# Trying to find a buddy



## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

My fiance has decided my betta shouldn't be alone. He doesn't include snails as an acceptable friend. What type of fish would do good with a betta. It has to be a fish that doesn't need to school. I'm only planning to buy one or two fish.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

What sized tank?


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Well after the holidays, I'm going to set up and start cycling a new tank. It's either going to be a 3 or 3 1/2 gallon. Once the tank is set up and betta is added I'll buy him a friend or two. That's why I'm researching now. I know the tank is kind of small. That is why I want a total of no more than three fish.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

You could attempt a Bumblebee Goby if it's from a freshwater establishment not brackish. But it all depends on your Betta's temperament. I wouldn't put anything with a Betta in less than 5 gallons, especially if I didn't know how he'd react with other fish around. It's not much space for a fish to hide from a mean Betta. If your fiance want's good friends, then tell him to buy the 10 gallon. If you buy just the tank, it's only like 15 dollars which is nice and cheap. That's up to you though.

In all, I wouldn't add anything to something under 5 gallons.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

Bumblebee gobies are brackish fish and should only live in brackish. 
You can't have anything other than shrimp or a snail in a 3.5 gallon with a betta.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Flint said:


> Bumblebee gobies are brackish fish and should only live in brackish.
> You can't have anything other than shrimp or a snail in a 3.5 gallon with a betta.


Yes and no. They can live fine in freshwater and have done so. My LFS has had bumblebee gobies forever now, they were bred in freshwater and have lived in it their entire lives.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

GSP can live in freshwater, too, but that doesn't mean it's good for them.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

There are many arguments about freshwater gobies and brackish and I'm not in the mood for one right now. As I did state, it depends on where you get them. Yeah, I'm not going to throw a brackish goby into freshwater if that's what it's been in. But my bumblebee's where born and raised in freshwater. And I know from experience that they've lived just as long as they do in brackish with no ailments to them.

Anyway, so we've come to the consensus that if the fish want's friends, you'll need a bigger tank.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I understand he was in a divided with another male and he never took interest. We don't want to go with a bigger tank yet. Just don't have the room for anything bigger. The goby is a good idea. I'll look into it. I also know about brackish water. A brackish fish can live in either salt or fresh as long as you do slow adding/removing of salt till they are adjusted. I'm not taking the time to do the adjustments myself so I'd only get one of it's pre-adjusted properly.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Also, still haven't decided to add friends. I'm not doing anything without thinking through it.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I'm glad you're thinking it through, it's always a good plan lol. That will make for a happy fish and a happy owner.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Well he's also been having health issues. He will stay in his tank till I'm 100% that he's healed. I know I will get snails because I'm making his new tank a live tank.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Ah, yeah that's a good idea  are you going to do it NPT soil style?


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Npt? Sorry don't know what that means


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh, np! Natural Planted Tank. That's when you use soil as a base and then use a cap so it stay's down, usually you use sand on top and it looks nice. It keeps your plants healthy with nutrients and they grow better too. Root tabs and liquid ferts just don't do it some times. Also you can have a NPT by just using some enhanced substrate like Eco-Complete or FloraMax, I mix that with sand as well and it's still considered NPT just not soil based. It's worth it to look into that if you want live plants! My 3 gallon Cube is a NPT ^_^


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Ohhhh. Feeling blonde. Yeah doing that and the best cap around here is floramax. For the base soil I'm doing our yard soil. It's pretty fertile. We don't use fertilizer and we don't get run off. I found on the sticky about starting live tanks that you could use yard soil. The cap's probably going to be floramax. As for plants I'm planning a couple fast growers, but what I must have is an anubias. My betta has a fake one. He loves to lay his fins across and lean on the stalk.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh ahah, no worries! I have to look up abbreviations quite a bit too lol.

I know FloraMax needs to be washed quite a bit too just so you know  I'll be using that mixed with sand in my next tank so I don't have to deal with layers, just easier for me 

For faster growers I suggest some water wisteria, frog-bit, dwarf water lettuce and basically any floaters. If you don't want to end up with an infestation, stay away from duckweed and giant duckweed, they reproduce worse than livebearers lol. But Frog-bit is much bigger so it's easy to remove if it get's to be too much! Also Anacharis is amazing plant too and grows unbelievably fast! Another great plant to start off with for a NPT.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I don't mind the layers and I know about rinsing. I really don't like floaters. The wisteria I've looked at myself. I will look into the rest. As for anubias, I must make my vain man happy. They talk about bettas swimming slow because thier fins are so heavy. Nope he goes slow so I can see him. He sits there and wiggles from one side to the other. Then he'll dart as fast as he can.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Well you can use the floater's for when it's cycling and stabilizing for the two weeks or so. And then sell them off or throw them away/whatever afterward's. It's mostly to keep the tank safe from super bad levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate really  and yes Anubias are great, they're slow growers but that's fine in the long run! Just initially you want fast growers to soak up all the extra ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and then you can have whatever you want after it stabilizes


