Mates ~ New Betta

[NoSoxNoShoos]

My beautiful new Male Crowntail Betta is loving life in his new tank....

Does he need tank mates?

If I added some snails or shrimp to help keep the tank clean, do they remove more than they add with their additional waste/ammonia, etc.?

I mean it doesn't make sense to get them to help keep a tank clean if what they put out themselves is greater than what they take away?

Thanks, all comments appreciated. NSNS

[SmokeNLark]

I'm glad he's liking it :) What size is your tank? Bettas do just fine alone and don't need tankmates by any means. To have fish tankmates, you need at least a 10 gallon tank. And for snails, about a 5 gallon.

Snails don't really do that much cleaning and they have a fairly big bioload. So yeah, they produce more waste than they clean. But they are cool and I enjoy having them.

[1fish2fish]

The myth that adding more tankmates actually helps clean the tank is widely spread but the truth of it is every thing poops. There is nothing that actually "cleans" the tank except water changes.

Inverts can be helpful in getting rid of unwanted algae and uneaten food but no matter how you slice it you are still adding to your bioload which means you will need to change more water. So unless you actually like inverts and I would not get them.