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Allie

I had baby bns in with my betta for awhile. No one bothered them.
Bamboo shrimp, I dunno...Betta do like to eat shrimp.

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chickadee

I have a Clown Pleco which is very tiny and he gets along very well with Triton and they just ignore each other. Tico (Pleco) gets out only at night and Triton is a day fishie so they are never around each other. Most plecos will stay in caves during the day and stay out of the way of the bettas, but most of them are too big for a betta tank. I have a Queen Arabesque, Clown Pleco, and a Gypsy Tiger King but all my tanks are bigger (12 and 25 gallon) The Clown Pleco would be small enough for your tank but the other two are too big. The Clown is under 2" and has not grown a bit since the first of the year and I have had him for several months. He is such a sweetie and so cute.

As far as the shrimp goes, I do not recommend any type of shrimp with bettas as this is the first food they are given as fry and the shrimp may be okay until it molts but when the shell is off the betta is going to be tempted to eat it. I do not think you can be mad at the fish for doing what comes naturally and eating what is its natural food. (and that would definitely be overfeeding your betta) I have had others who tried to keep shrimp with them and they dissappeared one by one never to be seen again. When they were upset, there was really only one answer to be given. It is the way of the betta to eat their natural food and you cannot expect otherwise.

Rose

Barbrella

The odds are probably good, but it depends on the betta, and that goes for the Bamboo shrimp as well. However a 7.5 gal tank is not large enough for even bristlenosed plecos, seeing as how they are quite messy. I know you said you're not planning on that anyway, but just in case!

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chickadee

They do give them BBS. But bettas do not differentiate between BBS and grown up type shrimp when they become big bettas they all smell and taste the same to them. The shrimp would probably be okay as long as it had its shell on but when it molts, it is hunting season. Inari a prior member who has gone on to college I believe had some and they kept dissappearing and we figured that his betta, Inari was the culprit as they always disappearred when they molted. He did try on several occasions I believe. There were others but I do not recall names at this point. Anyway Inari (the betta) always became constipated and bloated when a shrimp disappeared so we knew he was getting extra food somewhere and the shrimp were the likely source.

Rose

valentine

my bamboo shrimp, Prongs, is a cool little guy i think everyone should have one but he does not eat poop, so i don't know that he will help the filter in that way. he does however make some big poops.
also if you get one, they hide very well! so don't go crazy if you cant find him prongs finds tiny little caves in the driftwood to hide in for days sometimes.

chickadee

Yes the common notion that scavengers eat the waste products of fish is a myth. They eat leftover food and scraps and perhaps dead fish but never will they eat waste from other animals. I do not know why everyone seems to try to find some little animal that will try to clean the tank for them when they are really going to have to just get in there and do that part of the job themselves.

There is not anything that is going to miraculously make the poo go away. You have to remove that yourself. Get out the syphon or the gravel vac and just do it.

Rose

COBettaCouple

Yea, the shrimp won't eat his poop. I've heard that Bamboo Shrimp can be housed with Bettas but haven't tried it and don't plan to. Like Rose said, shrimp are a natural food source and it's a possibility every day that the shrimp would become dinner.

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valentine

i hope you do get one becuase they are so fun and i always think prongs should have a top hat...they are like bettas a bit in the way they interact with you

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0morrokh

Ok I'll admit I didn't really read the entire thread so my apologies if I'm repeating what everyone else has said.

Do not try keeping a bamboo shrimp with a betta in that size of a tank, unless you know for sure you have an extremely well mannered betta (and the tank is heavily planted). That means you will have to have had him in another tank with fish to make sure he gets along. You also need to add him to the bamboo shrimp's tank after the shrimp, and be able to move one of them to another tank if (or probably when) they don't get along. I did have a betta once with a bamboo shrimp, but that was my Dorado and I would have trusted him with just about anything (it was also in a 20 gal with lots of hiding places). I tried putting a bamboo with my other bettas...BAD idea. Woulda turned into carnage if I hadn't removed the poor guys immediately. All in all I wouldn't recommend trying it. Most bettas will pick on shrimp and stress them even if they don't eat them.

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