[Xenophora]

Hello again! I have a question about sororities.

I am about to get a 30 gallon aquarium. I intend to cycle it, plant it, and THEN get ten or so female betta splendens from a reputable shop. The fish are imported from Thailand and are fed exclusively a diet of readily available live foods.

I want to know if I can keep cherry shrimp with any success in my aquarium. I love crustaceans, but I'm afraid the Bettas might eat them! If not cherry shrimp, does anyone know something else that might coexist and look fancy fine on flame moss? I really want a blue lobster, but I'm almost certain they are too big and will pick on (OR EAT) my bettas!

Opinions please? And remember: I still need to get the basics of the tank set up. No healthy bacteria, Bettas, plants, or other creatures yet!

 

[Watermelons]

As long as its very heavily planted and the shrimp have a lot of safe areas to hide you should be good.
Dont forget to put some mesh over the filter intake to prevent baby shrimps from getting sucked up.

 

[Xenophora]

Frankly, I expect te fish will eat the majority of any baby shrimps that happen. But I'm reading that in tanks where shrimp freely reproduce, the genetic pool is corrupted over time from inbreeding, so I don't mind stocking it back up when the big guys die. Live foods for fish, good genes for shrimps. What's not to like??

My only concern is if the Bettas will eat FULLY GROWN cherry shrimp...

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

I wouldn't do it. I have shrimp in with my male HM in heavily planted tanks but they can't maneuver and aren't as quick at females. Have you though about Dwarf Crays? The Cambarellus species. I think if you had lots of hides for them when they molt they would be a better option.

Just ask the person sending them to you for adults or have a grow out tank you can keep them in until they reach full size which is about 1.5"

 

[Xenophora]

Are you certain that the crayfish won't try to catch and eat my Bettas? 1.5 inches is nearly the same size as a female betta fish!

 

[Xenophora]

They look really pretty though, great suggestion!

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

They're little pinchers are only good for threatening. I have them in with my Plakat, Clooney, and they don't bother him at all. They aren't so much aggressive as defensive. If trying to eat or feeling threatened they will raise up and wave their little pinchers around.

The only thing I've ever seen them do is catch a male HM's caudal and go for a short ride. Didn't even cause any damage.

I have them in all but one of my tanks with Betta and Micro fish like Rasbora, Neons, Ember Tetra and Dario Dario and Dario hysginon.

 

[Kyle15]

If not, Try Amano or Rili shrimp, Crystal Red shrimp . They have a nice blue.

I'm getting 15 tanks today , I will be breeding the shrimps and Tiger endler guppies. I'll be the only person in the country who breeds them

 

[CalicoKitties]

I would try ghost shrimp first because they're cheap, and that's an easy way to see if your bettas will get along with shrimp or not. of the ghosties go unbothered, then you could try RCS.

 

[AquaPlayz]

I would go with cpos, ghost shrimp, Amano, and/or wild ghost shrimp, the feeders at most lfs are wilds, they have a Reddish hue and stay alittle smaller IME

 

[Xenophora]

Well I'm thinking I might just go ahead with 6 or so cherries for now while I start to plant and decorate. The nitrogen cycle is still in the works, having just cleared the ammonia stage. I'm thinking that fully grown shrimps at at about an inch long are too large to fit in a female betta's mouth! Hopefully they won't try it, but if they do, I may look into other bottom dwellers to fill that space.

Does anyone have any experience keeping killifish with a sorority? I love the look of killies, and I read that they have inquisitive personalities much like Bettas. I am aware that different species vary wildly in aggression and temperature ranges, but I was hoping to keep a male-female pair of the Tanzanean "northobranchius fuscotaeniatus " species, as they are tropical and male and female are both colorful. In 30 gallons, with lots of plants, and many hiding places, I hope to make these annual killies work with the sorority. But are there any strong reasons why not? I worry they may look too much like wild bettas...

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

RCS need a fully matured tank about eight weeks beyond the cycle. Even with mature tanks I always use Seachem Stability when adding new fish; especially those with shrimp or CPO as as little as a .25ppm spike can kill or severely compromise them. At least that's been my experience.

 

[LittleBettaFish]

Having had killifish, and having had a sorority, I would personally not recommend adding killifish to a sorority tank.

I'm not sure about nothos, but my killifish were always pretty erratic with their swimming. Add to this their bright colour, and the fact that the males can be boisterous verging on aggressive with their behaviour, I would think the possibility of them being harassed or attacked by the females is fairly high.

I think killifish are better suited to either species only set-ups, or in community tanks with fish they are not likely to bully or be bullied by.

 

[micheemak]

For what it's worth, my sorority tank decimated both my amanos and red cherry shrimp, despite the fact that it's fairly heavily planted. I ended up removing the survivors to my large freshwater tropical, and the guppies and mollies are leaving them alone.

It was horrifying to see the carnage, and I had to take everything out of the tank (plants, filter, fish - the works) in order to catch the survivors, so it was also a huge chore after the fact.

Maybe with a more docile male they might be alright, but I think you're looking at spending money just so your girls have the thrill of the hunt for the 30 or so minutes it might take them to destroy.

 

[Xenophora]

Hahaha they'll safely get their thrills from my clean, home cultured, dollar-a-tablespoon blackworms thank you very much! Hahaha awkward when everything fights or dies isn't it? It's my fault for falling in love with a fighting fish. Not very neighborly. Hmmmm.

Well my aim is not to abuse any fish by being ignorant or too eager. This is exactly why I am asking my questions WAY before setting up. Everything must be alright and every detail accounted for. There are far too many stories of people housing too many incompatible fish in the same aquarium and creating inhumane environments for little fishy lives. I will not push boundaries. I can easily adapt to suit fish, but fish cannot easily adapt to suit me. I am privileged to have them in my home at all! And I am absolutely happiest when I know my fish are healthy and well cared for. And so I will continue to research and question. ☺