# 5 gallon Betta tankmates?



## Bibble (Nov 19, 2017)

I recently bought my 5 gallon tank (Fluval spec v) for my betta, and wanted to add some tank mates for him. Would 1 nerite snail and 2 ghost shrimp be too much?


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Ghost Shrimp produce very little biload. 2 would be fine. Nerite Snails only eat algae, nothing else. Not Algae Wafers, veggies, or leftover pellets. Unless you have an algae problem that can sustain a Nerite, I'd say no. A 5 Gallon is a bit small for a snail biload but I have a Nerite in my Shrimp Tank.


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## SpazPlayzz (Sep 19, 2017)

I have 2 nerite in my 5 gallon which doesn't produce a lot of algae, but the pair I put in there are going on about 1.5 years old as they were in a aquarium I hardly maintained it had a filter and that's about it.


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

I am going to stand by my statement: I would not put a Nerite in a 5.5. @SpazPlayzz, yours may be fine, but the amount of biload that a healthy Nerite produces would be too much for a tank that small. Without algae they will starve. One meal a week is not enough for them; my Nerite cleaned 15G of algae in about two days. I have to rotate him between tanks so he has enough to eat.

Also, Nerites will lay eggs in the aquarium. Although they won't hatch in freshwater, they can be an eyesore if the Nerite lays a lot of them.


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## SpazPlayzz (Sep 19, 2017)

ThatFishThough said:


> I am going to stand by my statement: I would not put a Nerite in a 5.5. @SpazPlayzz, yours may be fine, but the amount of biload that a healthy Nerite produces would be too much for a tank that small. Without algae they will starve. One meal a week is not enough for them; my Nerite cleaned 15G of algae in about two days. I have to rotate him between tanks so he has enough to eat.
> 
> Also, Nerites will lay eggs in the aquarium. Although they won't hatch in freshwater, they can be an eyesore if the Nerite lays a lot of them.


Of course everyone's tank is different. My tank has a heater and a filter and I change 1.5 gallons once a week on Sundays. Am i doing it right I dunno but the tank always looks clean and the water parameters are always good. Like I said from reading Nerites may live a year so I just may have tough OB nerites...lol


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

ThatFishThough said:


> I am going to stand by my statement: I would not put a Nerite in a 5.5. @*SpazPlayzz* , yours may be fine, but the amount of biload that a healthy Nerite produces would be too much for a tank that small. Without algae they will starve. One meal a week is not enough for them; my Nerite cleaned 15G of algae in about two days. I have to rotate him between tanks so he has enough to eat.
> 
> Also, Nerites will lay eggs in the aquarium. Although they won't hatch in freshwater, they can be an eyesore if the Nerite lays a lot of them.


I think it depends on what you have in your tank. I have 2 nerites, 1 betta, and a hoard of malaysian trumpet snails in my tank. The nerites have been in there for a good year or more, the MTS have been in there for around 6 months, and I've had 3 different betta in the tank (no the betta have not been in there at the same time) for the past 2 years. Lucky the veiltail passed away, Monet the rosetail was in there for around 8 months then was moved to a smaller tank and now Sunny the crowntail is in there. 

Thing is that I also have live plants in there and they help with the bioload, and the tank also has a filter and heater. If I didn't have the plants I'd probably have to do water changes every 2 or 3 days.

I've had my Ramshorn hoard in a 1 gallon tank and only did weekly water changes, the water was always crystal clear, BUT I also had fast growing anacharis in the tank and it helps keep the water clean, that tank did not have a filter or heater. The Ramshorns are now in a 2.5 gal and with a heater but still no filter, the water is still crystal clear.


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

It seems that my Nerite just has a huge biload, then. If I leave the tank for more than a week you can visibly see the poo along the glass.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

ThatFishThough said:


> It seems that my Nerite just has a huge biload, then. If I leave the tank for more than a week you can visibly see the poo along the glass.


They do produce a bit of waste, but like I said my plants tend to utilize it. I noticed it the most when I had white sand as a substrate. I was having to spot vacuum the bottom of the tank a couple times a week. 

I was very, very luck and ended up with 2 males so no eggs have decorated my tank. I doubt I'll be that lucky if I replace them at the end of their life.


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## Bibble (Nov 19, 2017)

Thank you guys all for replying! I will get 2 ghost shrimp and a betta for sure, but maybe not the nerite snail. But if I do get a nerite snail, why won;t it eat sinking pellets or wafers?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Nerite will skate over algae wafers which makes people assume they are eating. But the vast majority will only eat natural algae which is why the number one cause of death is starvation. As to why? Who knows? It's just the way it is.


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