Good or bad idea?

[bettacrazygirl86]

I have a 4 gallon heated drum bowl, lighted with a desk lamp that gives off some added heat. It doesn't have a filter and I don't plan on putting one in. I will be getting a better heater soon, though.

All that's in the tank is natural colored gravel, a fake plant, a terracotta pot, the heater, and a floating log for my betta.

I wanted to know if it would be okay to put a ghost shrimp in the tank with him? Would it be beneficial? I think my betta would be okay with having a tank mate, especially one that would be hard to see. He hardly flares at his reflection. I actually have a hard time getting him to flare at all, and he isn't aggressive towards my fingers when I reach in to move something, or pluck out food he doesn't eat.

I only want the ghost shrimp so it'll eat the food Patriot misses and it would keep it clean. I've been keeping up on water changes, but the heater gets slimy sometimes, and it would be nice to have something to clean the algae for me so I don't have to scrub the walls of the tank as often.

What else do ghost shrimp eat? Would it clean up the fish poo too?

The ghost shrimp are cheap, so I can easily get one, but I'm just concerned that I might overstock the tank. If I do get a ghost shrimp, I'd like to just get one, as two might be a bit too much and one or the other might not get as much food as they need.

Is it a good idea, or a bad one? Again, the bowl is 4 gallons and already has a betta in it.

[bettacrazygirl86]

I'm going to my LFS sometime tomorrow, I think, to get a new, adjustable heater, and if I can, I'd like to get the shrimp then. Someone please respond to this so I know if I should or not. :)

[aemaki09]

It wouldn't be a horrible idea, I'd get 2-3 instead of 1 though, they prefer to live with their own kind. (No it wouldn't over stick your tank)
Ghost shrimp really only eat left over food. They won't eat fish waste, and occasionally, but not very often they will munch on algea

[Fishybitty]

I have such a hard time keeping these guys alive. I love my "mystery" snail over the ghost shrimp I've had.

[Bombalurina]

I would always go for shrimp over snails. Snails have a large bioload, and my goodness, do they smell bad when they die.

[Fishybitty]

That was only my opinion, I bought 3 ghost shrimp and after 4 days they literally vanished. I enjoy watching my snail hes quite fun. :p

[bettacrazygirl86]

I got two little ones. :) They were happy little cleaners in Petsmart when I got them, so hopefully they'll do a good job!

[LadyVictorian]

Originally Posted by Fishybitty

I have such a hard time keeping these guys alive. I love my "mystery" snail over the ghost shrimp I've had.

+1, I love my snail, he's a hell of a character and actually doesn't have that large of a bioload. The pond snails poo more than he does.

[breezywillow]

Hey guys, have your bettas ever bothered your mystery snails? I have one in my 5 gallon with a single male CT. The first day my betta kind of nudged him a few time and then for the past four days he has ignored him. I came home today and my Gary's antennas have been eaten off and it looks like my betta even broke off a piece of his shell trying to get to him. My betta has a dented in white spot right across the bridge of his nose, like where the edge of the shell would rub if he was trying to break into Gary's shell. I moved Gary to an unheated, 1L until I can find a divider to fit my tank. What can I do? I know his antenna will grow back but what about his shell? Why did Weebles do this after ignoring the snail for that many days? I feel absolutely sick that my poor Gary has suffered this way :(