# Betta keeps eating ghost shrimp pellets



## antoniacp (Sep 1, 2016)

I have a 5.5 gal community tank with live plants, a male betta, and 2 ghost shrimp. For the most part, everyone gets along just fine. The betta is a little rambunctious, but pretty passive. He won't even respond to seeing his own reflection. He does, however, chase the ghosties when he gets bored (never actually attacks them) or when he sees they have a pellet. He knows that they will drop it as soon as he approaches. 

Right now, I'm feeding them separate food; the betta gets floating pellets and the ghosties get sinking shrimp pellets. I think the shrimp pellet ingredients may be too similar to the betta's food so he thinks it's his, and takes it from them :roll: Anyone have any suggestions for other types of food that I can feed the ghosties that the betta won't find appetizing? I've read some places that they'll eat algae wafers, but I'm a little hesitant bc ghosties aren't really big algae eaters.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

Bettas will and should eat a variety of foods.our fish are fed about 12-15 different kinds of foods..Spirulina should always be a part of their feeding..and i bet the ghost shrimp would love it..
i sell a wide variety of fish foods and ship them all over the country..i currently limit my sales to Aquabid and Facebook..i have recently removed my list from fishforums...


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## antoniacp (Sep 1, 2016)

I bought blood worms for him and a different kind of pellet (Atison's betta pro) to add some variety to his diet. However, that doesn't solve the problem of him stealing the food from the ghost shrimp. Prince (my appropriately named betta) is a greedy little guy and really doesn't leave anything uneaten for the shrimp to get a hold of. I'm more afraid of overfeeding him than anything, and adding more food to the mix will inevitably lead to him eating more than he should. Wouldn't want him to get sick. That's why I asked is there any kind of food out there that the betta will just ignore so the shrimp can eat in peace.


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## The Dave (Jul 26, 2016)

Feed the shrimp at night.
Has anyone here ever fed their Betta mosquito larvae? They love it, and it's very fun to watch them chasing the larvae around the tank. I put out several containers of water in a shady area near my home every year to allow mosquitos to lay their eggs in the water. It is a good way to reduce the mosquito population and free food for your fish. You should try it. 
https://youtu.be/hU1GezJo79M


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## antoniacp (Sep 1, 2016)

Great suggestion...I'll have to try that! I've given him gnats that I catch in the kitchen before. He loves those. How many larvae should I give him at once?



The Dave said:


> Feed the shrimp at night.


Will he just not see the food? I think he "smells" it somehow. I've tried hiding pellets in the ghosties' little hidey hole under the rock in my tank. Prince just turned on his side so he could fit in the slit and dove in after it. It was the weirdest thing. He's a smart one for sure!


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## antoniacp (Sep 1, 2016)

UPDATE: I finally found something that works. Instead of dropping the shrimp pellets in whole, I crushed them up. The pieces are so small that the betta can't pick them up, but the shrimp can without any issues. He still pesters them a bit bc he can smell the food and swims around the bottom where the pieces dropped, but he can only pick off the bigger pieces. Most of it is left for the shrimp.

Just in case anyone else has the same problem I did, crushing the pellets is the way to go!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Cool! Thanks for the tip.


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