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Cleaning creatures?

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  kelly528 
#1 ·
What is the best critter that will keep the tank clean, and live peacefully with a male Betta? Where can I get one? Are they cheap?
 
#5 ·
I think a few shrimp would be best.

The phrase "Keep the tank clean" is one of my pet peeves. No animal will clean the tank for you. You'll still have to do regular water changes (Once a week) scrub algae, and all that good stuff.

Snails poop like crazy, and sometimes don't even eat the algae! I wouldn't recommend one for a 5 gallon tank honestly.

But 4-5 ghost shrimp would be great! They will scavenge and eat little bits of algae. You can also drop a few extra betta pellets in for them to snack on. Or feed them veggies. My shrimp LOVED veggies! Kale especially.

Good luck!
 
#6 ·
Another good one that I have found to work well is the Nerite Snail. They are smaller than apple / mystery snails. They come in many cool patterns, the most commonly seen of which is marketed as the Zebra Snail. Nerites od not breed in fresh water and eat green algae exclisively. So if you have no algae you'll want to give them some boiled kale or frozen, defosted spinach to eat.

I would recommend 1 nerite snail for every 5g.
 
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