I just got some new assassin snails to help combat a bladder snail problem in my currently fishless 10 gallon. They sent one extra and I thought I'd try putting him in with my betta boy, Karvel. Karvel initially seemed like he was going to be totally fine, he was just kinda checking the lil guy out and poking at his shell a little. The little fella was just wandering around minding his business when all the sudden Karvel flat out attacks the poor thing! He grabbed it by the head and shook hard. It was horrible!
We thought for sure the snail was dead but just in case I put him in a little .5 gallon tank I was gonna try to use to breed some of the bladder snails to feed these guys if they decimate the population in the 10 gal. Since then he's actually moved a teeny little bit twice, but I haven't caught him with his head out. I have no idea of the extent of the damage. He's in there with a couple of small bladder snails and some freeze dried blood worms.
What I'm wondering is first is the half gallon tank with frequent water changes going to be okay for the little guy till he recovers/I figure out where to put him next? Second is there anything further I can do to help him hopefully recover, or do I need to just wait and see what happens? Third is this common behavior for a betta? I don't feel like I've heard of bettas attacking snails very often. Do I need to be concerned about the little guys in the 10 gallon tank when I do add my fish?
I hope this helped!
