this is Julian, I got him about 3 weeks ago and I want some tankmates for him. but he did have two amano shrimp which he ate lol :/ I would have moved them to the community tank if I had known that he would do that, so he doesn't really like other creatures. his tank is getting a bit grubby with some algae on the sand and on a few plants. so, I want some kind of cleaning fish like otocinclus? if he HATES the fish I could move it to my peaceful community tank.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1sln7ef
Posted by rat_person1
11 Comments
Bettas don’t play well with others. If you want a cleaning crew I’d go snails.
I have snails and shrimp in with them in 10g tanks.
I have a mystery snail in each, neocaridina shrimp, ghost shrimp, and a couple caridinas I mistook for cherries at my LFS.
Fair warning, my betta harassed and ate the fire reds, so I moved them to a solo breeding tank and added wild types/cull cherries in. I’m sure he still picks at them, but I have a stable colony and plenty of hiding spots/plants.
What size is the tank?
If he doesn’t get along with others already they will likely be stressed from constant torment from the betta
Katoda is my Japanese Trapdoor. He’s fun to watch as he cleans everything. I was able to get help with selecting a male so that I don’t have to deal with a couple of babies every month since they are live bearers but the males can’t have babies. It’s also easier to visually know which is male versus female compared to other snails, as long as you can get a look at their tentacles. But after getting him I am excited to get more eventually, I’ll go back for another Japanese Trapdoor, male or female, hopefully a female next time so I don’t have to go back to the aquarium store because it’s not that close. Here’s a picture of him cleaning the community banana plant
https://preview.redd.it/sdfd09e7l8vg1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cee37f319667ec54ca212302c945bfc3477bcaa3
I have Nerite snails with my betta, but I’ve also seen bettas that have decided to eat their Nerite tankmates. So it’s really a coin toss. Beyond snails and shrimp, I am a firm believer that bettas should be solo fish in tanks that are 10 gallons or smaller. There just isn’t enough room for them to establish their own territory without feeling like they need to compete with other fish. That being said, I’m a sucker for Nerites. They’re voracious algae eaters and can’t reproduce in freshwater, so they won’t overpopulate the tank.
i can’t offer advice but i got my betta 3 weeks ago and have the exact same issue lol
I got some accidental snails in my betta’s 5 gal. Luckily I will have a 20 soon for him but he leaves the snails completely alone so I would feel comfortable getting him fishy companions only because he hasn’t showed aggression.
I am in the same boat. Mine was flaring at the ramshorn so I had to move it but he’s older now. I want to try tiny cories and if he is a dick I can move them to the loach tank
My betta Mars lives in a 17 gallon planted tank with 2 albino Cory fish, a few snails and 5 tiny phoenix rasboras. Depends on your unique betta and their personality
Kuhli loaches can be good if you have lots of ground-cover for them!