Companion on the floor to clean????

[damo2904]

I keep my betta on his own in a 20litre (4.3gallon) tank, he's a very happy chappy.
However when feeding him I'm always in need of cleaning his tank due to the scrap bits of food on the floor, & with it being sand its a nightmare to filter all the waste & I usually remove him when doing so.
Therefore I'm wondering to get something that would live on the ground & help me keep it tidy?
Do u think this is a good idea, keeping in mind I don't want to upset betta with an uninvited friend, & do u have any suggestions as to what I could get if this is a good idea, keeping in mind the size of the tank.

Many thanks as always for your advice.

[vaygirl]

I guess my first thought is to switch him to Hikari biogold betta pellets. You only need to feed him 2 to 4 of those pellets a day and mine eats it up immediately, so there's absolutely no food waste to deal with.

Alternately maybe you could have one ghost shrimp in there with him. With a tank that size, that's about all you could fit. A snail produces more waste then it cleans.

[damo2904]

Lol, believe it or not I did try a shrimp, & because the glass lid of the tank has gaps, which can't be filled with sponge (to stop things escaping), they did escape!!!!!! so really i would need something that does live literally on the floor.....hmmmmm! I'll look for those pellats though, im using the JBL Novo Grano-Color at the mo.

[vaygirl]

What kind of shrimp were they? Cause mine never leave the water. But then, I'm kinda new to shrimp.

I think pellets will help a lot, anyway. Tango eats his in 5 seconds.

[damo2904]

They were ghost shrimp, I found both on the floor in front of the tank the next morning. I didn't think they'd leave, unless my betta gets up to mysterious naughtiness overnight & drew them out?

Do u think a clown cory would go well?

[vaygirl]

Corys need to be in groups of three or more, so sadly no. Your tank isn't really big enough. I think the pellets are the way to go.