Was at the LFS looking for nanos for my 20 long, when this guy called out to me. My 10 gal has been occupied with only shrimp since my last betta died 3 years ago (RIP Milky Way). Milky did great with the shrimp, was quite peaceful. I was hoping I'd get lucky with this one too, I would've been OK if he was slightly aggressive. However, this guy is AGGRESSIVE, I witnessed him spitting out the Bug Bites in favor of trying to suck up the shrimps. I was watching him for hours, and he is constantly on the prowl. I'm afraid the shrimp will be too stressed and the colony diminishes. There's about 30 shrimp in this 10 gallon, heavily planted tank (very mature crypts, anubias, subwassertang, java moss). Should I return him? or does this behavior die down?
https://i.redd.it/qiofl8uva4gg1.jpeg
Posted by ConstantlyConfusedh
7 Comments
Betta’s in shrimp tanks are typically a bad idea as they will pick on the shrimp. Sorry 🙁
I’ve noticed that the behaviour died down in my last one, who was also pretty hostile to the shrimp at first, but then he just got bored of them
It’s always a gamble with bettas and shrimp. It’s unpredictable if he’ll calm down or keep hunting until all shrimp are gone… I’ve had both types of bettas and only one totally peaceful one (out of 7 so far). If your shrimp colony is big you can wait a bit longer and watch your behavior. Your shrimp will hide a lot more though, even if he calms down, that’s just how they behave with a potential predator in the tank.
So ultimately you’ll need to make a decision 😅
Some bettas are chill with shrimp and others aren’t unfortunately. My current betta is a shrimp killer so I know the pain.
See if he can actually catch any. Mine tried for a few hours and once he kept failing he’s pretty much ignored even the really small ones. If it helps he’s a wild type with much shorter fins than yours and is plenty fast enough to demolish live daphnia. Swapped him out with an alien a few weeks ago and that one didn’t even bother going for the shrimp. Maybe wait it out and see if yours gives up? Might also help to overfeed him a ton of frozen food the first couple of days to keep him lazier
Appreciate the responses everyone! I’ll observe closely today and make a decision. Hoping he chills out, I do like watching him enjoy the tank. The little turd is already blowing bubbles and claiming the tank.
He would have to get bored, the shrimp that survive will be the ones that hide.
He’s gorgeous. You could install a huge breeder insert and see if he calms down over time without direct access to the shrimp.