Two suspects....5 shrimp missing????

Water

Small Fish
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#1
I had 6 ghost shrimp in a ten gallon tank with one male betta and a mystery snail.The problem I have is that I now only have 1 ghost shrimp left and there is no evidence of where,nor what happened to the other five ghost shrimp.

Someone suggested that my betta made a snack out of them but I doubt that because a few of the shrimp were almost as big as the better in length.So that leaves the Snail?????Do mystery snails eat shrimp???not enough algea?


I searched my tank up and down,no dead shrimp(pink)anywhere,not in the filter,the rock,skull,plants.

Its been puzzling me and bothering me because Ive had my shrimp for awhile and I liked watching them walk around the bottom...

(Yes I posted this in the other forum but from the looks of it I will get better responce here)
 

Goldiegupp

Medium Fish
Jun 11, 2010
88
0
0
#2
Sorry about that. Well did you find skeletons anywhere of the missing guys? And hmmm just a wild guess but maybe that one ghost shrimp you have left ate the others. Because if it's not the betta and I know mystery snails DO NOT eat the shrimp, that leaves only him...
 

Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#3
I would suspect them both.

Fish will eat shrimp and even if they are large, they can injure them until the shrimp dies. Snails eat whatever they find, and if its a dead or badly injured shrimp or fish, they will eat it.
 

Water

Small Fish
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#4
I look at my fish and tank everyday,to make sure things are running smooth and to feed them.There was no signs of skeleton,parts of a shrimp body,a leg,nothing but one median size shrimp walking around.

-If one of the shrimp would have died I would have seen it...
-my male Betta has a female in the tank that he chases around so his time is spent doing that and she comes out,eats a pellet and goes back into hiding for the most part.
-The shrimp,would hide once the light was off but never to far out of sight where they wouldn't appear once food fell to the bottom.

My snail,had gotten larger and has been acting unsnail like.By floating around at the top of the tank,clamming up and extending this arm like thing at the survice.

My fish did have ich for a week but its all gone....but that still doesn't explain where the shrimp went?

thanks for the help....
 

Goldiegupp

Medium Fish
Jun 11, 2010
88
0
0
#5
Ok here's an idea.

Look at the fish poo closely. You may be able to see bones, and that will give you the answer. What goes in must go out...

How do you keep the male and female together? I have a male in a 10 gallon tank and was wondering if you could keep the female in there too...
 

Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#7
I look at my fish and tank everyday,to make sure things are running smooth and to feed them.
Did all 5 of the shrimp disappear in one day?

My snail,had gotten larger and has been acting unsnail like.By floating around at the top of the tank,clamming up and extending this arm like thing at the [surface].
All apple snails do this at times (mystery snails are a type of apple snail).

My fish did have ich for a week but its all gone....but that still doesn't explain where the shrimp went?
What did you do to treat the ich?
 

Fishman1995

Superstar Fish
May 11, 2010
1,341
0
0
North Carolina
#8
I have a same question as Goldie, could i keep a male and female (Betta or Paradise) in the same tank? Maybe a 10-15 gallon aquaria with plenty of hiding spots, and could i keep a Male betta with some female Paradise's or male paradise with female bettas?
 

Water

Small Fish
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#9
Did all 5 of the shrimp disappear in one day?
Into thin air...maybe not one day but I started noticing seeing them less and less and on further inspection I notice that they were just gone.

-Yes I keep the lid close,at all times
-I feed the bettas everyday,plus treats once every two weeks

What did you do to treat the ich?
I purchased these tablets,you drop one in everyday until the ich goes away.Along with turning up the temp and adding sea salt to my water.

How do you keep the male and female together?
I have a skull,decent size rock with many hiding wholes in it,and two fake plants for the female betta to hide in and around.I think it all depends on the betta and his personality because mines gets kinda upset but after a small chase he stops and goes back to whatever he was doing.
I wouldn't put a male betta in a tank with a paradise fish period,unless its a pretty huge tank.I personally wouldn't put a male and a female betta together but I did and its working out ok,now(four months).

Im starting to think the snail ate the shrimp,like just smothered them to death while eating them up,one by one.
 

misterking

Superstar Fish
Aug 12, 2008
1,124
0
0
Manchester, UK
www.facebook.com
#10
I have a same question as Goldie, could i keep a male and female (Betta or Paradise) in the same tank? Maybe a 10-15 gallon aquaria with plenty of hiding spots, and could i keep a Male betta with some female Paradise's or male paradise with female bettas?
This has been addressed in your thread, it's not a wise idea at all to mix different labyrinth fish. It's not worth the risk considering females can show a surprising amount of aggression in both species. So for the well-being of the fish, the simple answer is no. Also in a 10g you're running the risk of over-stocking anyway, paradise fish get fairly large compared to bettas.

