Tank mates for a male Betta in a 10 gal tank?

[kelikani]

My male Betta currently lives in a 2.5 gallon tank by himself. After a few months with dealing the tank, I realized that I don't really like it because it's too small for my liking, the filter system is horrible, and my cats can drink out of the tank. Since I finally got more money for my birthday recently I can upgrade to a bigger tank. Originally I wanted a 5 gallon tank for the Betta himself but I saw a 10 gallon tank for only $35 at Petsmart yesterday, which is right up my alley. If I get a tank that big, I'd want to have a few tank mates for my boy. I did a bit of research and I think having an African Dwarf Frog would be nice, along with some red cherry shrimps. We used to have an African Clawed frog named Godzilla that lived for 7 years. My mom thought she was a dwarf when she first bought her but obviously she was mistaken. :P Anyway, my point is that we've had frogs before so we know how to care for them.

I just wanted to ask you guys for your opinion on pairing a Betta with a frog and possibly other creatures. I think a 10 gallon tank with a few hiding spots here and there would be fine.

[ChoclateBetta]

Remember the lid. Pygmy Cories are great.

[paloverde]

I would not house a betta with rcs, since they often become a tasty snack.Adult sized ghost shrimp seemingly can avoid becoming an appetizer...usually.

[ChoclateBetta]

Be careful with ghost shrimp sometimes you end up with the dangerous species not the safe one. Some Bettas don not work well with RCS some do.

[Cez]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Be careful with ghost shrimp sometimes you end up with the dangerous species not the safe one. Some Bettas don not work well with RCS some do.

Dangerous species? What makes it dangerous?

[ChoclateBetta]

A while I read about a more dangerous canrnivore one that can be mixed up.

[sandrac8388]

I've read about that too! Some species are being mistaken for ghost shrimp and end up killing your betta.

[Cez]

I know that there is more than one species that is sold under the name "Ghost Shrimp" or "Glass Shrimp" but I've never heard of one that is anything but a scavenger.

It's possible that there are more aggressive species out there, but I think it's more likely that either they sense that a fish is dying and go for it or they've been starved by a lack of proper food in their living space.

I personally have kept both true and look-alike ghosties in tanks with my bettas for months at a time with no problems on either side.

[ChoclateBetta]

From what I have read they are not super common but out there. The regular american one is safe but many scavengers will eat dying fish.

[asukabetta]

It happens on rare occasions, Ghost shrimp can be confused with other types of the macrobrachium family,

This is a ghost shrimp



This is one of the species its confused for, the macrobracium acanthurus, as you can see, it's similar but identical, most species that it is confused for are bigger and have bigger claws because they are carnivorous.



However, it's rare cases and you can always double check if they look like in the picture, if you really want to be safe get amano shrimp, they are scavangers as well, omnivorous and algae eaters if you have algae issues.

Amano shrimp are the same size as ghost shrimp more or less, and almost transparent and opaque looking, you can tell they are amano shrimp by the lines across their body and spots :)

Amano shrimp: