I have a 12g tank with 1 Betta, 5 ghost shrimp, 9 plants and a bunch of snails. The tank has been running for a month. Flourite substrate, 26c/79f, hard water. Weekly water changes, treated with Prime and aged 24hours or more. I also use Almond Leaves to add tannin.
The Betta leaves the shrimp alone. No chasing, at least when I'm looking. The shrimp have been in the tank two weeks.
I found a dead shrimp today, one yesterday and one on Sunday. My last water change was Saturday.
Ghost shrimp are sold as food, and they come from horrible conditions. It would be very normal to loose ghost shrimp if you bought them at a pet store. Good luck on the survivors!
If my Betta was hunting and killing them wouldn't I at least see him eating them? These dead shrimp just lay on the bottom and he ignores them.
If Ghost shrimp are of poor quality due to breeding conditions etc, what would you recommend as a low bioload clean up crew? I bought these from a pretty good fish shop.
I have a sorority of female bettas in a 10 gallon and about 20 ghost shrimp in there with them. My girls don't mess with the shrimp. With that said, ghost shrimp are sold as food. I bought 4 dozen for $4 and had quite a few just die off. The ones that have survived however are doing amazingly well and have been for months. I wouldn't worry about it.
Did you acclimate your shrimp correctly? The stress from improper acclimation can take days to take full affect and kill the shrimp. Also, the condition these shrimp are handled could have prepared them for death. Also, how much water did you change? The stress in a large temperature swing due to a large water change is begging for shrimp deaths. I hope this helps.
Most ghost shrimp are wild caught. Or at least they used to be. If your looking for an alternative to the ghost shrimp for clean-up, try getting a bigger snail, like a Brigg. Mine clean up all excess food.
Currently I have a bunch of snails that came in on Hornwort. Ramshorns, Apples and something that looks like nerite but is spotted. They eat leftovers very well. I added an assassin snail to help control them.
I picked up 3 Amano shrimp today. They are in the process of being acclimatized. I have one of this type already who came home by mistake. They are quite big and hopefully healthy.
The shop had the tiniest Green Cories - it took a lot of strength on my part not to bring them home too.
Cherry shrimp are the best. They reproduce quickly and are very hardy, way more hardy than ghost shrimp. I've had good success with amanos too. I have the 4 I bought 8 months ago. I can't get a ghost shrimp to live 2 months.
Thank you Frogman, I will eventually work my way up to a larger tank and stock it with Cherry Shrimp. They are so beautiful and I love reading about everyone's breeding successes.
The Amano Shrimp are doing well, grooming the Java Moss and eating leftovers. No deaths at all. The two remaining Ghost Shrimp look lonely.
My betta doesn't bother the ghost shrimp except at feeding time. When the shrimp come to the surface for the food, he'll chase them off, otherwise they ignore each other.
I had a big issue and it was with my cherries now i have 50+ in a ten gallon. Use cold water only for water changes and use a little more dechlorinator BEFORE you ad the water to the tank in a seperate container. Even your fish will love you for it but that bettas having a good dinner when the lights are out if you ask me!
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