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I was thinking about moneywort


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Fine in the long run but still not a fast growing plant.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

See that's why I mentioned it. The local pet store says it's a super fast grower. I figured they were wrong.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, they do that sometimes haha. It is an easy plant to grow but like Anubias, it just doesn't grow too fast. Although it does grow faster then Anubias lol Pennywort on the other hand is a faster grower. But it's more of a floater since it's actually a bog plant, not a true aquatic but it does just fine floating. I actually have some in my little 3 gallon NPT  it's kind of covered with algae right now though haha


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Lol. I understand. Some of their labels you can tell are just messed up. I will figure out the perfect fast growers


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Pennywort and anubius for sure. I'm thinking hornwort for a floater. I was thinking corkscrew vallisneria but I don't know if that's a fast grower.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Val's are usually a medium-fast grower, I think it depends on the type. I've had regular Jungle Val and it's just now starting to grow well even though I've had it for about four months now. But granted that's in my regular planted tank and not an NPT so I know they do much better in an NPT style.

You can float Hornwort and Anacharis well too. Just be warned with Hornwort though, it will shed all it's needles while it acclimates to your tank so it can get kind of messy. If you don't mind that, then go for it! I personally hate it so I stopped getting Hornwort, Cabomba and other needle like ones lol.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Thanks I don't mind the extra cleaning of hornwort. I'll look into anarcharis. We have such a limited supply of live plants at both pet stores. The only one you mentioned that they carry is wisteria. Oh and Pennywort. I looked into snails all either store sells is mystery and they're three dollars a piece. Now bettas cost 99 cents. Bettas are also sold as friendly community fish.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

lol, sorry but I had to laugh...friendly? I mean, some are but it's just people; they all have their own personalities ^_^ If you're not opposed, you can order off this site: http://shop.plantedaquariumscentral.com/ this woman is so wonderful to work with and really knows how to package plants well! All her prices are very fair, at least in my opinion; she's also cheaper than my local store. But I've never had an issue with her plants and they're all etremely healthy! She also throws in an extra bunch usually if she has spares ^_^ I highly recommend her!

Also if you put in BETTAFISH for a coupon it's a nice little discount! It's not much but it's still worth it ^_^

As for snails...yeah our's are around 2-3 dollars here too, that's about average for the fancy snails  Don't get an Apple snail though! They eat plants! Mystery snails are Apple's cousins but they are plant safe  they don't do a whole heck a of a lot of algae but they're still cute. Nerites poop less and do a better job for algae but usually cost a little bit more.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Alright I'll check her out. Literally they sell mystery snails in one store and none in the other. As for plants, one sells them packaged at a set price. The other actually grows them in their tanks. Some are reasonably priced. Others not so much.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Her plants are so nice. The prices are good. It's so nice


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah! I really love her prices because they are so good! And the plants always look so great too! I really can't express how much I love her plants and anytime I want plants, I always go to her site unless of course an LFS sells a plant that she doesn't ^_^ but all the plants I've recieved are just so good! lol All the plants have lived except for one but it's something to do with my water because my LFS had the same plant and for a while they did great but then out of the blue they all melted so it's something in our water. The plant was Alternanthera Reineckii and it apparently doesn't like hard water, so if you have soft water it might do better. But anyway, I'm ranting now ;-)


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

She had better prices on all but one plant I wanted. So once I have everything else I'll order all from her.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Nerites are much cheaper. I actually have found some. The site says they're salt water...


