# betta and awesome tank mates.



## Bettas are Betta (Aug 3, 2010)

I have a 2.65 gallon tank with a male betta and i was wondering if there was any good pleco or sucherfish kinda thing that would make an awesome tank mate to clean up the gravel and stuff! Thanks


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## Bettas are Betta (Aug 3, 2010)

How about corydoras and how many? can they stay in with my betta in a 1.5 and 2.65 gallon tank?


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## meeka (Jul 1, 2010)

Plecs will grow way toooo big for your tank and its also not really suitable for any kind of cories are they also like to be in a group :-(


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

Nothing is suitable as a tank-mate in that small of a tank.. Just a betta is the only thing I would put in there.


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## puddin (Apr 5, 2010)

If you want to clean up the gravel, get a snail. Cories do not clean, they are just bottom feeders and need to be in a group and at least a 10 gallon to feel happy.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

As doggyhog said there is nothing you can put in a tank that size with a betta. Its just too small. That includes snails and shrimp. If you want tank mates your going to need to get a 3+ gallon tank. If you want a tank with fish in it your going to need to get a 10+ gallon tank.


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## b3ttaf1sh (May 22, 2010)

I would suggest a larger tank if you want the betta to have a tankmate. At least 5 gallons, 10 would be more suitable. Then you could put snails in there once there is a lot of algae and bacteria for them. And shrimp or ADF's could leave peacefully with a betta too. As for fish i would recommend a platy and certain types of loaches. Nothing aggressive or long-finned.


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## zelilaa (Jul 31, 2010)

I hate it when people say "Go out and buy a bigger one it's too small" Ugh. If you could buy a bigger one, what would you be doing with a 2.65 gal anyways? Shees. I do not know of any that would work. My betta is by himself in a 2.5 gal tank right now, but I a'm getting two cherry shrimp at Christmas time. =D I would recomend a snail. I know you said fish, but all the bottom feeders I can think of would out- grow the tank. Plecos grow huge, and cories are just scavengers. They won't clean the tank. Seriously, snails are SUPER cute and just 1 would be perfect. But be prepared with lettuce or the like when it needs food other then just algae. Because not much algae will grow in a 2.65 gal tank. Like.. ever. So make sure it gets enough food! Of course, I bet you prefer fish over snails. Most people do. Even I do! Your tank IS big enough for one other fish... but no bottom feeders would do. Snails is the only option. Darn. =(


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Actually a 2.5 gallon tank is not big enough for another fish. A tank that small just doesn't have enough room to support two fish, especially with an aggressive species like Betta splendens. Any fish that would stay a small enough size to be put in a tank like that require a shoal which means they must be in 10+ gallon tanks.

A snail would do but most people get mystery snails for their first snail and they would not do well in such a small tank without lots of extra water changes considering how much waste they produce. A nerite snail may be a good choice but the OP doesn't seem to like snails. Even then an extra water change would be needed because that is over stocking a tank that small.

You might get away with putting a shrimp or two in there but in a tank that small I can't see how the shrimp will be able to hide from the betta should he choose to eat them.


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## Bettas are Betta (Aug 3, 2010)

zelilaa said:


> I hate it when people say "Go out and buy a bigger one it's too small" Ugh. If you could buy a bigger one, what would you be doing with a 2.65 gal anyways? Shees. I do not know of any that would work. My betta is by himself in a 2.5 gal tank right now, but I a'm getting two cherry shrimp at Christmas time. =D I would recomend a snail. I know you said fish, but all the bottom feeders I can think of would out- grow the tank. Plecos grow huge, and cories are just scavengers. They won't clean the tank. Seriously, snails are SUPER cute and just 1 would be perfect. But be prepared with lettuce or the like when it needs food other then just algae. Because not much algae will grow in a 2.65 gal tank. Like.. ever. So make sure it gets enough food! Of course, I bet you prefer fish over snails. Most people do. Even I do! Your tank IS big enough for one other fish... but no bottom feeders would do. Snails is the only option. Darn. =(


 
Actually when i brought out that tank from the garage the whole thing was a covered in a thick layer of dark green algae and there is still a few spots with big dots getting bigger and bigger and its really hard to get out of the corners of the tank and all that goodness!


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## Bettas are Betta (Aug 3, 2010)

Oh i just bought a 10 galloncfor my newest buddy, Ramen. what do you think i can maybe plop in there to clean the gravel??


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## Fermin (Apr 18, 2010)

I'll post my standard reply to these types of questions:

It really depends on your betta's personality. Some are sweethearts who don't seem to mind having tankmates; others are psychopathic killers who will murder anything that moves (I have both types of bettas). 

If your betta has a sweetheart personality, you can _try_ adding a tankmate. This should be something that in no way resembles another betta (so avoid anything colorful and with long flowy fins).

Keep in mind that if it doesn't work out you will need to remove either the betta or the new tankmate and house them separately. This means that now you will have 2 tanks to care for.


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## zelilaa (Jul 31, 2010)

Bettas are Betta said:


> Actually when i brought out that tank from the garage the whole thing was a covered in a thick layer of dark green algae and there is still a few spots with big dots getting bigger and bigger and its really hard to get out of the corners of the tank and all that goodness!


woah O.O They probably had it in direct sunlight with a very poor stressed out fish then... also I see your post on the ten gallon. I have absolutely NO idea. =P But before you buy any fish to put in there, (duh) make sure its ok with the other fish. Here's the less obvious part though; if you get any bottom feeder AFTER algae is growing in, find out what type of algae first and look up whether that particular bottom feeder would eat it.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

For your ten gallon, a small group of cory cats would work, but keep in mind they don't just eat scraps, they need to be fed as well, and you'd still have to gravel vac. Same goes for shrimps, which are little vaccumes on legs.


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## Bettas are Betta (Aug 3, 2010)

Hmmmm... Vaccumes on legs eh? I might try some shrimp out! lol!


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Yep.  Though, they're greedy little buggers. I started out with 6 ghost shrimps in my tank, and the larger ones kept stealing from my smaler ones, even though I dropped food down there for them to nibble on. Eventually, some got sick, and now I'm only left with one, but he still manages to keep the whole tank pretty clean of food ^_^.


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## Bettas are Betta (Aug 3, 2010)

Cool


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## IanHulett (Feb 19, 2013)

Umm, I know this topic is almost 4 years old, but I have a tank infested with pond and bladder snails and even using medication for Ich added with aquarium salt, all those snails are still alive and healthy. There's now between about 20 and 40% of the medication and salt left. If the bladder/pond snails survived this, will my mystery snail be okay?

I'm still removing the salt and meds.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

I'm not sure about the mystery snail, I've never had a pet snail just the little annoying ones that are impossible to grt rid of. I had a snail infestation a few years back. They were nearly impossible to get rid of. I tried everything, it would slow them down a little. For a few days until they were everywhere again. It was terrible. I ended up having to tear the tank down, scrub everything really well and let it thoroughly dry out for like 6 weeks. My friend suggested drying it out for a few weeks, but I went with 6 just to make sure I wouldnt have to deal with that again.That was the only thing that worked for me. I had a full blown infestation tho.


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## IanHulett (Feb 19, 2013)

Should've bought assassin snails.


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