[michbelle]

Hello everyone!

I currently have a five gallon tank, a two gallon tank, and a 3 gallon tank. All house one betta. Since one of them is quite young because my cousin recently bought a baby betta and had no patience for it (it was living in a cup still) they gave it to me. Now I have a female baby I'm pretty sure - ANYWAY! The point of that sentence was, do you guys think it would be safe to buy at least one shrimp for her tank? Maybe she won't try to kill it since she's a baby? Idk. But also I don't want it to kill her. Haha, I have no experience with partnering bettas with any other fish... Opinions on that? I would assume she's about a month and a half old from watching videos of fry and their age progression. Not so sure though.

The other two are an hmpk who is pretty aggressive so I doubt I want to put anything in his tank but plants and such.. The other is a half moon and he's pretty tranquil but each time I put a new thing in his tank, like a thermometer and his heater he kind of nudged them for a few days, possibly nipped and I'm not so sure shrimp would work with him or even other fish in his five gallon. The Plakat is in a 2 and the baby is in the three. I plan to get a ten gallon and split it with the baby and the plakat but also...Not so sure about that I don't want any possibility of kobe (hmpk) getting over and killing squirt (baby).

Also could anyone give me a run down on snails and different types that are good in freshwater? I'd prefer a type that doesn't reproduce very quickly or that needs another of the opposite sex to reproduce so that I can just get one.

Advice please guys! And thanks for being friendly all of the time. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Bombalurina]

The 6 main types of freshwater snails:

- Apple or mystery snails. Poop lots, grow quite large and are terrible algae eaters. Breed readily but lay their eggs above the water line, so you can easily prevent them overpopulating.
- Ramshorn snails. Voracious eaters, may damage plants, breed like rabbits. Pretty, though.
- Pond snails. They seem to stay pretty small, but breed lots. I don't have a use for them, but they can have some nice shells.
- Assassin snails. They eat other snails.
- Malaysian Trumpet Snails. They live in the substrate and stir it up. Handy in an NPT.
- Nerite snails. Excellent algae eaters that won't breed in fresh water.

You can try shrimp with the less nippy bettas. I keep shrimp successfully with my male, but my sorority girls hunted them nearly to extinction last year. This year they are calming down and the shrimp are beginning to repopulate. I have red cherry shrimp, as I prefer them to ghosts.

 

[Pitluvs]

I have dwarf shrimp hybrids and 3 apple snails with my 6 girls in my 20g tank. Honestly, I kinda think the tanks you have are a little small for snails or shrimp. Snails because any small snails will reproduce quickly, larger snails because they are just larger lol Shrimp, I'm on the fence about... I personally like to have them in bigger tanks so they have more room to hide and to reproduce. I started out with 6, I have 2 adults left... and a wack of babies. My females will and do hunt them for snacks :S

 

[Tikibirds]

I have become rather attached to my trapdoor snails - caught them myself from a lake - but they are bigger then golfballs, so maybe only the 5 gallon would work with them?

I don't really see them for sale except on ebay

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug, Snails, Trapdoor.htm

 

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

I have dwarf shrimp hybrids and 3 apple snails with my 6 girls in my 20g tank. Honestly, I kinda think the tanks you have are a little small for snails or shrimp. Snails because any small snails will reproduce quickly, larger snails because they are just larger lol Shrimp, I'm on the fence about... I personally like to have them in bigger tanks so they have more room to hide and to reproduce. I started out with 6, I have 2 adults left... and a wack of babies. My females will and do hunt them for snacks :S

I have a nerite and it's pretty small - about the size of a quarter.

 

[michbelle]

Okay, so these are definitely a no go for any of the tanks. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

 

[Silverfang]

a nerite would be fine for the five gal. Lower poo compared to other snails. Main concern is having nipped antennae.

 

[djembekah]

i'd say a rabbit snail, but they do produce a lot of waste. i think i agree that a nerite would be a good snail for you! doesn't reproduce in freshwater.

 

[michbelle]

I can't seem to find a place where I can get just one. Ebay wants to send me like 10 for 5, I want at least three. I've gotten a ten gallon tank and I'm splitting it. So I'm keeping one in either side whenever I come across them and will put one in the five gallon tank. Thanks for the help guys!