Cherry shrimp Vs Amano shrimp with bettas

[Megann194]

Good evening all, hope your enjoying the warm weather for a change!

im looking into shrimp to go in my bettas tank. I’ve had recommendations for amano and cherry shrimps. So i have a couple questions..

Can cherry and amano shrimp live harmoniously with each other?
Will either of the shrimp cause damage to my betta?
Are either a super crazy breeder that May take over my tank?
Are either of them likely to eat all my plants?
Do either of these shrimps have any plant preferences? I know they like lots of hiding places.

 

[hypnogogia]

Can cherry and amano shrimp live harmoniously with each other? Yes
Will either of the shrimp cause damage to my betta? Not in my experience
Are either a super crazy breeder that May take over my tank? RCS will breed, amano not. RCS breed a lot, and Giu can have a lot as their bio load is very small.
Are either of them likely to eat all my plants? They’ll eat damaged plants, but otherwise not in my experience.
Do either of these shrimps have any plant preferences? I know they like lots of hiding places. Dense. They also like floating plants as can hide in the suspended roots.

 

[Megann194]

Can cherry and amano shrimp live harmoniously with each other? Yes
Will either of the shrimp cause damage to my betta? Not in my experience
Are either a super crazy breeder that May take over my tank? RCS will breed, amano not. RCS breed a lot, and Giu can have a lot as their bio load is very small.
Are either of them likely to eat all my plants? They’ll eat damaged plants, but otherwise not in my experience.
Do either of these shrimps have any plant preferences? I know they like lots of hiding places. Dense. They also like floating plants as can hide in the suspended roots.

Lush thank you for that.. what do you mean by ‘Giu’ is that another shrimp type?
i know bettas like floating plants too so defo looking into floating plants already, just gotta decide which ones.

 

[MichaelJ]

Good evening all, hope your enjoying the warm weather for a change!

im looking into shrimp to go in my bettas tank. I’ve had recommendations for amano and cherry shrimps. So i have a couple questions..

Can cherry and amano shrimp live harmoniously with each other?
Will either of the shrimp cause damage to my betta?
Are either a super crazy breeder that May take over my tank?
Are either of them likely to eat all my plants?
Do either of these shrimps have any plant preferences? I know they like lots of hiding places.

@hypnogogia summed it up. As far as shrimp preying on plants; If you supplement with algae wafters, fresh scalded kale, spinach, peeled cucumber or zucchini you can keep predatorial damage to plants to an absolute minimum - at least with the variety of plants I have in my shrimp tank (Cherry and Crystal) damage to plants is a non-issue. Shrimps are opportunist, that will go for easy food preferably served up in a small glass dish. Sometimes I think my shrimps are getting really lazy, just hanging out waiting for me to dish up easy snacks instead foraging for whatever algae, biofilm and food/plant waste they can find. I think I spoiled them 🙂 Whether the Cherry shrimps will breed and how much depends on water conditions etc, but usually they will breed, and prodigiously so under ideal conditions.

i know bettas like floating plants too so defo looking into floating plants already, just gotta decide which ones.

Frogbit and Water Pennyworts are good choices... grows really well and provide perfect coverage for shrimps and the Betta. And as a bonus, both plants are brilliant to asses the nutrient health in your tank.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[hypnogogia]

I think I spoiled them 🙂

I think you must do. 😉

 

[Megann194]

@hypnogogia summed it up. As far as shrimp praying on plants; If you supplement with algae wafters, fresh scalded kale, spinach, peeled cucumber or zucchini you can keep predatorial damage to plants to an absolute minimum - at least with the variety of plants I have in my shrimp tank (Cherry and Crystal) damage to plants is a non-issue. Shrimps are opportunist, that will go for easy food preferably served up in a small glass dish. Sometimes I think my shrimps are getting really lazy, just hanging out waiting for me to dish up easy snacks instead foraging for whatever algae, biofilm and food/plant waste they can find. I think I spoiled them 🙂 Whether the Cherry shrimps will breed and how much depends on water conditions etc, but usually they will breed, and prodigiously so under ideal conditions.

Frogbit and Water Pennyworts are good choices... grows really well and provide perfect coverage for shrimps and the Betta. And as a bonus, both plants are brilliant to asses the nutrient health in your tank.

Cheers,
Michael

Okay sounds like as long as I feed them they won’t eat plants which is totally fair enough, so veggies are the way to go you reckon? Preferable over wafers?
ive heard about frogbit and water pennywort, their defo on my list to get!

 

[MichaelJ]

Okay sounds like as long as I feed them they won’t eat plants which is totally fair enough, so veggies are the way to go you reckon? Preferable over wafers?

I mainly feed mine algae wafers, protein sticks and mineral sticks. Usually, I feed them a bit of scalded spinach or peeled cucumbers once a week. I exclusively feed my shrimps in a glass dish such as this - makes it easy to remove uneaten food after a day or so and avoid uneaten food polluting the water. I usually feed the shrimps 3 times per week - whatever I feed them will usually last two days. While I do have a lot of shrimps I also have snails and Oto's that comes in for the feast as well... and some of my cardinal tetras and Ruby red tetras likes to join in too... Still, to be honest, I am probably overfeeding them a bit. You will definitely read about shrimp keepers that only feed their shrimps occasionally and mainly rely on whatever the shrimps can find around the tank.

Cheers,
Michael