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Betta fish — or Siamese fighting fish — are the colorful, beautiful freshwater friend that any true hobbyist wants to see in their tank.
They’re glorious to look at, yet, what is there to know about these underwater jewels?
Here are three quick facts:
Now, for one burning question: do betta fish enjoy ghost shrimp sharing a tank with them?
The short answer: ghost shrimp and betta fish can live together as pets. You can also use ghost shrimp to feed your bettas.
However, there’s more to pairing the two than what meets the eye. You should follow our simple care guide, which will help transform you — the true hobbyist — into a fishkeeping master.
Are you just looking for betta fish care? Learn how to create a thriving betta tank.
If not, let’s start on how to care for ghost shrimp so that they can happily live with betta fish.
Let’s break down what we learned in this video from myaquariuminfo into a simple bullet list, focusing on keeping ghost shrimp as pets.
Note: Betta fish generally won’t eat ghost shrimp due to the betta’s small size, but they may try to if you feed the betta improperly.
Now, let’s take a look at caring for betta fish.
As before, let’s break down what we found in this video into an actionable bullet list.
Now, let’s draw up a comparison of keeping both bettas and ghost shrimp.
| Conditions | Betta Fish | Ghost Shrimp |
| Scientific Name | Betta splendens | Palaemonetes paludosus |
| Common Name (Species) | Betta Fish | Ghost Shrimp, Glass Shrimp |
| Family | Osphronemidae | Palaemonetes |
| Origin | Asia | North America |
| Care level | Easy | Easy |
| Average Life Span | 3 years | 2 years |
| Water Temperature | 70-80°F | 75-82°F |
| pH Levels | 7 pH | 7-8pH |
| Current levels | Calm | Calm |
| Tank decoration | Driftwoods and leaves | Aquatic plants |
As you can see, the conditions in which both species thrive are relatively the same, so go ahead and keep your ghost shrimp and betta together.
With this information, you’re equipped to raise both. Yet, how can we go from raising to caring? We mentioned having driftwood and leaves for decoration, but what else can you include in your aquarium?
Our betta fish care guide covers decoration in-depth, and the best part about following this guide is that most of what we list is suitable for ghost shrimp, too. For example, let’s talk about Marina Naturals Plant.
Great For Delicate Fins! Marina Naturals PlantsSilk plants that are designed to be gentle on fish with fancy fins like Bettas and Fancy Goldfish
Buy On AmazonOur care guide talked about how traditional plastic plants are dangerous for bettas because their sharp edges can cut betta’s delicate fins. Marina’s Natural Plant is a softer alternative to sharp-edged plastic plants, and fortunately, they’re perfect for ghost shrimp.
Simply because ghost shrimp enjoy having hiding places. By using multiple Marina Naturals Plants, you’ll be giving your ghost shrimp hiding spots without risking your betta’s fins.
Rocks are a great choice too. Using a coconut shell means you’ll once again stay away from sharp edges, and you’ll give your ghost shrimp a cave to hide in — something they’ll appreciate when they’re molting.
SunGrow Betta CavesThese Coconut shells are ideal Betta fish homes. Smooth to the touch, these will not damage your Bettas delicate fins
Buy On AmazonNote: The above shell has a small entrance, meaning it might be too small for your bettas to fit in — but it’s perfect if you want an exclusive ghost shrimp cave (though be careful choosing this one as there is a risk your betta fish may get caught or stuck inside).
Artificial plants are good to talk about for those who do not want to deal with added complexity in their setups, but there are excellent beginner aquarium plants that are perfectly suited for ghost shrimp and bettas. One of my favorites to use is Anubias barteri or nana. Other great choices are java fern and java moss. All of these work great for a easy to maintenance “low tech” planted tank setup.
Best Value Anubias BarteriBest Value
A forgiving low light aquarium plant that will not be eaten by most fish
Click For Best Price Buy On AmazonThe more you feed your ghost shrimp, the bigger it’ll get. However, its shell won’t grow with it. This means eventually, the ghost shrimp will need to shed their shell in place of a new one.
Here’s the process in action:
This process takes some time, and the ghost shrimp will be more vulnerable while they’re undergoing it. This can cause problems if you have bettas and other tank mates since they can accidentally hurt your ghost shrimp by simply swimming into it.
This is when having lots of hiding places, such as artificial plants, caves, or live plants, will come in handy. Your ghost shrimp will instinctively hide where it’s safe while the new shell develops.
However, this raises the question:
Fortunately, you don’t need to do anything with a ghost shrimp’s old molted shell. Most of the time, it will be eaten by the ghost shrimp who shed it or by other ghost shrimp in your tank.
However, when you spot the shell, there are some precautions you need to take since your ghost shrimp is at risk of osmotic shock.
In short: try to avoid changing your tank’s water.
If you have to, keep the replacement water at the same temperature and pH level of the water already in the tank — and add the replacement water slowly, so it doesn’t shock your molting shrimp.
