# The great betta/shrimp war



## lwstinkinsweet

I got a shrimp to put in my tank. I needed help keeping the bottom clean. so i bought a small ghost shrimp. i figured it was small and cheap. the worst that could happen is my betta eats it and i am out a quarter. boy was i wrong. i came home to a disaster after work. I couldnt find my shrimp anywhere but i wasnt worried because he had already hidden in the crevice of the filter. so i proceeded to suck up some food from the bottom. one of the things i sucked up was the shrimps head. i can tell it wasnt just exoskeleton because its eyes were there and stuff and i am pretty sure they dont shed their eyes too. I also think that the shrimp would be lurking around somewhere when he shed his exoskeleton and not dissapear like that. i mean i know they shed like a snake but i dont think they dissapear and leave their eyes behind. and then i sucked up a leg or two. but for the most part the shrimp was gone. so i figured my betta ate it. no big deal as i said out a quarter. woopdie doo. then i looked at prince (my betta) he was swimming around very proudly displaying *gasp* a torn tail. he was waving it around like it was his greatest accomplishment. there is a rip that starts about one cm away from his body and goes till about two cm away from the end of his tail. the thing is at least three cm long itself. (dont take these sizes too much to heart because i can not judge length or distance) anyway it is long. when i left they were getting along fine. the shrimp was just hanging out and prince would look at him but not flare. the best i can tell is the shrimp was evil and attacked so prince got pissed that his tail was torn and he ate him to get back at him. but he is very proud of himself. then comes in my worrying. i am afraid he will get an infection from his wound. so i (panicing) call my b/f and tell him lets go to the pet store. i need some melafix. (i was told it was good to help heal tears) then we get to the store and all i can find is bettamax. it says it helps tears heal. i thought he had fin rot before but now after seeing pics of true fin rot i dont think so i think it was just from the part plastic part silk plant i used to have in there since i removed it no further tears until the war started. that was about a week ago and he has been fine. until i tried to give him a friend and be lazy about cleaning. (for anyone who cares i was still going to clean the bottom every day and do a 10% change but as i have gravel sometimes i miss some stuff on the bottom.) now he has a tear that he is proud of. you should see him strutting his stuff in there. it isnt affecting his swimming at all but i am very worried about infection. so i will give him bettamax and see how that goes. it should heal it right? or at least help?

so i have one question. should i do more full water changes until he has healed and should i do larger daily ones or should i stick to 10% daily and 100% weekly? okay so i have two questions: can this actually heal up and be covered or will it stay ripped?


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## Damon

If the skeleton wasn't pink, it wasn't the shrimp. They hide for 2-6 days (depending on the calcium in the water) while their new shells harden. Give it some time.


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## lwstinkinsweet

well it still had eyes. the shrimp was white to begin with and the head i found was white. but i searched the whole thing. i have to do a water change (100%) tomorrow because it has been a week. so i guess i will find out then. it doesnt have many places to hide anyway and it really seems to have been a fight. but i guess i will see tomorrow.


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## Damon

Dead ghost shrimp turn pink when they die.


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## lwstinkinsweet

oh. well i cleaned the tank today. no shrimp anywhere. but a worse thing happened than that. while i was getting ready to take the betta out to clean his tank, i had the lid off and was filling another container with some water from his tank. he decided to jump out onto my dresser. so while i was trying to get him up carefully, he was flopping and ripped the tear in his fin even more. he now looks like a double tail sort of because it is only connected at the base of his body. I have removed everything but his heater. i dont want him to rip it even more. i clean it enough that i can do without the filter. besides i cannot have the cartridge in it because of the meds he is on to help heal him. i cannot however leave him in the basement with no heater. so hopefully i can heal him up. has anyone's betta ever had a large tear in their tail from an injury? if so can you tell me about it if it healed. i want to know what i am dealing with.


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## Lydia

I have had a betta with an injury before and I just left it alone and it healed. But I'm sure some kind of medicine would speed up the process.

Simpte: I don't want to contradict you but I have seen ghost shrimp that only turned white when they died, not pink. Most of the dead ones I have seen are pink, but some of them were white.


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## lwstinkinsweet

well i dont think this one had been dead long enough for it to change color. he was definitely not in the tank when i cleaned it. my betta is doing great now. the first round of treatment is over. in three weeks i have to do one more. except i have lost track of days. i may have accidentily done one too many treatments but the directions were unclear they said some stuff about changing water and i change my water daily (10%) so i followed those. well he is doing great anyway. had to stop feeding him as the shrimp was almost as big as him and he ate it and it gave him a bulge. today was day one without a meal. will probably feed him in two days as he pooped today and is less bloated. i only got him medicine to prevent a secondary infection. i didnt want something worse to happen. just a little preventative medication


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## fishfreaks

Lydia said:


> I have had a betta with an injury before and I just left it alone and it healed. But I'm sure some kind of medicine would speed up the process.
> 
> Simpte: I don't want to contradict you but I have seen ghost shrimp that only turned white when they died, not pink. Most of the dead ones I have seen are pink, but some of them were white.


Also it will help prevent further infections. Melafix should work great.


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## fishboy

i've never had luck keeping ghost shrimp and fish either, my gourami ate them when they shed


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## maxpayne_lhp

Yes... shrimps that have just dead will be supposed to remain their color. After several hours... they turn pink and gradually increase the 'pinkness'. Not sure about the ones that keep their origincal colors for long.


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## lwstinkinsweet

yeah this one had maybe been dead an hour at the most. maybe two but that is pushing it


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## Jonno

well my betta had the same prop with his tank i just did reg wc's on him and he healed find and for the shrimps i have 9 and never been eaten but i find there shells everywhere and they have eyes and i lost one for about a week and then i saw this really colourful shrimp but i would check everywhere!


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## lwstinkinsweet

i did when i cleaned it. he was nowhere. he was a gonner


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