[Armani33]

Okay so first of all I am new to this forum and betta fish. I have one male halfmoon betta fish named Armani. He is almost completely black with a little blueish purple on his back and throat area. He lives in a 2.5 gallon acrylic tank with a filter,light,natural aquarium gravel,one live plant,four fake plants and a rock thingy with a hole he can swim through. I have had him for a little over week. I was thinking about getting a small snail to put in his tank to keep it extra clean. I know betta fish (especially males) can be agressive towards other fish but would they be agressive towards a snail since it's not another fish?

 

[LebronTheBetta]

Is your Betta Fish aggressive? It depends on their personality.
Most of the time they live peacefully together. But sometimes, they get a little feisty. People claim that sometimes, Betta Fish eat Snails.

 

[Armani33]

From what I can tell he seems like a pretty docile fish. He doesn't swim super fast or try to attack stuff. He usedto give my finger a nip but now if it's in the water he just ignores it. What kind of snails are okay to keep with betta fish?

 

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

just to clear this up, snails only eat algae. they do not eat fish waste or any other things. I could be wrong, but this is from my experience...

 

[SamJustice]

Really, it depends o the betta.
Cosmo and Johnny were fine with the mystery snail i put in there.

I watched Raph attack it. (he managed to kill it. o.o)

Any would be fine, But snails do add a lot on the bio-load, Just beware of that.

 

[LebronTheBetta]

From what I can tell he seems like a pretty docile fish. He doesn't swim super fast or try to attack stuff. He usedto give my finger a nip but now if it's in the water he just ignores it. What kind of snails are okay to keep with betta fish?

What size is your tank? And is their Algae growth in the tank?

 

[Micho]

Since this thread is more popular I'll post my answer here too.

Hey there welcome to the forums.

First off a 2.5g tank is a great home for a Betta, you've listed a lot of things, but not a heater, do you have one? I'm just sayin' Bettas are tropical fish and need tropical water in order to thrive (78F ~ 82F).

Anyways, onto the snail. A 2.5g might be too small for a snail, the most common snails you'll find at pet stores are Apple/Mystery snails and they get huge, and create tons of poop, if you can I suggest finding a Nerite snail as they tend to stay smaller. Bettas can be aggressive to snails too, they might take a bite at the snail's antenna, but don't worry the snail will regrow the antenna.

Shrimps are a better alternative if you want tankmates. A few Ghost Shrimps would work, but your Betta will probably eat them, maybe providing extra cover like some moss and plants will provide hiding places for your shrimps.

Hope that helps.

Also some shrimps actually don't even touch algae. Snails also eat uneaten food that has sunk to the bottom and some species of snails prefer meatier diets, Nerite snails are the best snails for algae, unlike Apple/Mystery snails.

 

[True Indigo]

Generally they get along pretty well. My betta, Gyarados has killed everything else I've put in his tank but almost completely ignores the two nerite snails I have in there.. Probably because they don't move fast and look more like background. Hahaha. He only notices them when they go in his little stone hut in which case he just goes in another part of the hut until they leave.

I also would suggest getting nerite. Have had nothing but positive experience with them.

 

[gidgeystartedit]

Everyone said it. It depends on your betta. One of mine pushed a baby snail around before..

 

[nel3]

Generally they get along pretty well. My betta, Gyarados has killed everything else I've put in his tank but almost completely ignores the two nerite snails I have in there.. Probably because they don't move fast and look more like background. Hahaha. He only notices them when they go in his little stone hut in which case he just goes in another part of the hut until they leave.

I also would suggest getting nerite. Have had nothing but positive experience with them.

do nerites eat long brown stringy algea and diatoms?

 

[Silverfang]

nerites are your safest bet (save from trumpets in sand)

 

[EvilVOG]

Most of mine did fine with snails, then i bred some pk's that either ate, or attempted to eat, every snail they came across. At some point they had some snail eggs in their tank while growing up and developed a taste for them.

 

[Ginzuishou]

I got a grown black mystery snail for my ten gallon tank. The betta fish stares at the snail all day and night, will lay on the snail, and will sometimes bite the snail's antenna. The fish seems to be completely obsessed with the snail and it's been over 2 months. I even bought a tank divider to separate them at one time.

Although he does nip at the snail a bit, the snail doesn't seem to have any injuries.

You just have to try and see how it goes.

 

[gidgeystartedit]

I got a grown black mystery snail for my ten gallon tank. The betta fish stares at the snail all day and night, will lay on the snail, and will sometimes bite the snail's antenna. The fish seems to be completely obsessed with the snail and it's been over 2 months. I even bought a tank divider to separate them at one time.

Although he does nip at the snail a bit, the snail doesn't seem to have any injuries.

You just have to try and see how it goes.

Did the snail get over the divider?:lol:

 

[ao]

Oh my goodness, I think we've found the solution to an endless food supply =D Fish eats antennas, antennas grow back, fish eats more antenna! I'm a genius! lol

Silliness aside, +1 to the nerites, I love the zebra nerites since their skin is striped like their shells, and they eat almost all kinds of algae. The only algae they don't eat in my tank if off those growing on leaves that are too light to support their weight.

 

[Ginzuishou]

Did the snail get over the divider?:lol:

Nope, everyone stayed on their appropriate side.

I just didn't like the divider; )

 

[nel3]

how fast may the eggs gather over a month?

 

[roubidoux]

Just put a mystery snail in Scooter's 5 gal tank, and he is quite obsessed with his new pet. Last night he would dive bomb the snail and you could hear the click outside the tank! It was pretty funny, but I worried the snail wouldn't survive the night. Today Scooter is still pretty curious, but not acting quite as aggressive toward the snail. Fortunately, the snail gets out of view frequently due to lots of plants and other stuff in the tank. Out of sight, out of mind! :lol:

 

[EvilVOG]

how fast may the eggs gather over a month?

idk, when i finally noticed i had 2 or 3 clutches in there that the fry started picking at. After that they would not leave the snails alone. They killed off the smaller pond snails and then went after the huge mystery snails (the fish were still pretty small at the time). I had to remove the Mystery snails.

 

[roubidoux]

Here's Scooter and his new muse! Sorry the pic is so small. I couldn't figure out how to make it bigger.