Betta Suddenly Being A Jerk To Shrimp

Hey guys,

I've had my betta for about a month now, and for the last week and half, he's lived relatively peacefully with three amano shrimp in a 8.5 gallon tank.

I recently planted the tank and I've been working on clearing the dust out. Now I can somewhat see through the tank.

I've noticed my betta is suddenly flaring A LOT. He never flared before. He's now aggressively chasing the shrimp and nipping at them. They're fast enough to get away from him more of the time, but I'm really concerned this isn't a good environment for them. Should I re-home them? And if so, what's the minimum size tank that three amano shrimp could fit in (I have a 2.5, but I'm thinking at least 5 would be best)?

Also, what could be causing his sudden change in temperament?

Thank you in advance!

 

it could possibly be the change to his territory like you planting it made him uncomftorable

 

it could possibly be the change to his territory like you planting it made him uncomftorable

Alright. Will he calm down eventually or should I re-home the shrimp if this is the case?

 

it honestly depends on your betta. Like mine did the same thing when I added plants but I kept the shrimp in there and they did fine I just added a few more decorations for them

 

Yup. That is not "suddenly" by any stretch of imagination.

That's what a month of betta being annoyed by the existence of a tank mate looks like - like it goes with all bettas, mostly - and now that it's been a month he's close to snapping. That's what they do, everything is fine until one day the betta snaps and kills everything.

You should probably be separating them as I write this post, or you'll have a CSI: Shrimp on your hands soon enough.

 

Yup. That is not "suddenly" by any stretch of imagination.

That's what a month of betta being annoyed by the existence of a tank mate looks like - like it goes with all bettas, mostly - and now that it's been a month he's close to snapping. That's what they do, everything is fine until one day the betta snaps and kills everything.

You should probably be separating them as I write this post, or you'll have a CSI: Shrimp on your hands soon enough.

really that's what happens mine has been with shrimp for a good 9 or 10 months now and there's been no issues

Hey guys,

I've had my betta for about a month now, and for the last week and half, he's lived relatively peacefully with three amano shrimp in a 8.5 gallon tank.

I recently planted the tank and I've been working on clearing the dust out. Now I can somewhat see through the tank.

I've noticed my betta is suddenly flaring A LOT. He never flared before. He's now aggressively chasing the shrimp and nipping at them. They're fast enough to get away from him more of the time, but I'm really concerned this isn't a good environment for them. Should I re-home them? And if so, what's the minimum size tank that three amano shrimp could fit in (I have a 2.5, but I'm thinking at least 5 would be best)?

Also, what could be causing his sudden change in temperament?

Thank you in advance!

tunafax might be right

 

Hey guys,

I've had my betta for about a month now, and for the last week and half, he's lived relatively peacefully with three amano shrimp in a 8.5 gallon tank.

I recently planted the tank and I've been working on clearing the dust out. Now I can somewhat see through the tank.

I've noticed my betta is suddenly flaring A LOT. He never flared before. He's now aggressively chasing the shrimp and nipping at them. They're fast enough to get away from him more of the time, but I'm really concerned this isn't a good environment for them. Should I re-home them? And if so, what's the minimum size tank that three amano shrimp could fit in (I have a 2.5, but I'm thinking at least 5 would be best)?

Also, what could be causing his sudden change in temperament?

Thank you in advance!

Amano shrimp are REALLY fast. Ghost shrimp are fast, and can slap the Betta with their antennae. My Betta messed with them a few times, then gave them the bottom of the tank. I think it will balance back out.

Bettas are SLOW.

A lighter coloured substrate would be ideal.

 

Asaflame peaceful bettas are not the rule of thumb, they are the exception to the rule of thumb. There are contributing factors like tank size and how much cover there is, and what type of shrimp. But once the betta gets aggressive, that should be treated as evidence that the betta OP got isn't the friendly exception. The options are, double the tank size AND change decor, or easier yet, just separate.

PS: lucky you. I wish I could have that much faith in any of rage boys.

