[PersonalityUnknown]

I'm new to inverts, and I'm starting to love them! I have a 2.5 gallon betta tank with my 1 - 1 1/2 inch Amano shrimp and a Zebra Nerite snail. I wanted a shrimp just to have it and she seems to be doing well in my tank, even though my betta picks on her every so often. (She survived the night which is more than I can say for the ghost shrimp I tried.)

I do have /some/ algae development but not a lot. The tank is about 2 months old now and has only had a filter (Tetra 3i) for maybe a month. My cycle seems to be started and doing pretty well even with all I have in my small tank. When I went to work today I tested my water and everything seemed to be pretty good. My ammonia was a tad bit higher than 0, but I plan on doing a water change tomorrow night. (I do weekly 50% water changes)

Honestly, how badly and I overloading my tank...? It doesn't seem to be doing bad now but I'm still pretty new to the whole tank keeping thing.

My /real/ shrimp question is this:
What should I feed my Amano shrimp? My betta is a glutton and eats every single pellet I place in the tank and I'm terrified of over feeding him since I know betta's have a tiny stomach. What should I do so my shrimp can eat something more than just the little bit of algae my tank cultivates.

 

[thekoimaiden]

One thing you could do is to amp up the light in the tank. That will provide more algae for both the shrimp and nerite. But you will have to feed both of them in such a small tank. I use algae wafers to feed my snails and shrimp. I break them up into fourths to make it easier for them to get the food, but you will have to be careful with bettas as they are gluttons. I can't offer you any advice as to how to get the betta away. You'll have to experiment with that yourself. Some people have had success only feeding inverts after dark.

That ammonia worries me a lot. Shrimps are very sensitive to ammonia spikes. I would have done an immediate change if I saw any ammonia in my shrimp tanks. Frankly I would have gone with either the nerite or the shrimp. Snails produce a lot of ammonia for their size, and they will both be in competition for food. I understand you want a variety in your tank, but beginners need to take baby steps.

 

[PersonalityUnknown]

One thing you could do is to amp up the light in the tank. That will provide more algae for both the shrimp and nerite. But you will have to feed both of them in such a small tank. I use algae wafers to feed my snails and shrimp. I break them up into fourths to make it easier for them to get the food, but you will have to be careful with bettas as they are gluttons. I can't offer you any advice as to how to get the betta away. You'll have to experiment with that yourself. Some people have had success only feeding inverts after dark.

That ammonia worries me a lot. Shrimps are very sensitive to ammonia spikes. I would have done an immediate change if I saw any ammonia in my shrimp tanks. Frankly I would have gone with either the nerite or the shrimp. Snails produce a lot of ammonia for their size, and they will both be in competition for food. I understand you want a variety in your tank, but beginners need to take baby steps.

Thank you for the response! Sorry for my super late reply. Sadly, when I was transferring my Amano shrimp to my 29g she didn't survive the transition due to my clutzyness. =( I now have 2 ghost shrimp and 1 bamboo shrimp but they all seems to be doing pretty good in my community tank =)

 

[squishylittlefishies]

bamboo shrimp dont usually do well in home aquariumsbecause they are filter feeders and hard to feed. ive always wanted one, but im scared. anyway, keep us updated on how he does! these are super cool shrimp. i hope yours does well!!!

 

[noside]

bamboo shrimp dont usually do well in home aquariumsbecause they are filter feeders and hard to feed. ive always wanted one, but im scared. anyway, keep us updated on how he does! these are super cool shrimp. i hope yours does well!!!

I have a bamboo in my 55g planted discus tank. No problems they don't solely feed on filtering from the water they also go around scrubbing anything and everything for food.