Betta Behaviour

Those of you who have read my posts will be aware that I advise that the personality of bettas can be very variable. Some will tolerate tankmates, some won't. Some will accept shrimps in their tank, some won't. I think mine is one of the intolerant ones.

I cleaned the tanks this afternoon. There was some algae on the silk plants in the betta's tank so I took them outside to clean them. I put them back in then started putting the new water in. I saw something wriggling on a leaf and at first thought I'd somehow managed to get a cherry shrimp in there. The betta saw it almost the same time I did and attacked. He chased it all the way to the bottom of the tank then had it pinned against the glass where he really went for it.
It wasn't a shrimp, it was a woodlouse - it must have got on the plants when I was outside. The betta lost interest when it stopped moving so I netted it out. It wasn't dead, it became quite active when back in the air, but it was missing its tail end 


The betta doesn't notice the small black and yellow snail in his tank, but I don't think I should risk anything that moves quicker than a snail.

You'd need a whole platoon of bettas  Mine thought he'd finished the job and swam off when it stopped wriggling but it soon started wriggling again when I tried to catch it. I hate to think of what my betta would do to a shrimp. I have heard of a betta that was killed by shrimp. He ate so many of them in one go his stomach burst.
But so many people ask if bettas can be kept with shrimp. What mine did to a woodlouse is a warning not to risk it.