 

Asaflame peaceful bettas are not the rule of thumb, they are the exception to the rule of thumb. There are contributing factors like tank size and how much cover there is, and what type of shrimp. But once the betta gets aggressive, that should be treated as evidence that the betta OP got isn't the friendly exception. The options are, double the tank size AND change decor, or easier yet, just separate.

PS: lucky you. I wish I could have that much faith in any of rage boys.

Agreed. Bettas are especially aggressive with brightly colored species....guppys, neons, etc, etc.

Bettas are not nearly as aggressive (in my experience) with clear species (amano, ghost, even numerous nerites). Just don't throw a colorful fish in there, and things should settle down. Provide hiding places, which you are doing.....I would wager that everything will be fine.

 

I have an older Betta that HATES everyone and has to be alone. I mean he can't even have a snail cuz he flares and gets mad at the snail. My Baby Betta on the other hand is much more calm and he's okay with the snail. It doesn't bother him. He likes to check out the snail some times. He's just very curious. Betta's are one fish that like and perfer to live alone. They live alone in the wild and are very territorial. Some people have success with keeping Betta with other fish and have no issues. However it mainly depends on the Betta's personality and temperament.
Your Betta sounds like it's sick of the shrimp and wants his territory back. If you want to keep a Betta with other fish I recommend getting a baby Betta. The older Betta remind me of humans in a way....The older they get the more set in their ways they are and they don't like change.

 

Yup. That is not "suddenly" by any stretch of imagination.

That's what a month of betta being annoyed by the existence of a tank mate looks like - like it goes with all bettas, mostly - and now that it's been a month he's close to snapping. That's what they do, everything is fine until one day the betta snaps and kills everything.

You should probably be separating them as I write this post, or you'll have a CSI: Shrimp on your hands soon enough.

This sounds like my life! Some day I’ll snap but I more than likely just quit my job!

 

Yep Bettas are a very territorial. They will try to chase anything that gets in there space. There are the small few that will accept others.

 

I honestly would rehome the shrimp or give them their own tank. Sometimes Bettas will be fine with others for a while, then puberty hits, and suddenly they are not. While shrimp are faster many times then a betta, when they molt they do sit still for long period of time, this is the time they can become a betta snack.

 

I honestly would rehome the shrimp or give them their own tank. Sometimes Bettas will be fine with others for a while, then puberty hits, and suddenly they are not. While shrimp are faster many times then a betta, when they molt they do sit still for long period of time, this is the time they can become a betta snack.

I think a taller tank helps. My Betta is in a 5 gallon fluval chi. It is 12" tall. Have had 2 bettas that have never messed with the shrimp in there. I also have a light substrate....and plenty of hiding places. Your Betta will explore everywhere but will usually hang at the top as they are labyrinth fish.

4 ghost shrimp on bottom.

 

Mine was SEEMINGLY peaceful. Never flared, only ever get excited when I was removing the lid (associated with food I think) and coexisted peacefully with my RCS...for a week lol.

My horned nerites are left alone but he obviously and absolutely hates the more twitchy RCS so yeah.

Unless you have a well established colony of shrimp that has settled and maybe multiplied well for months in the tank before the betta gets introduced, I would definitely rehome the betta. Of course they could still annihilate the entire well established shrimp population too so it's always an unpredictable bet with this particular fish.

 

Mine was SEEMINGLY peaceful. Never flared, only ever get excited when I was removing the lid (associated with food I think) and coexisted peacefully with my RCS...for a week lol.

My horned nerites are left alone but he obviously and absolutely hates the more twitchy RCS so yeah.

Unless you have a well established colony of shrimp that has settled and maybe multiplied well for months in the tank before the betta gets introduced, I would definitely rehome the betta. Of course they could still annihilate the entire well established shrimp population too so it's always an unpredictable bet with this particular fish.

