[BlueSky99]

My tank has been running for a month now, and I've had my betta for 3 weeks already. I have a 5 gal and I was thinking of getting 2-4 ghost shrimp. I figured they would be good companions because they'll eat leftover food and algae, and my betta sometimes misses food I drop. My betta is relatively calm, but I know there's always that risk that he'll kill them. Is it ok to go ahead and get them this weekend, or should I wait until my tank has been running longer? (Or should I have more cover in my tank before adding in anything; there's a photo of my tank in my album)

If my aquarium is ok to go, then how many should I get? Also, I read that they molt their shell? What happens to their shell and should it be removed or left in the tank?

edit- I may have put this in the wrong section... :/

 

[VivianKJean]

Is your tank fully cycled? Ghost shrimp prefer a cycled tank.

yes, Bettas do tend to eat them. In a 5 gallon tank I would actually get a snail instead, although bettas are known to possibly attack snails. I usually do not get any tank mates unless I have a 2nd and 3rd option for them.

 

[Alaura123]

African dwarf frogs are good, a gallon per frog, and they don't produce much waste.
My mom just got an African clawed frog (or in other words albino frog xD), but they need more space and produce more waste than a goldfish surprisingly. They also require 10 gallons per frog.
As with any tankmate, it depends on if your betta agrees with him, some don't like it, others just don't care.
I also have 2 pond snails, and my mom has 2 ramshorns, and a malaysian trumpet snail, they are pretty good so far. (pet store guy just gave us random snails)

 

[VivianKJean]

I personally wouldn't go straight to ADF until you know EXACTLY how your betta will react to tank mates.

In addition, ADF are very sensitive to water quality so they NEED a tank that is fully cycled and has a steady cycle.

 

[BlueSky99]

I believe my tank is cycled, though I don't fully understand it. Ammonia stays at 0, so yes? Nitrates looks to be inbetween 0 and 20ppm, Nitrite - 0, GH - 150ppm, KH - 40 or 80ppm, PH - 7.2

I think my parents would be against me getting a snail because we once had a snail infestation in our big tank, and I wouldn't want mine to become overrun with them. I think I might just get a few ghost shimp if my tank is cycled to see how well Arley would get along with tank mates. (With getting an ADF, I would think there might be the problem of my betta eating its food)

 

[VivianKJean]

I would do the ghost shrimp over the AFD. You also have to hand feed AFD.

 

[BlueSky99]

Alright, thank you. Hopefully we'll be going to the petstore later to get more fish for our big tank and I can get ghost shrimp there.