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Tomd500

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
48
Kind of random, but, what kind of algae eating fish would work with a male betta?
 
What size tank is he in etc. I find even in a ten gallon that a male betta does just fine all by himself. The fins and graceful movements fill a tank.
 
Its a ten gallon, im mostly looking for sometging cool to clean for me (lol)
 
What about snails? I have two nerite snails in with my betta...they are great cleaners and are quite comical. The smaller one hitches a ride on the bigger one sometimes and my betta rarely notices them. I did catch him flaring at the bigger one once but he quickly lost interest! Also they don't breed in freshwater so u don't have to worry about overpopulation.
 
Agreed, nerite snails are cool. I have a zebra striped in my betta tank and he the best window washer I have lol.

Only the not breeding in FW may be wrong, but I have to wait for the baby snails to get bigger before I can confirm if they're nerite or pond snails.
 
I do use a little salt in my water also, could i use snails and shrimp? Also, are ghost shrimp acceptable? They look really cool
 
I do use a little salt in my water also, could i use snails and shrimp? Also, are ghost shrimp acceptable? They look really cool

I have a nerite, 2 AES (amano), 2 ghosties and 2 RCS. They all get along, keep the tank sparkling clean and Elvis (my betta) could care less about them unless they go near his favorite spot to wedge himself, then he flares and they scoot off lol.
 
I have a male betta in a 23 gal tank with a few nerites, 3 african dwarf frogs and two bristle nose plecos. Thankfully they all get along without aggression. That I know of. Just yesterday and once a couple of months ago, I found an empty nerite shell. Don't know if the snail died first and got sucked out or if the betta (or BN's) killed it. Has anyone else ever had a betta eat a nerite? Or was it the BN?

To me, the BN's are the best algae eaters. Once I had a 10 gal that was full of algae and the BN cleaned it up in less than 2 days. Of course a 10 gal is too small for a BN, but I just put him in there for housekeeping! But the nerites run a close second!
 
I once got a free ghost shrimp (on accident and didn't notice til I got home) when I purchased a fish for my cichlid tank. I ended up putting it in with my betta and he disappeared within a few hours. So either my betta or snail ate him. But yes, I do suggest snails. Mine is pretty cool.
 
Why are you using salt in the water? You should never add salt with your betta unless you are treating infection like ich or velvet. Once the salt has been in the water for more than 11 days it starts causing organ damage.

Most effecient algae eating fish need a minimum of 20 gallons. Algae eaters typically have large bio-loads (poop too much for a small tank) and need plenty of algae to keep them alive, which is why they aren't well suited to a 10 gal. For smaller tanks shrimp like amano and RCS are great, and nerite snails are fantastic. They do an excellent job on fine details like decor and plants, as well as clearing the glass :)
 
I just got 10 ghost shrimp, i love them so far, as for the salt i read that its safe for all fish with scales
 
Most of the fish we keep have scales, even fish like cories that are often referred to as scaleless do have scales, they are just very small. Fish like cories can have a hard time with salt treatments, yes, but all freshwater fish suffer organ damage from prolonged exposure to salt. Whatever benefit you feel it is adding, I asure you it is not. Quite the opposite, it will only cause you problems. I highly recommend you completely eliminate the salt until when/if you need to treat an infection. That is aquariums salts only purpose in a freshwater tank. If you doubt this, I encourage you to start a thread on salt and get more opinions on this forum.
 
siva said:
Most of the fish we keep have scales, even fish like cories that are often referred to as scaleless do have scales, they are just very small. Fish like cories can have a hard time with salt treatments, yes, but all freshwater fish suffer organ damage from prolonged exposure to salt. Whatever benefit you feel it is adding, I asure you it is not. Quite the opposite, it will only cause you problems. I highly recommend you completely eliminate the salt until when/if you need to treat an infection. That is aquariums salts only purpose in a freshwater tank. If you doubt this, I encourage you to start a thread on salt and get more opinions on this forum.

+1

Salt is a common recommendation at LFS, because it's an expendable product and carries a good profit margin. Carbon fits in that same catagory. I keep it around to recharge some chem pouches I use on occasion. Other than that and med treatment in a QT, it never enters any of my tanks. Even my brackish tank uses Instant Ocean and not aqua salt.
 
Thank you, ill keep it on hand, but ill stop adding it during pwc, will my ghost shrimp survive without it? Ive read that they like the salt
 
I have ghost shrimp that are just about a year old and have never added salt. They should be just fine
 
I once got a free ghost shrimp (on accident and didn't notice til I got home) when I purchased a fish for my cichlid tank. I ended up putting it in with my betta and he disappeared within a few hours. So either my betta or snail ate him. But yes, I do suggest snails. Mine is pretty cool.

I kept a pretty large ghost shrimp with a betta and he was in there for probably months and the betta didn't bother him. Except once, it was funny, I dropped an algae wafer in the tank for the shrimp who grabbed it, and the betta swam towards him with the shrimp walking backwards away from the fish, holding the pellet in his claws. BUt then the fish left him alone. But weeks later went looking for the shrimp and never did find him. Since the betta was the only other fish in that tank, I assume he ate it, unless the shrimp somehow escaped and my dogs ended up with scampi! :eek:
 
Most effecient algae eating fish need a minimum of 20 gallons. Algae eaters typically have large bio-loads (poop too much for a small tank) and need plenty of algae to keep them alive, which is why they aren't well suited to a 10 gal. For smaller tanks shrimp like amano and RCS are great, and nerite snails are fantastic. They do an excellent job on fine details like decor and plants, as well as clearing the glass :)

You aren't kidding about the poop! I can't believe, even though I gravel vac every week, my 23 gal tank with the two BN's is always full of poo when I clean it. I watch TONS of it being sucked up the vac. Can't afford to miss a week in that tank!
 
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