ottos+shrimp?

[belmont0182]

i have 3 ottos in my ten gallon with three mollies and a betta...i was thinking about adding some ghost shrimp to help with the cleanup. i was also thinking about putting one in my 2 gallon that houses a molly fry as well as a few white cloud minnow fry. how do the shrimp act and would they bennefit my tank?

[david]

The Otos and the shrimp will get along fine.

The shrimp will eat any food they can get at.

The shrimp will eat the fry if they can catch them.

Don't know about the Beta or the Mollies.

I really like keeping shrimp, they are really interesting to watch even though they can get agressive at times.

[belmont0182]

so ghost shrimp prob wont be a good idea for my fry tank...man thats to bad cause i thought that they could eat the excess food from feeding. oh well

[Aquarius0015]

Bettas and ghost shrimp get along fine IME. The tricky thing for me is keeping them alive for over a month. They are short lived, but not *that* short lived.

Edit: I did, however, have a friend who complained her ghost shrimp ate a little bit of her betta's tail. But this was in a 1 gallon hex, so I imagine quarters were cramped. The betta was also old and not very active, so he might not have had the energy to swim away (he doesn't even flare anymore).

[Locust]

I've also heard of ghost shrimp nipping at betta's fins, but I'd agree that in a decent sized tank that's unlikely to be a big problem unless your betta tends to sleep at the bottom.

I've kept Amano shrimp with Bettas and the Bettas snapped at the shrimp on occassion, but they never caught one. As long as your provide cover, they should be fine.

[snakeskinner]

I bought 10 ghost shrimp for my 36 gallon just for fun and I figure food if my fish want. My tank is heavily planted so I can see if they're all there anymore but I can usually count around 7 at a time when I feed (they come to the front to catch the extra food. I know that one had died because I saw a couple others picking at the carcass. My giant danio's, gold gourami and serpae tetras will sometimes chase a shrimp which is funny to see the shrimp scurry away to safety but I've never seen one do any damage. I was going to get a couple cichlids but I'm not sure now so the shrimp may survive. I have 6 otos in the same tank and they never bother eachother. I also have a 6" pleco that hides during the day and may try eating the shrimp in the dark, not sure. When I bought them, I was just thinking they'd be cheap live food if my fish were so inclined but it turns out they are interesting on their own. Kyle

[belmont0182]

thanks guys...i would get them to clean the tank up and they would be the least important of all my fish, id rather they die than attack my fish...would my fry be in danger of shrimp?