Shrimp as a vacation feeder?

[mvigor]

I wonder if I could put 2 or 3 (live) ghost shrimp in my Betta tank at work and use them as emergency food for him when I'll be gone for a week? If he gets hungry enough, he can eat them. If the shrimp run out of food and die, it's really not that big of a dead body to foul the water and plus they would probably cannibalize each other at that point.

 

[WinterWind]

A week without food isn't much for a fish. It can certainly live for a week without food and do just fine. The shrimp dying and polluting the water would even be worse, especially if they died at the beginning, and have a whole week to decay in the water. Will a betta eat ghost shrimp though? I haven't heard of bettas eating ghost shrimp.

 

[lbritish]

wouldnt a ghost shrimp be a bit...well... too big for a betta to eat??? they would have to be like rice grain sized before I'd think a betta even had a chance of eating it...

as said before... 1 week is nothing to a fish... just feed well before and then 1 week no big deal... then feed when you get back

 

[Leopardess]

Bettas can and will kill ghost shrimp. Not all do, however.

A week without food will be fine for you betta, though. Just feed him well before you leave and give the tank a water change before you leave

 

[puppylover794]

I have never heard of feeding ghost shrimp to a betta before...

Betta's will be okay going a little while without eating though, I went on vacation for a week and put vacation feeders in my aquariums but left the betta without any food...he was fine when i came back, and it might make the tank even worse if the ghost shrimp die

 

[fishyman45]

or, you can try of those 1 week bubble feeders? or! an automatic feeder!

 

[Leopardess]

Those automatic feeders aren't a good idea, from what I've read. Some of them (vacation feeders) can really screw up the water. Plus, as has been mentioned, fish can go for longer than a week without food...especially when well-tended before hand. He'll be fine.