Absolutely. Red cherry shrimp color is saying....please notice me. Like a bull and a Matador. Lol

 

I think a taller tank helps. My Betta is in a 5 gallon fluval chi. It is 12" tall. Have had 2 bettas that have never messed with the shrimp in there. I also have a light substrate....and plenty of hiding places. Your Betta will explore everywhere but will usually hang at the top as they are labyrinth fish.

4 ghost shrimp on bottom.

View attachment 361656

Nice betta!

 

Nice betta!

Tyvm!

 

I think a taller tank helps. My Betta is in a 5 gallon fluval chi. It is 12" tall. Have had 2 bettas that have never messed with the shrimp in there. I also have a light substrate....and plenty of hiding places. Your Betta will explore everywhere but will usually hang at the top as they are labyrinth fish.

4 ghost shrimp on bottom.

View attachment 361656

Handsome little betta. Personally I just think it depends on the individual betta. My female betta would tolerate nerite snails, but shrimp were just food to her. She was also a very out going betta. She lived in a ten gallon, moderately planted tank.

 

Handsome little betta. Personally I just think it depends on the individual betta. My female betta would tolerate nerite snails, but shrimp were just food to her. She was also a very out going betta. She lived in a ten gallon, moderately planted tank.

Yeah. I have gotten lucky with both of my bettas. The light sub and buying FULL grown ghost shrimp. They literally whacked the betta across the face. Ghosts will stand their ground. Especially at 2 in long.

 

Yeah. I have gotten lucky with both of my bettas. The light sub and buying FULL grown ghost shrimp. They literally whacked the betta across the face. Ghosts will stand their ground. Especially at 2 in long.

Yup I have found both ghosts and amano shrimp are a little more fiesty then some of the smaller dwarf shrimp. I currently have an amano, blue dream shrimp, and snail tank. I have to put shrimp food on both ends of the tank because the amano shrimp take it over and the blue dream won't try to get it back.

 

Yup I have found both ghosts and amano shrimp are a little more fiesty then some of the smaller dwarf shrimp. I currently have an amano, blue dream shrimp, and snail tank. I have to put shrimp food on both ends of the tank because the amano shrimp take it over and the blue dream won't try to get it back.

Oh yeah. I would not put a Neocardinia D. Species (dwarf shrimp-colorful) with a Betta. I happened to find a bunch of 2 inch long ghost shrimp at petsmart. My oldest one was Leeroy Jenkins....he lived 3 yrs. Miss him.

You can get huge amanos from liveaquaria if I am not mistaken.

 

Yup I have found both ghosts and amano shrimp are a little more fiesty then some of the smaller dwarf shrimp. I currently have an amano, blue dream shrimp, and snail tank. I have to put shrimp food on both ends of the tank because the amano shrimp take it over and the blue dream won't try to get it back.

Back when I had ghost shrimp my Platy would try to mess with them and my ghost shrimp would swim at the Platy and it scared the living day lights out of the Platy and they left the shrimp alone.

 

Yeah some Betta are chill and others just hate being bothered. If your Betta ever looking bored or sad try getting him some toys. My Betta's 5 gallon was pretty bland with a snail, 2 plants and a bridge decor. I added more plants and got him a Betta log and he was from acting "Bored" to once again swimming all over the tank and being his active healthy self. Also if your Betta isn't a grumpy old man like my older Betta is than you can actually play with your Betta and it helps keep them entertained!
My Baby Betta loves playing follow the finger and he some times demands it, haha. You can also train your Betta. I taught my Betta to jump for his food which exercises his natural abilities and is entertaining for me and the Betta.
Super easy and fun!
(sorry I sound like i'm advertising for a commercial LOL)

Get some dry erase markers ha!!! They love it...at least mine have.

 

Asaflame peaceful bettas are not the rule of thumb, they are the exception to the rule of thumb. There are contributing factors like tank size and how much cover there is, and what type of shrimp. But once the betta gets aggressive, that should be treated as evidence that the betta OP got isn't the friendly exception. The options are, double the tank size AND change decor, or easier yet, just separate.

