss and other plants would work just as well.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Yup, learned the hard way, lol. Had to return a fish, the sucky thing was I had that one's sister. 

Do you have any other tanks the shrimp could go into? A 5 gallon could easily house like 30, food may be a bit expensive though lol. As control you can just throw some of the babies in the tank that has the ghost shrimp. It may seem cruel but you have to do some things, the betta may eat the babies or the GS.

Yup, plants for shrimp to hide in is important.

Just a heads up Aquaadvisor is semi accurate, but not fully. The stocking sounds fine though with the added filtration.


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## mzxeternal (Feb 24, 2012)

kfryman said:


> Yup, learned the hard way, lol. Had to return a fish, the sucky thing was I had that one's sister.
> 
> Do you have any other tanks the shrimp could go into? A 5 gallon could easily house like 30, food may be a bit expensive though lol. As control you can just throw some of the babies in the tank that has the ghost shrimp. It may seem cruel but you have to do some things, the betta may eat the babies or the GS.
> 
> ...


Yeah I know about the calculator, but actually many of their numbers are fairly conservative actually. Between the filtration and the plants, I can tell my setup is a.o.k. The fish show no signs of stress, and i've been very lucky with how seemless my sorority setup went. I was lucky to get very docile females... I knew I would be ok with the first one, she let herself get pushed around by a glofish when she smaller hehe.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Just want to say...those few MTS the OP mentioned will shortly become billions. I would say that tank is fully stocked as is.


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