Bettas And Snails

[Greener]

Would it be ok to put 2 snails into a 5G divided tank one on each side? What kind of snails are best? and do snails eat algae? because my tank has an algae problem because the light always gets left on and I turn it off and then other people turn it back on or is there a small algae eater fish that would be compatible in a 5G divided tank with bettas? thanks a bunch

 

[RandomWiktor]

Personally, I would not put any algae eaters in a 5g tank, esp. a divided one. Though some species are small enough to inhabit such a tank, all of the ones I can think of are social and would be miserable without others of thier kind. Since two bettas is allready about as stocked as a 5g can get, adding a trio of ottos or something of the like would be out of the question.

As for snails... eh. My personal experience has been that bettas have a tendancy to chew on them, and the snails themselves make a lot of poo. However, many other people here have reported sucess. So, let me ask this. Have you any filtration for the tank? If not, I'd say no snails; they are turd factories and will damage the water quality. However, if you have decent filtration, you might be able to get a small apple snail.

 

[laceypup]

I wouldn't put a snail in with a betta. I have a new tiny apple snail and she is in a separate tank from my betta, but the betta can still see her. He spends hours stalking her and preparing to attack her from a distance, he is one happy - but cranky - betta

Rose, the snail, just ignores him LOL

 

[jayjay]

you could try the malayisan livebearing snail - melanoides tuberculata. they eat anything . they have 1 problem though which is they produce so many babies it unbleivable. i have a tank over run with them lol. but they keep my gravel clean so their good for that. when the lights go off in the tank these snails rise out of the gravel where they spend the day and they clean up the debtris in the tank. i used to have loaches in the tank with the snails and the snail numbers never fell so i doubt a betta will eat them in the dark.
Hope that helps.