Betta Fish: HELP! Any way I can stop my betta from eating shrimp? This is the first time he has done this. They have been housed together for about a month before this
HELP! Any way I can stop my betta from eating shrimp? This is the first time he has done this. They have been housed together for about a month before this
https://i.redd.it/03ydef37rglg1.jpeg
Posted by kramkraft3
12 Comments
TELLMYMOMISUCK on
This is the first time you’ve caught him doing this. Ask me how I know!
Eilyssen on
shrimp are at the bottom of the food chain and bettas are predators. not much you can do about that.
tomwithweather on
You’ll have to separate them in separate aquariums or accept that your shrimp are now betta food. Some bettas can live with shrimp without issues; others like to chow down.
Kattoncrack on
Once they start they won’t stop. Time to move the betta or the shrimp 😭
Just-One-More-Cast on
Is this an XL betta or baby/juvenile shrimp? If it fits in his mouth, he’ll probably eat it unfortunately.
Flimsy-Effect-2608 on
More hiding places for the shrimp to escape to can help sometimes
sarahmagoo on
Help my lions keep attacking my zebras
05-25 on
My male koi betta doesn’t eat the Neocaridina. Usually, you should introduce the shrimp first or keep your betta well fed. Also, just to note, you should be careful — they can also choke on the shrimp if they try to eat them.
PickleMundane6514 on
Dense spikey moss
CerberusFangz on
First time you caught him* doing this… he’s definitely done it before…
My longfin betta chased the shrimp until they stayed in hiding the majority of the time. And he’s still managed to catch a few, I’m sure.
As someone who also had this issue, all I can say is try to add more hiding spaces for the shrimp that the betta cannot access, and try to add lots of vegetation.
I also removed my betta temporarily and spent some time rearranging the tank, and adding more divisions in the line of view, and spots that he would have trouble reaching/chasing shrimp through. When I reintroduced him, he had to take time to re-explore and establish his own spot— and he has since been less aggressive— at least to what I’ve seen. You could try that as well. Sometimes it can help to convince the betta it’s in a new territory, and the shrimp are part of the scape rather than just some lunch you dropped in.
Most bettas will snack on shrimp, most fish who can fit them in their mouth will, tbh. But if you want to have them live together, you have to make enough space for them to live away from each other. The shrimp will eventually breed if you give them enough space to do so— but you’ll also have to get spaces for the fry to hide and grow without your betta munching all of them.
If you don’t want your betta to eat your shrimp, you’ll simply have to separate them 🙏😔
hatidder on
I’m just crossing my fingers and watch his belly with my new boy. He’s bullying them, but so far so good 😬
FireStompingRhino on
They are good for him. I stock my tanks with shrimp for them to eat. Mind you I bought culls for a buck a piece, let their population explode in a seperate tank and then repopulated all my tanks with them. I now have hundreds of shrimps and far more than my bettas can eat. That allows me to travel for longer times without my fish going hungry.
12 Comments
This is the first time you’ve caught him doing this. Ask me how I know!
shrimp are at the bottom of the food chain and bettas are predators. not much you can do about that.
You’ll have to separate them in separate aquariums or accept that your shrimp are now betta food. Some bettas can live with shrimp without issues; others like to chow down.
Once they start they won’t stop. Time to move the betta or the shrimp 😭
Is this an XL betta or baby/juvenile shrimp? If it fits in his mouth, he’ll probably eat it unfortunately.
More hiding places for the shrimp to escape to can help sometimes
Help my lions keep attacking my zebras
My male koi betta doesn’t eat the Neocaridina. Usually, you should introduce the shrimp first or keep your betta well fed. Also, just to note, you should be careful — they can also choke on the shrimp if they try to eat them.
Dense spikey moss
First time you caught him* doing this… he’s definitely done it before…
My longfin betta chased the shrimp until they stayed in hiding the majority of the time. And he’s still managed to catch a few, I’m sure.
As someone who also had this issue, all I can say is try to add more hiding spaces for the shrimp that the betta cannot access, and try to add lots of vegetation.
I also removed my betta temporarily and spent some time rearranging the tank, and adding more divisions in the line of view, and spots that he would have trouble reaching/chasing shrimp through. When I reintroduced him, he had to take time to re-explore and establish his own spot— and he has since been less aggressive— at least to what I’ve seen. You could try that as well. Sometimes it can help to convince the betta it’s in a new territory, and the shrimp are part of the scape rather than just some lunch you dropped in.
Most bettas will snack on shrimp, most fish who can fit them in their mouth will, tbh. But if you want to have them live together, you have to make enough space for them to live away from each other. The shrimp will eventually breed if you give them enough space to do so— but you’ll also have to get spaces for the fry to hide and grow without your betta munching all of them.
If you don’t want your betta to eat your shrimp, you’ll simply have to separate them 🙏😔
I’m just crossing my fingers and watch his belly with my new boy. He’s bullying them, but so far so good 😬
They are good for him. I stock my tanks with shrimp for them to eat. Mind you I bought culls for a buck a piece, let their population explode in a seperate tank and then repopulated all my tanks with them. I now have hundreds of shrimps and far more than my bettas can eat. That allows me to travel for longer times without my fish going hungry.