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Question for those with shrimp

996 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Bombalurina 
#1 ·
I wanted to add a few interesting things to my 10g. I don't want anything that has even the slightest chance of hurting my betta. I've decided against just about all fish because I don't want my betta to have to compete for food at feeding time so all those small schooling fish are out.

Yesterday I added 2 otos. So far so good. I love shrimp. I think they would be a fun way to liven up the tank because I love watching them. I really want cherry shrimp but they are a bit pricey at my LFS. I can get ghost shrimp 8/$1. I kind of want to start with them to make sure everything goes ok. I was most concerned about the temperature. Everyone seems to suggest keeping shrimp below 80 degrees. My tank used to be set to about 80-82, occasionally hitting 84 depending on how high I keep the heater in the house. I dropped it down a little so it's staying between 78-80. Is that too cold for my betta? Too warm for shrimp? Where should I be keeping my temp, to make everyone happy. As much as I love shrimp, I don't want my betta to suffer for it. I don't want to kill the shrimp either. How do you shrimp keepers find that happy medium?

Second if the ghost shrimp do well, I'd like to get some cherry shrimp. Is it ok if I mix shrimp species?

My tank is heated, has a sponge filter, is cycled and lightly planted (I want to add more live plants) if any of that makes a difference.
 
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#2 ·
Depending on the Betta...shrimp may or may not do well....some Bettas will kill everyone of them while other don't look twice....having a lot of cover for the shrimp can help-especially java moss-this increase the odds of the shrimplets surviving to a degree....

I keep a lot of shrimp and they do fine with the temp and prams I keep the Betta...I haven't had any issues as far as temp with the RCS I keep-my water temp usually stays in the 76-78F range more or less and the ones I have had outside did well in temps over 90F and as low as 64F.

They adapt fairly well as long as sudden extremes are avoided-shrimp don't do well in high nitrate and can be sensitive to a lot of medication especially copper....

I wouldn't keep ghost and RCS together-but only because the ghost can/will kill the RCS that have molted and the RCS babies-ghost are known to eat their own babies too

Since you have a planted tank and use a sponge filter- the shrimp should do well for you....well....if the Betta lets them...lol.....my males could care less about them-but the females hunt them down killing and eating them at will...especially after they molt since the body can be really soft at that point....
 
#3 ·
If your tank is planted, I would go straight for the RCS. They are prettier, easier to breed and just plain cute. To ensure high survival rates, plenty of moss (java, flame, Christmas, whatever) is a good idea. :) The srhimp in my sorority do fine in temperatures of 80F and above (during summer, we get some terrible temperature spikes) and breed like guppies. I'm having a little more trouble with the shrimp in my 5 gallon with my male - I'm not sure if he's hunting them or if they are just shy, but when I switch all the silk plants to live ones in there I hope they will start breeding again. :)
 
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