# Betta and snail?



## dsgems (Sep 10, 2011)

Hi I have a 2.5 Aquarium with one betta. Can I have one snail in with him and if so what kind? Or do I have room for one fish to help clean the tank? I don't know how much room one fish needs. So if anyone has suggestions I would love to hear from you. Thank you!


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

A snail would probably be just fine (mystery or apple), but...

a LOT of what you can have depends on how much work you're willing to put into your tank, and what kind of filtration you have. For instance if you're willing to do biweekly water changes, you might be able to have another fish (but most tanks don't _need_ them. Generally, I go by at least a gallon and a half per fish for tanks under 5 gallons, simply because other rules don't quite work for small tanks. So if you have a betta and a 2.5 gallon, congrats, you can have 2/3 of a fish! 
What you can have also depends on the personality of the betta. I had a relatively social one, and now I have a demon from hell. One was fine with other fish, the other makes it his life goal to kill every living thing in sight, including me and the snails in his tank.

But I probably wouldn't get another fish, just plant that sucker up with live plants and stand back and admire your handiwork. If you can still see the fish, add more plants.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I would be wary about a mystery snail with him just because how much waste will build up in such a small tank.As Kay said,plant that thing and enjoy how happy the betta is with all the plants.


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## dsgems (Sep 10, 2011)

Thanks for the info about not adding a fish or a snail. I thought I might need something to help keep algae to a minimum. I do have some live plants. Amazon swords, anacharius (not sure of spelling), anubias. I would like to find java fern, and hornwort. My petsmart hasn't had either for over four months. Not sure where else to get them and not pay more for shipping than for the plants. My thanks to both Kehy and Majerah1. I really appreciated your taking the time to answer. I have a lot to learn, so I appreciate all your help!


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## Dulcie (Jul 10, 2011)

Chiming in late on this one but I have a story that can pose as a horrible warning regarding the snail. I have a Beta boy on my desk at work in a 2.5 gallon hex tank with a filter and heater. I do get natural light where I sit (thank goodness for me) and have been dealing with algae build up so I bought a mystery snail in late October. He did a fine job of cleaning up the algae but I noticed his slime trail he left. Truly it was like snot strung on the silk plant and anything else he touched. I did some water changes and tried to clean it out when I could get to it. Then the unthinkable happened. I got deathly ill with near pneumonia last week. I couldn't make it to work, 30 miles from my home. I had dropped a small piece of a feeder block in on the Friday before I left (as I usually do) but not enough for 7 days. As it was Thanksgiving week, a lot of my co-workers were on vacation so I had no one to call to feed my fish. I wasn't sure what I would find when I came back. I was fortunate to find my beta boy (Grumpy) very unhappy but alive in extremely brown, fowl water. The snail had died at some point and boy did it fowl the water. (I can't leave the filter running all the time because the current is too strong for the Beta, so I only plug it in for a few hours when I'm here.)
I quickly did a 2/3 water change, replaced the filter media and hoped for the best. My boy perked up by afternoon and now 3 days later he seems to have since forgiven me but I won't put another snail in. I'll just have to deal with the algae.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

As far as I know most types of algae does not hurt fish, most people (myself included) just want a nice looking tank. As long your tank isn't in direct sunlight you shouldn't have to worry about it much. You can clean off any algae you done want with a algae scrapper or other algae type remover that you can get from your local lfs or lps.


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## dsgems (Sep 10, 2011)

My tank has algae mainly in the filter. Why is that? If my tank is cycled, and planted do I need a filter? I am afraid to just put in a new filter pad, that it might mess up the good bacteria. Does anyone have any answers. I have a 2.5 tank with one betta and an olive nirite snail.(not sure of the spelling) He is very clean, does a great job but not on the filter pad, of course.


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