# New tank mates?



## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

A few weeks ago I got a frog to live with my betta. The betta seemed friendly enough, but was extremely curious and the frog bit him. After that, the betta got aggressive, and we had to return the frog. I'm now hoping maybe I could give him a snail friend, which won't attack my fish. Do you think the betta would get aggressive? I don't think so, but I want to hear from you guys. I've heard about betta-snail tanks that didn't turn out well.

Edit: I have a 1.9 gallon tank, in case anyone asks.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

1.9 is too small for tank mates. Let your boy live a happy life by himself.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

What about 5 gallons? I saw a tank I like at my local shop and I think i'm gonna get it, would that be big enough for a snail?


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Keeping tank mates with a betta may work or it may not, It depends on the fish.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

OK thanks, I'm gonna try it. And then I will probably also be buying a second betta once i have two tanks


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## trahana (Dec 28, 2015)

5 gallons is considered the minimum for tank mates, so if you added a snail to that size of tank it might work out. 
I've never have problems with Bettas and snails, but it all depends on the betta. I've even had bite sized baby snails and the betta wouldn't even touch them, he was respectful of them and just looked.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

I'm reading that even with a 5 gallon tank, if you add tank mates, the tank needs to be heavily planted. Is that true with just betta+snail, and what exactly is considered "heavily planted"?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

When it comes right down to it, tank mates are for us and not the Betta. I say that knowing I have six Betta-based community tanks.

Personally, I don't believe in tank mates for anything less than a 2.5 but I forgot about Assassin Snails. They are small, don't have much bioload and eat leftover food. However, you can ask your pet store for a few small pond or bladder snails and the Assassins will be happy searching them out for dinner. They will also take care of any snails that come in on plants you buy.

Heavily planted means you can't find your Betta if you just glance at the tank; you have to actually look for him or her. 

Is your tank filtered and heated? If not, I would get those before tank mates.

And I forgot: Welcome to the Forum! :wave:


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

RusselTheShihTsu sounds good! I just went back to the shop and got the new tank (5.5 gallon actually), got a bunch of plants, got a mystery snail, and also an assassin snail to take care of any strays that come in with my plants.
My current tank is heated. I have two heaters, both small, so I might end up using both. I have a sponge filter, although I haven't been using it because it doesn't fit in the current tank very well. I'm going to start using it again with the big tank.
Thanks for the advice!


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> got a mystery snail, and also an assassin snail to take care of any strays that come in with my plants.


If you put the Assassin snail in the same tank as the Mystery snail, The Assassin will hunt it down and kill it.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

Really? the mystery snail is really big, could the assassin snail do that?


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

I guess I have to keep one or the other... Which would you recommend? I like the mystery snail because he's big and will be able to help more with cleaning, but I like the idea of the assassin snail keeping the strays under control.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

It's a matter of preference. I'm not that fond of Mystery Snails so am not going to give you an unbiased opinion. ;-)

Assassin Snails are smaller and have a very small bioload. I do have Assassin in all of my tanks with Nerite snails and no issues. But it can very well happen.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

One snail, Maybe maybe not, But once it has a few babies they will gang up on it and eat it.

Keep an eye on the Mystery snail make sure its alive, Dead snails stink and foul the water fast.

I love Mystery Snails.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Like Russell I'm not much of a mystery snail fan. They never did much for clean-up in my tanks.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

Oh ok, so if I have one mystery snail and one assassin snail they might be ok, but if the mystery snail has babies the assassin will eat them. Right?
I only have one mystery snail, so as long as its not pregnant hopefully I'll be ok?
I will be sure and keep a close eye, if I see problems, I have the second tank now.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

PS: Assassin Snails only reproduce if you overfeed. And they only produce one egg at a time. Once hatched, the baby will bury itself in the substrate until its shell hardens. Interesting to watch them emerge from the substrate.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

That sounds interesting, I guess they don't take over tanks then.
I got some Aquasolum black humate soil for my plants, but didn't think about the fact that it's DIRT and would cloud my tank up. I was told that it would settle after a couple of days, but would it be ok to just use gravel? I don't want the water to cloud up every time I put my hand in.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> but if the mystery snail has babies the assassin will eat them. Right?


Its the other way around, the assassins will eat the mystery snail.


I would love some assassins, But they are not legal here. Any Aussies who have some and want to sell 2 or 3 PM me.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

That's what I said right? I said the assassin will eat the mystery snails.


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## Kay333 (Dec 23, 2014)

I have no experience with assassins, but I can tell you we had a mystery snail (she recently died  ) who ate EVERYTHING she could get at. Two tanks worth of plants, algae disks, iceberg lettuce... Except cucumber... She was fun to watch and super active for a snail (compared to what I had expected) but we ended up getting fake plants. So I'd keep that in mind when deciding. Though I've heard others have had them without issue... Maybe 1/2 an algae disk every day was too little food or or she preferred fresh veggies or she was just a pig, hard to say!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Pomecea Bridgesii (sp) will not eat healthy plant matter. If your snail ate plants there may be reasons


1 It wasn't Pomecea Bridgesii (sp)
2 The plants were dieing


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## Kay333 (Dec 23, 2014)

NickAu said:


> Pomecea Bridgesii (sp) will not eat healthy plant matter.



That's what I've been told, but she ate everything. Maybe petsmart mislabelled her?









Still loved her though! She was our class pet and the kids named her snoop snail. 


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Imagine the fun a plant eating snail would have here.









Snails are cool pets most kids love them.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

Well everyone seems to be friendly after initial contact. Now that I've finally gotten everything set-up, I realize I probably should have gotten more information before I went out snail-shopping... I guess I'm just a spontaneous person. But this time at least, I think I might be lucky. Everyone has met everyone and nobody's died! That's a good sign. Of course, once they've gotten used to the new tank, that could change. I'll be watching them closely. I'll post my picture once I can get it on my computer.


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

I can't find my assassin snail! My mystery snail is still alive, but the asssassin has disappeared. That's just because he's small right? Right?!


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## mmkubo (Jan 26, 2016)

Thank god I found him, he was behind a giant leaf pressed up against the tank. I can breathe now.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

If the assassin snail has babies, when the babies get big enough they might gang up on the mystery snail but who knows. 

good luck! I bet your betta boy loves his new 5.5g.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

According to everything I've read and my experience, Assassin Snails...actually, most snails...only go into reproduction overdrive if they are fed too much.

Mine went crazy reproducing when I put them in a tank with 200+ bladder/pond snails. I was giving them away left and right. After the other snails were gone my Assassins went back to producing maybe one baby ever other month or so.

My PetCo will take them for credit.


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