So I have my 5 gal all planted, heated, cycled and ready to go BUT I am waiting on my shrimp & snails. I'm getting 5 ghosties, a mystery snail and and assassin (I'm thinking Ezio) but they won't be arriving until Thursdayish. Alpha, my betta, has been quite happy in his heated 1Gal planted "apartment" (bowl) until now. Should I just wait patiently until the invertebrates arrive, to give them a 24hr head start on finding all the hiding places or should I put Alpha there and then put the shrimpies & snails in when they arrive?
You may want to "upgrade" to a 10gal for those fish/shrimps/snails. The 5 gal may be a bit overstocked. I'd add the invertabrates first just to be safe.
The assassin is to deal with my pond snail hitchhikers, and will likely not eat the mystery snail as mysterys can grow to be 3 inches (I ordered a one incher) and the assassin should max out at about an inch, so no worries there. Also, I have TONNES of hiding spots for the ghosties (and my Alpha (he's kind of a wuss)). I've done a lot of research and consulting and this is the combination that I concluded was best for what I want (I'm getting 5 ghost shrimp because I expect a high mortality rate; first time shrimp owner & I hear that they can be finicky).
Honestly, I would leave the mystery snail out, they produce a lot of waste... otherwise... add the shrimp before you put your betta in and wait for them to find hiding places before adding your boy or you might have a massacre. Also, ghosties are pretty hardy little shrimp, die off is to be expected, but if you're ordering from a reputable place, they should be okay.
will likely not eat the mystery snail as mysterys can grow to be 3 inches
Who says yours will really have the time to grow before being eaten? And the research wasn't that good! But anyways, your tank, your decisions in the end, goodluck!
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