Snail Options For Betta Tanks

[NeonBlueLeon]

Fun fact: Hawaii has tons of nerites on the rocks in tidal zones.  They are known as Black Nerites (Nerita picea).  They are called Pipipi by Hawaiians.  They were a stable food source for native Hawaiians, and some folks still make stews from them.

 

[three-fingers]

Thought I'd chime in for the sake of the nerites! Only buy a nerite for a betta tank if the ph above 7! Otherwise your snails shell will just corrode.
 
Bettas love soft acidic water, unfortunately this will kill nerites over time.
 
So ideally only keep them together if you have hard water, and don't add any leaves, bogwood, black water conditioners etc.
 
On top of this...betta tanks are often tiny. Nerite snails aren't very good at eating algae wafers etc off the ground and often survive entirely off the live algae on the rocks/glass etc.  You can supplement their feeding, sometimes they will eat prepared food. But they are very slow and fussy with food, so you should never count on this IMO.  Stick to one nerite per tank unless its 60l+ or unless you have very intense light and lots of algae.
 
Nerites can survive a long time in poor conditions and its very hard to tell if anything wrong.  They can live with bettas in lots of scenarios, but most of the time betta tanks are death-traps for nerites IME.

Just noticed nobody has recommended apple snails?

 
Apple snails are very easy to feed supplemental food like algae wafers so would be a much better idea!  One per side of the divider would be fine to stop them breeding (although any snail could climb over if its not covered).
 
A nerite snail would just slowly starve in your tank so its lucky you couldn't get one!
 
"Mystery snail" could be a large plant eating species, so you will want to check this website to ID before you buy!
 
http/www.applesnail.net/

 

[AlitaConejita]

Thanks three fingers. I won't be getting a snail for a few weeks at least as my tank isn't done cycling ( day 11 and 0 nitrites *sigh*), but I want to have a plan of action as the snails are going to be one of the first in. My water has a pH of 7.4-7.6 (at the bottom of the regular pH test and the top of the high pH test from API) so that is OK. I don't have any algae but I've heard others keep some rocks in water by a window - do maybe I could do that?

Still, I've been reading in other sites that nerites should be in water temps in the mid 70s (72-78F?) and I keep my tank 80-84F (the heater is set to 79F but I've noticed the temp ranges that much depending on light and the outside temp).

Do any of the snails do well in this warmer water temp range?

 

[three-fingers]

No worries, sorry I missed the part about your pH when I was hurriedly typing my response lol - 7.4 is great for snails .
 

 
I don't have any algae but I've heard others keep some rocks in water by a window - do maybe I could do that?

If you already had starving snails I would recommend this, but really that's a last resort! Growing algae is very easy, but to get consistent results long-term would require research into nutrients, water flow, supplemental lighting ect.
 
Ideally you want to choose a species that's easier to feed .  
 

 Still, I've been reading in other sites that nerites should be in water temps in the mid 70s (72-78F?) and I keep my tank 80-84F

That's another point I forgot to mention, bettas are air-breathing fish from still or slow moving warm waters low in dissolved oxygen.  Whereas nerite snails generally inhabit fast-flowing oxygen-rich cool waters.  So yeah, not the best tank-mates in that regard either! 
 

Do any of the snails do well in this warmer water temp range?    

 Apple snails are still fine for this temp, although this should be the upper limit  . They will be more active at warmer temps too, they are way more fun to watch than nerites IME.  You can also pick up lots of different colour morphs, eBay usually has a few different types. Because people breed them at home you can buy baby snails very cheap online and watch them grow in your tank.
 
I had a big "purple striped apple snail" years ago, was one of the most active tank inhabitants! Today still have his colourful shell for memories . 
 
Here's some colour options: http/www.angelfire.com/va/myevolution/snails/bridgesii.htm

 

[AlitaConejita]

Cool snails - thanks

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I'm sure that there are a lot of apple snail varieties that destroy plants.
 
IMO, they aren't the best option, since so many are plant destroyers.

 

[three-fingers]

I'm sure that there are a lot of apple snail varieties that destroy plants.
 
IMO, they aren't the best option, since so many are plant destroyers.

Not really, there are a couple of other types available that can eat plants, but Pomacea diffusa is by far the most common in the trade. It's also very easy to make sure you get the right type - any of the fancy colour varieties are Pomacea diffusa for a start, but its easy to ID based on the info in the link I gave. Silver dollars and pacus are big herbivorous characins, but you wouldn't tell everyone to avoid neon tetras in planted tanks because of this .
 
Pomacea diffusa is safe with most plants, especially if it's just Java fern, moss and marimo as those are all particularly distasteful plants anyway, often recommended for people keeping herbivorous fish .

 

[andiamd]

I don't particularly care about algae eating - my tanks don't have any algae (unless you count the moss balls which I was told were a type of algae). 
 
I would like a pretty snail in each side of my divided 10g tank.
 