As for the shrimp, I do wonder if they got overly stressed when added to the tank, died, and were effectively cleaned up by the remaining shrimp and snail? They can be very efficient and with shrimp being so small a snail would have a dead one disappear in no time. I just couldn't imagine it eating them live, they're quick little things and surely would swim/run away as soon as the snail tried?
 

Jul 18, 2010
1
0
0
#11
I purchased these tablets,you drop one in everyday until the ich goes away.Along with turning up the temp and adding sea salt to my water.
This is your answer... most ich medications kill shrimp. Invertebrates are extremely sensitive to chemicals of most kinds, ich medication included. The only ich medication I know of that is considered safe for shrimp is Kordon Ich Attack. The shrimp likely died one by one and were eaten by the other inhabitants until only the sole survivor remained.
 

Water

Small Fish
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#12
This is your answer... most ich medications kill shrimp. Invertebrates are extremely sensitive to chemicals of most kinds, ich medication included. The only ich medication I know of that is considered safe for shrimp is Kordon Ich Attack. The shrimp likely died one by one and were eaten by the other inhabitants until only the sole survivor remained.
Oh ok,that explains the sudden death(which I didn't see) and the snail gobbling them up makes sense because there were no evidence left,nothing.

Next time Ill remember that,Kordon Ich attack.To bad my shrimp had to be victims of my own ignorance but we live and learn.
 

Goldiegupp

Medium Fish
Jun 11, 2010
88
0
0
#13
Lol I knew that :p For some reason that just popped into my head about the bones.

Well I tried putting the two genders of bettas together and the outcome was not beautiful. My beautiful male, usually so peaceful and calm, turned into the devil fish with red horns and fangs (only a slight exaggeration mind you). She almost flipped out of the tank trying to escape, and he flared so much I could see inside his head! I removed them both because I forsaw a life of misery to both. I wish he could play nice with others. :( oh well. Live and learn.
 

lauraf

Superstar Fish
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#14
Lol I knew that :p For some reason that just popped into my head about the bones.

Well I tried putting the two genders of bettas together and the outcome was not beautiful. My beautiful male, usually so peaceful and calm, turned into the devil fish with red horns and fangs (only a slight exaggeration mind you). She almost flipped out of the tank trying to escape, and he flared so much I could see inside his head! I removed them both because I forsaw a life of misery to both. I wish he could play nice with others. :( oh well. Live and learn.
OMG, why did you even try that? At least you were watching and intervened before major disaster ensued, phew.
 

achase

Large Fish
Feb 1, 2010
765
0
0
British Columbia, Canada
#15
The only time I put a female and a male betta together was when I was attempting to breed them (which didn't work....but that's a different story). Male bettas are not the only ones with aggression issues although the females seem to be able to manage themselves better. :p

Oh ya bonus points for keeping a close eye on them and separating when needed!!
 

Goldiegupp

Medium Fish
Jun 11, 2010
88
0
0
#17
Well I figured in a 10 gallon with lotsa hiding spaces maybe it could work, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt or something.

The only time I put a female and a male betta together was when I was attempting to breed them (which didn't work....but that's a different story).
Hahaha! So did I once upon a failure. :p Maybe one of these years we should start a thread about our betta breeding mishaps...and hear everybody's stories.
 

Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#18
like oc said about large shrimp getting eaten is correct. they will be tormented until death then consumed.

ghost shrimp are also one of the most sensitive/hardest to keep dwarf shrimp. they can die very easily to various conditions. unfortunately when dealing with dwarf shrimp, the more expensive ones are easier to keep and cheap ghost shrimp are lots harder and one of the hardest to breed. if any of the shrimp show any signs of weakness, shrimp will go after that one and kill it and consume it. the other fish/snail couldve also consumed. chances are you had a bad batch of shrimp and one picked em off and all things in tank consumed remaining.

also with dwarf shimp, they are not happy if they are always hiding, they should be out and about. it is good when feeding time comes they come out. when ghost shrimp arent transparent, its likely they are stressed and will die soon. i had a huge batch of ghost shrimp, all which died, and a gigantic batch of red cherry shrimp and they are doing excellent with no problems.