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

They have ghost shrimp maybe I'll do that.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Nerites are both fresh and saltwater. Although don't buy the ones from the saltwater, it will be one heck of a time trying to acclimate them. Most of the ones that are "freshwater" are labeled as Tiger, Red Stripe, Zebra, Zorro, Horned, Olive and Black. The Visicolor ones which are so cool, are the saltwater types. But Nerites can't breed in freshwater thus making them an ideal freshwater tank mate and of course they don't poop as much as Mystery's so that helps too, plus they eat more algae lol. They don't get as big as Mystery's so I think that might be why they're cheaper but not terribly certain. I do like Nerites and have had a few myself but they always end up dead on me >.< 

I guess I don't know enough about snails though, I do know they like hard water and calcium rich water as well. You can however, make this supplemental food here: http://www.myaquariumclub.com/snail-jello-for-noobs-without-great-kitchens-2613.html I haven't made it yet myself but looking to soon for my two Mystery's ^_^

EDIT: also Ghost Shrimp are scavenger's not algae eaters if you didn't know already  They like to eat leftover flakes and pellets and occasionally dead plant matter but mostly they like the flakes/pellets. If you're looking for more algae eating shrimp then Cherry Shrimp are good and so are Amano's. Amanos tend to poop a lot as well but they're bigger and will generally stick up for themselves against a Betta. But as always, shrimp are prey and Betta's are predators so you may lose them in the long run if your Betta is an assassin like mine are >.<


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I figured he'd probably make shrimp a meal lol. Problem is I'd have to order any snails online other than mystery. The nerites are saltwater only that I found. Pretty much if I want any algae eater I'm going shopping online.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, Mystery's will eat algae just not as efficiently as a Nerite would. I have a Mystery in my 3 gallon NPT since it does support the two of the, plus an Oto currently but it probably won't be his permanent home, just trying to control this algae issue I've been having lol.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I just don't want to do online orders, because the shipping is very stressful. I haven't found a place that guarantees a replacement of doa. Might just have to get mysteries.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Have you looked on AquaBid and Ebay? Those people generally have replacement of DOA's. I got my "Peppermint" Mystery's from there but they have all sorts!


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

You have to use paypal for aquabid which I don't have and I checked ebay.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Ah yeah, you do have to have it. It's fairly easy to set up though if you did want to go through it. As long as you have a credit or debit card, you can buy things online. And sorry for the late reply, finals time at college right now so it's been pretty hectic around!!


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I know. Aquabid specifically asks for paypal. I can shop elsewhere online. No problem. People have lives outside of this forum. Yesterday was my birthday so I really wasn't on either.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh! Well happy birthday to you! In that case, you must buy some new fishes or snails or something!! haha j/k.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Lol. I was hoping to get the tank. I didn't maybe for Christmas. If not I'll buy it myself


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I've bought a couple times from peachii here on the forum. She sells plant packages and snails too! I'm waiting for my second plant package now - post office delay, not hers!:roll: The two mystery snails I got from her are just lovely and growing like weeds!

Sally


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

+1 Sally. I have received Peachii's plants and they are well packed and healthy. She sells via PM and has a Classified ad for two great packages.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Thank you everyone


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## MissLissa (Dec 13, 2013)

I'm sorry for butting in, but I couldn't resist: I wouldn't recommend Cherry Red Shrimp for betta tanks; I had a nice colony in a 10g with some Celestial Pearl Danios. Once the Celestials aged out, I replaced them with one of my male bettas. Overnight he slaughtered the entire shrimp colony! It was carnage when I turned the light on the next morning. And he was a pretty placid betta; he'd lived with cardinal tetras, male guppies, and even tiny Celestial fry at various times. 

Also, the plakat male I have right now is a snail eater; I've watched him take on a hitch-hiker snail almost as big as he was and eat it. In fact, we used him to clear out a friend of mine's hitch-hiker snail problem; he's a remorseless snail assassin, lol! I definitely wouldn't place a mystery or nerite snail with this guy. But then, he's the only betta I know that joyfully eats snails. I shouldn't be so surprised; I've even seen him take chunks out of the java fern in his aquarium (I swear I feed him!).


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

That's why I wanted a snail. They have a shell for defense. Where a shrimp can't hide from him. He is a digger.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Well...snails aren't always as armored as we think lol. I've had two of my Betta's a boy and a girl both pull Mysteries (full grown) out of their shells and partial eat them. My sorority took care of a pond snail infestation I had as well lol, in less than a week as well. And then another girl completely took out a full grown MTS which I'm still pretty mad about. All my Nerites never really made it past a few weeks so I don't even both any more.

But that's not to say that all fish will do that, so you'll just have to experiment with what your Betta likes and doesn't like! I have a Mystery and three Oto's happily living with the fish in my avatar! Also I have a larger Ramshorn and another Mystery in with a Giant Betta and he's the gentlest thing ever so it does depend on the fish.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

I'm not sure how he'll act.


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