Can you guys recommend snails to meet this criteria (I don't know anything about snails so some of these points may be dumb/mute): Oh, and let me know if I should be posting this in a different forum.
 

• Most obvious: compatible with betta/tank
  
  won't get eaten by betta
• won't hurt betta
• can handle pH of around 7.6
• can handle temps of 80-84 F
• is OK with low light conditions
• eats something that my bettas WON'T eat (had this issue with ADF)

[*]Pretty!

• noticable in the tank
• can be considered a decoration
• comes in many colors or striking colors

[*]Won't kill plants

• Moss ball
• Java moss
• Java ferns

[*]Won't overpopulate the tank

• If I have 2 snails of the same type but on separate sides of a divider, can they procreate?
• In a cycled 10 gal with 2 bettas, how many snails can be kept? (what do I do if they procreate beyond the acceptable parameters?)

I've googled snails but I've gotten contradictory information, but I trust you guys to give me the right info

I'm on Day 7 of cycling my 10 gal tank, so I have time before getting the snails, but I want to have them in the tank before I put in the bettas since I've read that might help reduce aggression towards the snail (territory stuff).
 

Good Info

 

[andiamd]

Nerite snails would be ideal quite pretty for a snail here's an image of a Zebra nerite
 
(would say the commonest one available though others are available)
 

 
although they will mate and lay eggs they require a percentage of saline water for their young to grow, they eat Algae but not your plants

it's so cute.. !! i never seen before this snail. Where you get it?

 

[DerpPH]

 

Nerite snails would be ideal quite pretty for a snail here's an image of a Zebra nerite
 
(would say the commonest one available though others are available)
 

 
although they will mate and lay eggs they require a percentage of saline water for their young to grow, they eat Algae but not your plants

it's so cute.. !! i never seen before this snail. Where you get it?
 

 
 
It is native actually to southeast asia. Try looking for it in a mountain stream or waterfall. They are often found in pools or streams with gobies. They love to munch on algae

 

[samthom12]

Hi, I'm a bit of a newbie to fish so all help is needed.
 
So, I'm only 12 and Im going to get the fluval edge 46l for Christmas. The tank is 10 gallon and I will probably be getting a male halfmoon betta in there. I am thinking of getting him some tankmates, I would like the betta, a zebra nerite snail and 2 ghost shrimp, would this be overstocked or not, if not, could you tell me what other creatures I could get, preferably fish but anything is fine.
 
Also, how often do you feed your betta and what?
 
Thanks
 
-Sam

 

[Ninjouzata]

Hi, I'm a bit of a newbie to fish so all help is needed.
 
So, I'm only 12 and Im going to get the fluval edge 46l for Christmas. The tank is 10 gallon and I will probably be getting a male halfmoon betta in there. I am thinking of getting him some tankmates, I would like the betta, a zebra nerite snail and 2 ghost shrimp, would this be overstocked or not, if not, could you tell me what other creatures I could get, preferably fish but anything is fine.
 
Also, how often do you feed your betta and what?
 
Thanks
 
-Sam

Hi there, I think you'd get more responses if you made your own thread with this question. Will try my best to answer it here though.
 
You wouldn't be overstocked with the betta, snail, and 2 shrimp. The betta may end up eating them though.
 
You could try a small shoal of fish but your betta may decide it doesn't want any other fish tank-mates, so you'll need a back up plan.
Check this for a few ideas on some small fish that could fit in this tank: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/418749-nano-fish/
 
Also check out the cycling article at the top of the page to help you do a fishless cycle. It's most definitely worth it.

 

[DerpPH]

Hi, I'm a bit of a newbie to fish so all help is needed.
 
So, I'm only 12 and Im going to get the fluval edge 46l for Christmas. The tank is 10 gallon and I will probably be getting a male halfmoon betta in there. I am thinking of getting him some tankmates, I would like the betta, a zebra nerite snail and 2 ghost shrimp, would this be overstocked or not, if not, could you tell me what other creatures I could get, preferably fish but anything is fine.
 
Also, how often do you feed your betta and what?
 
Thanks
 
-Sam

ghost shrimps may harass your betta and even kill him. I can suggest amanos which are more docile and cannot be eaten by the betta. 
You dont sound overstocked. Not the least bit. cheers!

 

[AlitaConejita]

 
ghost shrimps may harass your betta and even kill him. I can suggest amanos which are more docile and cannot be eaten by the betta. 

 

 
 

Really, ghost shrimp are aggressive? I was planning on getting two ghost shrimp for my ADF tank. I'd considered amanos but read that it is harder to keep them alive since they almost always come from the wild. Do you think the ghost shrimps would also harass the ADFs? I separated my original ADF from my betta, Jack, because Jack was eating all of the ADF's food and kinda bullying him (didn't actually nip him that I saw, but was chasing/cornering him) - I wouldn't want the shrimp to do the same to the ADFs now.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I thought ghost shrimp were okay, but the other type (forgotten the name) that are sometimes sold under the name of ghost shrimps were the aggressive ones, often killing fish?