# Betta Fish tank mates in 3.5 g tank



## Guest (Nov 7, 2018)

Hi I have a Betta Fish in a 3.5 gallon tank and I was wondering if it would be safe to put 5 ghost shrimp and 1 nertile snail in with my Betta.


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## AetherTheBetta (Mar 30, 2018)

Maybe a single snail, I don't know about the shrimp though.


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## Ratvan (Oct 31, 2018)

It seems to depend on the fish, Kojin has some tank mates in the form of 5-6 MTS and 4 Amano Shrimp. He is not interested in them in the slightest.


However my friend's Betta literally attacks anything/everything that enters the tank (including new plants) so she can't add anything more. 


I think the differences between the tanks makes a difference as well, I have gone for a heavy planted natural tank where as my friend has artificial plants/décor and not enough spaces for Shrimp to hide IMO


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## Lunatic (Jan 23, 2018)

Hello, and welcome to the forum! :wave:

I personally wouldn't put the shrimp, they have a tendency to annoy bettas, and this is a smaller space.
You can do the nerite snail though, preferably a horned nerite.


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## Guest (Nov 8, 2018)

Thank you for your advice! Any reason for a horned nertile in particular? I have also heard of zebra Nertile snails are good. Any opinion on this?


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## HumanArtRebel1020 (Jan 13, 2018)

a couple shrimp sure esp ghost for clean up. very hardy


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

It is not the Betta that is the concern with shrimp; it is the environment. Shrimp are extremely sensitive to parameter changes and even the tiniest amount of Ammonia can kill them. They need to be in a fully-cycled, stable tank. Also, without sufficient cover and good places to hide when they recover from molting, they are stressed by the close proximity to a predator. It is unnatural.

I hope yours manage to survive but I would stick to just a snail in such a small tank. Or get a larger tank...at least a ten if you wish to have shrimp. And know that while the shrimp will eat excess food, they will not eat poop and will not keep your tank clean. Start now cultivating algae as Nerite, with few exceptions, will not eat anything else. They will skate over algae wafers which makes people think they are eating. But the number one cause of death of Nerites is starvation...this is why I will not recommend them without that caveat (and I am a Nerite affectionado!. Place some rocks in a small dish and cover with water. Set in a sunny window and alternate rocks in the aquarium as the Nerite cleans them.


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