PS: lucky you. I wish I could have that much faith in any of rage boys.

Thanks now I can pay attention to my betta and see how he acts

 

So a rather sad update -- I noticed my betta was getting worse and worse towards my shrimp. The only reason I can come up with is that the plants made him feel more territorial as one member described. Or he went through some version of fishy puberty.

I went away for the weekend, and when I came back, found all three amanos dead underneath one of the statues in the tank. They must have tried to hide under it and starved to death or something. I had planned to rehome them, but I suppose that won't be happening now.

I've given up on trying to keep shrimp with my betta -- I don't want to risk any more deaths. I put a nerite snail in instead, and they get along perfectly fine (for now).

I suppose this is the risk we take when housing bettas with other tankmates.

 

Yup. That is not "suddenly" by any stretch of imagination.

That's what a month of betta being annoyed by the existence of a tank mate looks like - like it goes with all bettas, mostly - and now that it's been a month he's close to snapping. That's what they do, everything is fine until one day the betta snaps and kills everything.

You should probably be separating them as I write this post, or you'll have a CSI: Shrimp on your hands soon enough.

Yup. Some bettas have different tolerances. Mine is like a puppy, very sweet and playful (with me), but he made it only a weekend before he decided the two amano shrimp needed to go. He's fine with the nerites - I'm not even sure he recognizes that they aren't slowly moving rocks...

 

I'm sorry you lost your shrimp. Your poor Betta is just doing what comes naturally. Some are apparently OK with shrimp. Others think it's feeding time.

 

So a rather sad update -- I noticed my betta was getting worse and worse towards my shrimp. The only reason I can come up with is that the plants made him feel more territorial as one member described. Or he went through some version of fishy puberty.

I went away for the weekend, and when I came back, found all three amanos dead underneath one of the statues in the tank. They must have tried to hide under it and starved to death or something. I had planned to rehome them, but I suppose that won't be happening now.

I've given up on trying to keep shrimp with my betta -- I don't want to risk any more deaths. I put a nerite snail in instead, and they get along perfectly fine (for now).

I suppose this is the risk we take when housing bettas with other tankmates.

Sorry to hear that. I just went through that myself and it's disappointing and sad. Yu didn't mean for this to happen. But we learn. Oh boy we learn!

 

He has probably been fed processed food all his life, and didn't recognize the shrimp as possible food until now. He has just figured out something he thinks is wonderful - fresh food!
The shrimp are probably less impressed.
He won't unlearn. I have had many tank raised fish take weeks to eat natural foods. I put a load of Daphnia in with some dwarf Cichlids one time, and they adopted them like babies for a couple of days. Then the female took one in her mouth to clean it (they do that with their young) and made a remarkable discovery about her adopted crustacean child. They were all gone an hour later, and from then on in, the relationship had changed forever...
Some Bettas look at snails for years, and others realize that if they hit them, they can be sucked out of their shells. We haven't bred them to be survivors as nature did - we have bred them for pretty fins.

 

MeikI Love's post and the responses have been moved to a thread of it's own.
Here's the link:
Contemplating Shrimp With Betta

Le's not lose sight of the original poster.

 

Sorry Lucy .... I have no idea putting in these new roomies and got carried away!

 

Amano shrimp are way to big for a betta to eat

 

That's what I figured but on this forum I have read where people said their shrimp was eaten by their betta. Tgat makes me feel waaaay better. Thank yu!

 

Some shrimp like cherry could easily be swallowed by a betta. I don't know if they would eat them though

 

Has the OP asked about Amano shrimp? If not please do not continue to hi-jack their thread.

 

sorry about that Lucy got sidetracked ^.^

 

I recently put a new betta in my existing shrimp tank full of orange neocardinas and he decimated the population quite a bit, though there are still plenty left.

BUT he also got my 1 amano shrimp, even though there were still smaller shrimp, even babies around :0

I guess betta behaviour really is hard to predict.