Bettas in Minibow 2.5

[Aquarius0015]

I bought a Minibow 2.5 gallon for my two male bettas. The setup came with a "Whisper internal micro filter," an incandescent bulb, and a clear divider so my bettas don't kill each other, yet water passes through easily. The product packaging and Petsmart associate said this was perfectly acceptable for two bettas. {I also bought the smallest size Rena airpump available and an airstone, but the fish seemed to hate the bubbles like they were the plague, so I will take it back}. Ideally I would get a larger system, but I am a college student and space and cost are huge issues.

I have two questions. 1) Gary spends a large percentage of his time flaring his gills and generally trying to intimidate Ace. Ace is quite unperturbed by this, but I wonder if this behavior is too stressful for either fish. They both have places to hide, but don't seem to use them very often. Neither fish seems unhealthy, but I want to take precautions. As the tank is quite small, I can't cover the divider with plants, but maybe opaque waterproof paint on the divider would help hide them from each other?

2) A college friend of mine has a one and a half year old betta in his own gallon tank. On my advice (based on many many webpages) she bought two ghost shrimp for a grand total of $0.62 to add to the tank. At first we thought the shrimp were strictly bottom dwellers, but we were proved wrong by the feisty critters. The shrimp and betta seemed to get along, but the next day, several chunks of the betta's tail were missing. Since the shrimp are clear, it was easy to see where the tail went. Are all ghost shrimp like this, or did my friend get unusual shrimp? Should I risk ghost shrimp with my fish?

Any advice in response to any of my questions is greatly appreciated in advance!

[dethjam316]

not sure on the divider, but i can't imagine a ghost shrimp EVER attacking a fish, unless it was dead or practically dead floating around the tank or sitting on the bottom. i've had ghost shrimp in my tanks for a long time and have NEVER seen them attack anything other than a sunken flake!

is it possible the betta's fins were injured via some other means, and maybe the shrimp ate pieces of the tail once it was off? hmm. it would be most unusual in my opinion for the shrimp to attack the betta!!!!

[Aquarius0015]

Actually my friend said she saw the ghost shrimp munching on the betta when it was sort of resting near the bottom next to a plant. She removed that ghost shrimp, but two hours later she said she saw the other one doing the same thing. The shrimp are no longer with us.

[Captain Hook]

Wow I didn't think those shrimp were like that at all. That is the first time I have ever heard of them nipping fish.

As for that divider, you could always make it opaque so they won't be able to see each other. As long as they can't get at each other I think the fish will be fine but I am certainly not an expert. The reason I say that is because I see the fish at the pet stores flaring at each other all the time.

[WolfPup522]

I've never had two bettas in a single tank like that, but from what I understand having a removable opaque divider in addition to the current one is a good idea. I've heard many people say they keep the opaque divider in beside the other one and then remove it every so often so the bettas will flare. Then again, I've heard other people say they leave the opaque divider in all the time. Either way, I would get an opaque divider. Try searching the forum for "opaque divider" or "betta". I think that I had previously read something about that here.

As for the shrimp, I've never heard of them nipping fish either. I put 3 shrimp in with my betta and well.... he had a big dinner. The shrimp didn't last 24 hours.

[Aquarius0015]

Okay. So, based on the opinions of those on the boards and online, I purchased four ghost shrimp for my tank today. However the *knowledgeable* (and please note the sarcasm here) Petsmart associate accidently bagged five so I got a freebie.

I acclimated the adorable shrimp for about 45 minutes, then released them into the tank. Apparently they are small enough to squeeze between the holes in the betta barrier, as they congregated on one side after 30 minutes. Sadly, I lost a shrimp within three hours, but at $.029, I think I can afford the loss. I hope that at least three survive.

Anyway, Thursday is my Petsmart's stock day, so there was a huge selection of betta beauties. I fell in love with one but managed not to buy it. Any help on overcoming betta addiction would be greatly appreciated at this point.

I am thinking of giving my steel blue to a responsible friend who is looking to get into the whole pet fish thing so I can buy the gorgeous champage one. Please don't call me shallow, I'm not dumping the blue because of his physical blandness, his personality is just a little too passive for me. God, I hope I never have kids.