# 5g in Need of Cleaners?



## Kumiko (Jan 2, 2010)

I've had at least one betta for about 6 years now. I've had only 2 bettas though called Marcus and Dragonfly that have passed or have been given up to someone else because of moving to another location. 

Right now I have Auron, a crowntail betta with lots of character that I got at Petco.  He's in a five gallon with a small filter and fake plants. The filter makes a little current to one part of the tank, but because i gather the fake plants to break some of the current, he doesn't seem to be bothered at all. He can rest in place without being moved in most areas of the tank. 

I get this white puffy filament in my aquarium on the gravel (some accrueing on parts of fake plants), I assume it to be algae or a bacteria. It grows more on the gravel than anything else on what I assume to be betta poo. 

I was thinking about getting 2 little otos fish to clean up and maybe getting a real plant in there somehow. I never had a real plant before in an aquarium. Would this be good tactics to work against this algae or bacteria? What do you think this fluffy-looking filament is? 

Thanks!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I can't help you on the filament but with only 5 gallons its not really a good idea to add two more fish.. one maybe but I think those are schooling fish? so you need more than just one. Think in terms that you only have 3 gallons because your betta is probably about 2inches or so and a fish needs at least 1 gallon per inch of fish.

You might try a mystery snail or other type of snail but I would try to identify the "filament" first as it could be harmful. Got any pics of it?


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## k stiles (Aug 29, 2009)

hello and welcome to the fourm
otos don't school, I don't think at least, because you need 6 cories in a ten gallon tank, but only 3 otos in there, but i'm not really educated on them, so, well yeah, other members could help you more than me


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

according to this ottos won't do well.. they need to be in small schools and get to two inches in size (meaning each fish will need two gallons of water ideally).. plus it says they don't do with overly aggressive tankmates and we all know bettas have their moments 

edit.. oops forgot the link.. oh well its late don't blame me  http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm


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## Kumiko (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks for the advice!  The filament mostly accumulates over time. I'm sorry I can't give a picture. I just did a complete change yesterday so it will be a week or so. I do water changes once a month for a filtered tank. Is this good enough for a five gallon? Probably not if I get this stuff in auron's tank. Also, I always give tap-treated water when the tank water evaporates from it's original level in the tank... so I would say I do about 20% water changes every 2 weeks or so. 

 I've been reading more and more on this betta forum. I need to take my shopiholic skills over to Petco and muster up some much needed necessities. ;-)


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

I had otos with my betta in his 5 gallon, however he thinks he needs to chase them. But I also have them with my girl and she is fine with them. So it really depends on the betta's personality. The otos did a fantastic job cleaning the tank though.

They need to be in at least groups of 3. Groups of 2 will do, but they are much more active with 3 or more.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

A five gallon should get a pwc of about 50% weekly with vacuuming. You might be ok with only doing 20-30% pwc weekly (I always do 50% to be safe). The cleaner your water the happier your fish.


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## Kumiko (Jan 2, 2010)

I went "shop-happy" today at petco. WHEW!!! 
Got a gravel vacum, new wisper filter for 3 gallons, thermometer, aquarium salt, water tester, plant bulbs, tank background... i think that's it. :-D He seems very happy with all his new stuff too!!!! :-D 

I felt so embarressed today because I had a Elite Mini as a filter previously. The worker was like "it been more than five years since we carried those." :shock: The thing is... i've had it for 6 years so that worker knew his crap! lol 

I'm really thinking about a mystery snail though. I think it would improve the cleaniness.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Make sure you don't put the bulbs in until they sprout.. the best way to do it is put a bowl of tank water under a lamp (like desklamp) and put the bulbs in there.. any that don't sink right away throw out.. they're not good. Change the water every other day or so and check the bulbs... once they start to sprout put them in the tank but don't bury them... if you bury them the bulb will rot (which will be really bad).

A mystery snail would be a great addition.. some people say they are messy but I've had nothing but good things and they've kept my tanks pretty clean. Make sure you get some algae wafers to feed 2-3 times a week to supplement.. also cucumber is good too.


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## nouvelle1972 (Jan 2, 2010)

I have a crowntail male betta and an octo dwarf pleco in a 5gl and they seem to do just fine. I keep the water level filled to the top so the betta doesn't get upset by the water flow. The pleco actually seems happier with the betta than he did with my danios (who have been transfered). The pleco is out and about all the time (versus hiding with the spazoid danios). The betta eyeballs him but never nips or chases. I would do live plants for sure. I would also suggest getting a small cave ornament for the betta to hide in and make sure your plants are short but slightly dense on the bottom of the tank. Bettas are pond fish, after all, and love to hide. I would also suggest a 50% water change weekly. Even though both fish are hardy, it is a small environment. I would not suggest doing snails without a fish that eats snails unless you only have one. They mass produce.


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Let's get some things straight here:

There is no such thing as an animal that 'cleans the tank'. I read a good book on this. It was called _Everybody Poops_. 

On a more serious note, anything you introduce the the tank to 'clean it' will do nothing more than suck up detritus or scrape algae off the glass and deposit it on the bottom in the form of poop. This is espescially the case for Mystery Snails, who happen to be champs at this sport. I would go so far as to say that a single mystery snail will contribute more waste towards your tank than a betta could ever hope to.

If you want a small 'cleaner' to eat detritus and algae (which effectively saves you from scraping the glass lol) I have a few to recommend who, pound for pound are not very big waste producers:

-Shrimp. Don't ask me where they put it all but they are artists at the act of reducing algae on a low bioload-budget. I suggest ghost shrimp for bettas becase they are the least likely to get eaten.

-Nerite / Zebra snails. I would recommend them to anyone. Hands down the best algae eaters and they have very low waste output. They will only breed in brackish water so they won't overrun your tank. I would only suggest 1 or 2 for a 5g because once they run out of algae it is sometimes hard to tempt them to eat lettuce. They also won't eat leftover food. Fortunately betta pellets allow for very few leftovers.

Plants are also a good bet for soaking up dissolved waste... did you know that duckweed is used to purify water in sewage treatment plants?


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## Kumiko (Jan 2, 2010)

kelly528 said:


> Let's get some things straight here:
> 
> There is no such thing as an animal that 'cleans the tank'. I read a good book on this. It was called _Everybody Poops_.
> 
> ...


Thanks a ton. I had no idea about the duckweed in sewage plants!! :-D Where to find it though? I'm going to a vivarium site to order some plants. I need to get some for the frog tank as well. I just cleaned it out and now, its lacking in the green category.


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

kelly528 said:


> There is no such thing as an animal that 'cleans the tank'. I read a good book on this. It was called _Everybody Poops_.


Oh my gosh!!!!! I LOVE that book!!! LOL

Yeah, snails really poop a lot. I LOVE mine, and he keeps the algae down, which is great, but after I feed him, he poops for a whole day straight!


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Kumiko said:


> Thanks a ton. I had no idea about the duckweed in sewage plants!! :-D Where to find it though? I'm going to a vivarium site to order some plants. I need to get some for the frog tank as well. I just cleaned it out and now, its lacking in the green category.


You can get it from classifieds (I'm sure if you put an ad out on craigslist someone will scoop some out for you) or if you have a local aquarium society or forum you could find duckweed really easily there as well. Barring that you could scoops some from a pond (sterilise it in PP dip first) or another idea is to ask at a LFS... if there are any hobbyist employees there they will probably have no problem from scooping some out of a tank at home. The stuff grows like mad so it's really easy to come by.


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