# Mystery Snail in a 5 gallon?



## BettaStarter24

Is this ok? I just got a black mystery snail, I've named Toothless, for Angel's cycled 5 gallon. Talking to the manager at the petco I got him from he said 5 gallons should be just fine for the one snail and the betta. 

He's already zooming around the tank and hiding in the plants. Much better than the Tiger Nerites I tried a while back that only lived 3 days. They didn't move this much and were dropped onto their shells in the store while the employee was grabbing them to bag them.


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## queenamira

That should be fine! Just know that you might have to be cleaning up a lot more poop now


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## BettaStarter24

Yeah we have a gravel vac.


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## queenamira

Then you're good to go! In a 5 gallon, one betta and one snail should really be the most you ever have. Adding live plants (if you don't have any already) is going to help with the water quality even more for that much bioload, especially because a snail's waste can be hard to see so usually you won't know to remove it until there's a heap of it everywhere – unless you use the vac for each water change.


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## BettaStarter24

I use the vac each change and I do have one live plant (anubias) in the tank I manage to kill moss balls though so live plants are kinda a wary thing with me. So far toothless is active.


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## queenamira

That's great that he's active!

I've never had a moss ball so I have no idea if there is a certain way to take care of them, if any. What I do know is that there are really easy plants that don't need much extra care but the level of lighting they need. One of the best (in my opinion) is the anacharis plant. You can just let them float around or tether them to a rock and they're pretty much good to go. They grow baby anacharis that you can pick off and place somewhere else in the tank before it grows and grows. And apparently they are champs at eating up any ammonia in your water 

PewPewPew has an amazing thread on plants in the Betta Fish Bowls, Habitats, and Accessories forum. You should def check that one out!!


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## aselvarial

Guppy grass is a pretty good plant for sucking up nutrients. It can float or be planted, and is like kudzu for water. It cannot be killed.


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## VivianKJean

Personally I would go with a nerite over a mystery snails. Mystery Snails really should not be kept it tanks under 10 gallons because they get to the size of golfballs.


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## sailbond

I have a golden mystery snail and a betta in a cycled 5.5 gallon that is heavily planted with silk plants. They are doing quite well and have lived together for about 3 months now.

Snails make a mess but as long as you are consistent with weekly water changes everything should be fine.

My betta just ignores the snail now, for the first few days my betta would nip at the tentacles but he quickly stopped. The snail is huge now and is very active with it's tentacles everywhere and the fish doesn't care at all.


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## BettaStarter24

Angel hasn't bothered Toothless yet. Not that I've seen anyway. Little snail friend has been zooming up and down the plants, in and out of the cave and all over the gravel already. This morning he was tucked into his shell trapdoor shut. But I figured he was sleeping.


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## LittleStar

I've got an apple/mystery snail in my 5.5 and I call Emit my little vacuum cleaner. He's much more tidy than messy. Very helpful around his house.


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## aselvarial

I've got a mystery snail in my 5 gallon. It's fully planted and was several months old before I added him, and it was totally not planned (she bullied the other snail in her section of the big tank quite badly). It can be done, but it's a little more difficult than in a larger tank


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## jadaBlu

You will want to clean you tank more often mystery snail produce alot of waste so it could raise your ammonia and nitrates. They are interesting and fun to watch but just be sure to to keep an eye that. You will probably want to feed the mystery snail an algae wafer daily.


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## BettaStarter24

Question: I went to check in on the little dude and found him floating at the top of the tank, trapdoor loosely open most of the way, not moving. So I picked him up to smell him, he smelled fine, and I gently moved his trapdoor and he closed it so I put him back in the tank, near the bottom but he floated back up to the top and sat there his trapdoor open again. Just got back from class to see if he had moved but he's still floating, but his trapdoor isn't as open as it was this morning. Did he die or is he just being weird?


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## jadaBlu

That normally isn't good. They do give resistance or some sort or reaction if you press on the trap door. I would do a water change or two on your tank regardless of your snails condition. Snails will be the first to act strange, start heading to the surface ect when water quality is off. So for your fish and the snail if it's still alive you will want to clean the tank. You might want to remove the snail and put in another container to observe it's behavior for 3-4 days. The snail adds to the biolload of the tank so you have to be mindful of that. If you lose this snail and you still really want one I would see about getting one nerite snail they are smaller and will produce a little less waste.


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## NickAu

Remember to feed the snail.


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## BettaStarter24

Toothless died. He started to smell a little and when I tested his door he didn't retract.


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## lev897742betta

Hi, I am considering on getting a apple/mystery snail and putting one in my 5.5 gallon tank with my betta bubbles, I have a feeding hole on the hood of the tank. Should I be worried about the snail escaping through there? And can apple snails eat water bottles because I have a water bottle plastic base covering the filter so it can be low flow.


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## Zensational

BettaStarter24 said:


> I use the vac each change and I do have one live plant (anubias) in the tank I manage to kill moss balls though so live plants are kinda a wary thing with me. So far toothless is active.


I read that Moss Balls can't survive in heated waters, they'll brown up and melt. Assuming that your tank is heated, that may be the issue?


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## BettaStarter24

Not sure. Either way i dont do live plants anymore. I had a planted anubias tank for a while but they all died when i lost my late Vt Sammy who had magic plant poop. After that the plants started dying and then caused a nitrate spike killing the fish in that tank.


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## cutesybettas

Nope, I've had moss balls in heated tanks for about six months now and they're fine.


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## Kevinthefish

I enquired about a Mystery Snail the other day and the lady there (who is great, she's quite knowledgeable) told me that if you have a betta that likes to sleep on the ground/gravel, give the mystery snails a miss due to their size.

One of her staff took one home and put it in the tank with her betta - during the night when her betta was sleeping on the ground, the snail was doing it thing....crawled up over the top of the fish and killed it.

I haven't heard of this happening before, but I suppose there's a first time for everything.

So if your betta sleeps on the ground, and your snail is quite large just be careful!!!

Jasmine


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## RussellTheShihTzu

Kevinthefish said:


> I enquired about a Mystery Snail the other day and the lady there (who is great, she's quite knowledgeable) told me that if you have a betta that likes to sleep on the ground/gravel, give the mystery snails a miss due to their size.
> 
> One of her staff took one home and put it in the tank with her betta - during the night when her betta was sleeping on the ground, the snail was doing it thing....crawled up over the top of the fish and killed it.
> 
> I haven't heard of this happening before, but I suppose there's a first time for everything.
> 
> So if your betta sleeps on the ground, and your snail is quite large just be careful!!!
> 
> Jasmine


Sorry...this is bull crap. Think about it: What healthy Betta is going to allow anything to crawl all over it as it reclines on the substrate let alone lie still as it's killed? And how exactly did the Mystery Snail kill it? I'll bet that Betta was already dead; especially since the LFS person interpreted it as "sleeping on the ground." Let me tell you, a healthy Betta would have been outta there the minute the snail touched it.

This is not an indictment of all pet store employees but I am constantly amazed at the things some idiots in pet stores, who should know better, spread. A Mystery Snail will kill your Betta if it sleeps on the ground. Geez! 

Sorry but this sort of stuff really frustrates me. :frustrated:

@Kevinthefish: Rant not directed at you but the person who jumped to such a conclusion.


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## Kevinthefish

Lol, oh no offense taken! 
What you said was my first thought....even a sleeping betta would wake up in time.
I know if I wake up one of mine mid slumber, they get a fright and dart around the tank for a second. 

I think you're right...the fish would've already had to have been dead or very sick.


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## RussellTheShihTzu

Closed per Betta Fish Rule #12.


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