Ok thanks you all. I do have a backup 29 us gallon (with a pleco, kuhli loaches n scissortails) if it gets too bad. But I think Freddie will be cool with them... He picks at snails, but they are the size of his pellets so he does have an excuse i guess. But he seems loving compared to my last betta (every time I walked past Cat, he flared up), so I guess I'll try it.
What about Mandarin Shrimp? The place I'm buying from says they get about an 1 1/2"? It says they'll b between 3/4 and 1 inch upon delivery, will they be ok even if they are that small? Note that I'm also buying new plants (ie micro sword) today for the tank. There is currently about 15 pounds of rock in there too with a few fake plants. Will they have enough places to hide if they need to? I know they will when the plants take hold.