Also, keep a close eye on your molting shrimp. Sometimes, you’ll spot a thin white line circling their body. Unfortunately, this is a bad sign. The white ring of death means the shrimp has shed too much of its shell, making it more challenging for it to finish the molting process.
Unfortunately, in most cases, this is fatal for your shrimp, and there’s not much you can do but keep watch and hope the shrimp finishes the process.
Overall, however, if the entire molting process is successful, you’ll recognize the molted shell loose in the tank.
Many people confuse this molted shell with the carcass of their ghost shrimp — but this isn’t the case at all. The shell will appear transparent and empty, floating around your tank with no clear direction.
Once you know all about the molting process, there isn’t much more to learn about ghost shrimp.
At this point, you should have an entire tank full of happy aquarium fish, and that means you’re ready to move to more advanced fishkeeping.
Let’s talk about breeding.
Now, let’s take a look at breeding ghost shrimp
Breeding ghost shrimp takes a lot less than betta fish. Once more, you can refer to our table above for the optimal water conditions. However, make sure you have a specialized breeding tank set up as before.
However, this time, you don’t need to wrap the tank in plastic to create humid conditions.
To start, keep the ghost shrimp in your primary aquarium.
Yes. Here are the three best types of dwarf shrimp species you can keep with your betta.
With cherry shrimp, you’re at more risk of the betta eating the shrimp than you are with ghost shrimp. That’s because the males are much smaller than the ghost shrimp. Try to buy female cherry shrimp, which are much larger.
Amano shrimp are much larger than both ghost and cherry shrimp, so there’s no risk of the betta eating them. Yet, that doesn’t mean they’re the best tank mates. Because of their size, they may annoy your betta — especially at feeding time, where they’re liable to be more aggressive.
However, all shrimps listed above require much the same water conditions as bettas do. So there’s no risk of putting them in an unhealthy environment if you’re maintaining good conditions for your betta.
Ghost shrimp will eat Betta poop. It contains many nutrients that are good for them. However, consider feeding ghost shrimp the following:
– Algae
– Fruit
– Frozen food
– Insects
– Mosquito larvae
– Flake foods
It should be noted; ghost shrimp will eat most foods you put into your tank. Just make sure the food isn’t too big for them. With baby shrimp, however, try to keep to algae.
The best bet is to start small and see if your betta is bothered by the ghost shrimp. If your betta isn’t, you can keep adding ghost shrimp — but in a 5-gallon fish tank, a safe bet is to not go beyond ten ghost shrimp.
This depends on several factors, such as your fish tank size. However, we recommend changing some of the water every few days (only 30-50%). Also, clean the tank at least once a week to prevent toxic waste from building up.
Just like bettas, Ghost Shrimp and guppies can live together. The guppies may try to eat the smaller shrimp, but you shouldn’t have any problems for the most part. Here are the perfect conditions for ghost shrimp and guppies:
| Conditions | Guppies | Ghost Shrimp |
| Water Temperature | 75-82°F | 75-82°F |
| pH Levels | 7-7.2 pH | 7-8pH |
| Current levels | Calm | Calm |
| Tank decoration | Java Moss with sand substrate | Live plants |
There are some really good books available that go beyond the scope of what we discussed today. We’d recommend checking these out and purchasing them if you want to be a true hobbyist.
Ghost Shrimp Care is good value and well worth it. It covers each type of ghost shrimp — or palaemonetes paludosus as the book so refers to them — and it also covers basic care for the shrimp and contains an easy-to-follow guide on both setting up a prawn tank and breeding.
Short Yet Detailed Ghost Shrimp CareA 30-page e-book that offers a more comprehensive look on Ghost Shrimp care. A great way to enhance your shrimp keeping skills!
Buy On AmazonThe book was written by Viktor Vagon. The information it covers is quite basic, but it’s a convenient little handbook to keep by your fish tank as a supplement to this above guide.
The Betta Bible is the best book you can buy on betta care and goes into much more detail than our guide. It’s expensive — but given the information, it contains you won’t regret purchasing it. Even if just for the gorgeous 150 picture of betta’s to look at contained within.
My Choice The Betta BibleThe Best Book About Keeping Bettas!
With over 300 pages and written by Ecologist Dr Martin Brammah. This offers one of the best deep dives into the world of Betta care!
It was written by Dr. Brammah and, for the true hobbyist, isn’t one you want to miss out on, especially if you pick up the Kindle version at a much lower price. It’s 300 pages of betta information that’s not only essential but interesting and wonderful at the same time.
Keeping Ghost Shrimps and betta together is an excellent way for a true hobbyist to explore the world of aquarium keeping.
Bettas are low maintenance, and with ghost shrimp sharing much the same conditions as bettas — they should get on nicely — providing you keep everyone well fed.
There are great opportunities to breed both species if you want to get more advanced, but if not, both ghost shrimp and bettas will add vibrant life to your aquarium. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to comment below. Thanks for reading!
