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Shrimp tankmates for my betta fish

Just a Pygmy Corydora
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H.K.Luterman Grand Master

H.K.Luterman

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It might be regional, but the two Petcos here in AL sometimes stock cherry shrimp and amanos. It's hit or miss though. They almost always have ghost shrimp because people use them as feeders. Petsmart typically doesn't have shrimp.

Ghost shrimp are omnivorous and will eat pretty much anything. They'd be happy eating whatever your betta is eating, as well as algae wafers and shrimp food like crab cuisine. 2 in a 1.5 for quarantine would be fine. Just feed lightly.

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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Hi! I don't know the answer to your most recent question, but as someone keeping a betta in a 10 gallon, I have a couple pieces of advice:

1. Ghost shrimp are fine and are extremely cheap because they're basically considered feeder shrimp and often don't have a very long life span. I got like 6 for my betta tank and they disappeared within a week. May have been the betta hunting them or they got sucked up into my submersible pump or they just straight up died. Anyway, don't get too attached.

2. A more reliable source for cleaning up after a betta would be ramshorn snails or another small "pest" snail that can reproduce to the level of food in the tank. Probably won't find them at petsmart, though you can find them on ebay and such for cheap. The betta probably won't bother them, and there'll be enough that you won't have to worry about it.

3. If you have algae problems, you can get a nerite snail, which the betta will also leave alone, and which can't reproduce in fresh water. They definitely focus more on algae, though, and not fallen fish food.

4. Mystery snails are more pets in their own right, get pretty big, and (I've heard) can get their eyestalks nipped by aggressive fish like bettas. Probably not the best cleaner for your situation, but if that's the only snail they have, it's better than nothing.

5. Amano shrimp, like nerites, can't reproduce in fresh water and are a bit hardier than ghost shrimp. They're clear/camouflaged so the betta probably won't notice it. You can get a couple if you find them, but they're probably a lot more expensive than ghost shrimp (I see them go for about $4 or $5 instead of $0.99 for ghosts)

6. Cherry shrimp are smaller than ghost shrimp and amanos and will probably survive a betta, but the odds are a little lower since they're red and that's what bettas see and get mad at. Plus, they can be more expensive since people like designer colors and breed them specially for it.

7. For 5 gallons, you might be able to fit a few male endlers, who will eat fish food, algae, you name it, and will probably be too quick for even an aggressive betta.

Edited by Kirsten
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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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Just now, Jane Oh said:

Okay, so what is endlers? and what do they eat

Endler's Livebearers are a type of fish and they eat most anything. You can just feed a touch more betta food, especially if it's flakes, and they'll gobble it up.

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FrozenFins Grand Master

FrozenFins

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33 minutes ago, Jane Oh said:

okay, what is the difference between hikari algae wafers and API algae wafers?

I like the Hikari Stuff better, my fish seem to like it more. 

53 minutes ago, Jane Oh said:

how do I make the ghost shrimp NOT breed in my tank?

I dont know if there is anyway to for sure make them not breed. To have them slow down their reproduction, let them feed on the leftovers. of course make sure they are eating. You could also try getting only females (bigger then the males usually more vibrant too), all though I'm not sure if they are the same as snails where they will "transition" if there isn't another male in the tank. Amanos is a shrimp that is hard to breed, so you could always try those.

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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Just now, Jane Oh said:

Is it better than to get shrimps or snails as tankmates?

Depends on what you can find. I'd recommend ramshorn snails, malaysian trumpet snails, or pond snails, which you probably won't find for sale in a store but you can probably find some cheap on ebay.

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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Just now, JamesB said:

I would do 3 or 4, make sure there is only same gender in the tank (only males, or only females) they will breed.

I'd go one further and say you should try to get only males. Females may have already bred at the fish store.

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Lifeisgood Proficient

Lifeisgood

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6 hours ago, CorydorasEthan said:

In my experience, bettas leave nerite and mystery snails alone. They don't harm their antennae at all. What kind of algae eater do you mean?

My first betta that was young when introduced to a tank with Mystery snails.  He did fine with them. But then the adult Mystery snails died but then some of their children grew up in the same tank and the betta decided he would eat their antenna.☹️

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