r/AquaticSnails • u/NiwaLeaf • Oct 06 '24

Please help, I’m a complete newb! Help

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Hi everyone, I’m completely new to keeping an aquarium. I have one mystery snail named Pokey lol my mom found her old shallow murky tank by the side of the road with the garbage and she was inside. (I think she) I told my mom to bring her to me lol so now I have gone and got her a 5 gallon starter kit tank, I have crab cuisine and bug bites. I’ve been reading and watching videos but still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. What you see in the video is the new tank setup, there’s a couple live plants in there, I got some sand and did sand on one side and her old gravel from her old tank on the other. I didn’t rinse the rocks and used some of her old water in this tank. I see people do a rotating diet but I don’t know how often to feed each thing and when? Anything else I should know to help (her?) thrive?

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17

u/enomele Oct 06 '24

Good job. For a 5 gal tank I would only recommend snails, shrimp or a single Betta fish as tankmates. shrimp can be difficult for beginners but Betta fish are pretty good beginners fish. They are hardier than most fish to be able to withstand a few more mistakes and their personalities are top notch.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

I would love to get a betta fish, I thought they would be agressive? Is it a myth? lol

13

u/CapAll55 Oct 06 '24

Adding the betta to the tank is best when the snail is already living there! They get along much better that way, cause the betta doesn’t see it as a territory invasion. If you do add a betta, look up a care guide to make a few small additions/tweaks, and will be a perfect home :)

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

Great! Thank you, I’m getting excited about this lol

10

u/drlzzydank Oct 06 '24

i have a betta fish and mystery snail together and they leave each other alone! it definitely depends on the bettas demeanor, but most of the time they are good. the good news is if you get a betta and it nips the snails antenna off, it will grow back!

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

Oh my gosh! lol I did not know they grow antennas back haha

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u/RobertCalifornia Oct 06 '24

Thing is, they'll only regrow if the betta allows that to happen. A life spent being attacked and partially eaten on a regular basis is a really short and shitty one, regardless of whether or not the injured flesh can regenerate. If you care about this snail, then it's not worth the risk, IMO, unless you preemptively have a plan for how you'll separate the two if need be.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

Ok so then bettas are not a good idea in your opinion? Some people are saying yes but I thought they were agressive.

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u/drlzzydank Oct 07 '24

it depends on the fish for sure. i shouldve said in my first comment have a backup plan if you go that route! but if it eases your mind ive never had a problem with any snails + bettas :)

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 07 '24

No problem, probably not the fish for me since I have zero space for another tank lol I gave up my counter for this snail already 😆

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u/RobertCalifornia Oct 07 '24

It's not aggression, usually, so much as that the various snail appendages look like delicious, wiggly food to them. I've seen a lot of posts in /r/aquaticsnails and /r/bettafish asking how to get their betta to leave their snail alone. The answer is always to separate them.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 07 '24

Ok good to know, I won’t even entertain the idea anymore then lol thank you!

2

u/Alltheprettydresses Oct 07 '24

I have a mystery snail in each of my betta tanks. They don't bother each other.

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u/eatmc7 Nov 09 '24

Are your bettas female or male?

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u/Specific-Corner6241 Oct 08 '24

I have mystery snails and nerites in my 5 betta boys tanks. No issues. But, if the snails are there first it makes it easier to add the betta than the other way around.

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u/SummerJSmith Oct 06 '24

Ohh my bettas each (separate tanks) love their mystery snail roommates! They kind of go say hi and watch the snail and then mind their own business.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

Oh my gosh, that’s so cute! I can’t wait to get a friend for her 😆

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u/SummerJSmith Oct 06 '24

Haha it really is adorable. Makes my day to watch them interact so sweetly

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u/natronezra Oct 06 '24

I love betta fish, but they can be heart breakers in more ways than one. They’re prone to over eating and swim bladder disease, which both usually result in death with an inexperienced owner. My betta lived very peacefully with 5 clear shrimp for a long time. I slowly added cherry shrimp to the mix and I had a beautiful colony of shrimp and a lovely blue betta. Now after Shrimp Fest ‘24, I have one cherry shrimp, and one clear shrimp. The betta got a taste for shrimp and didn’t stop.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

Oh wow, good to know. lol to shrimp fest, funny but not funny 🥲🩷

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u/dau03 Oct 07 '24

There are many types of bettas. Choose wisely because they all have different traits. Some live longer than others in the proper environment. Half moon are the most common, but there are a lot of different species of betta. Enjoy the journey.

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u/No-Engineering-1449 Oct 06 '24

5 gal is a bit small for a betta, but from what I know you'd want a lot of plant's and stuff so the betta could hide etc.
Personally I would recommend shrimp, although you'd want to wait a bit for your tank to get established with bacteria, if I were you, I'd get some aquatic plants and just start there for now.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 06 '24

I do have 2 different plants in there as well, and one I split up into two parts so there’s 3 plant areas at this point. I read they like drift wood as well and was thinking to add a small one.

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u/shrimpburneraccount Oct 08 '24

i would only keep a betta in a 5 gallon if heavily planted. mystery snails have a big bio load from what i’ve heard, so that paired with a betta in a 5 gallon would create a lot of waste. i always opt for bettas to be in 10 gallons as well, though 5 gal works just fine.

my betta also HATES snails and will try to kill them. some bettas are not compatible with any tank mates at all, regardless of whether they are male or female. you would need a ton of hiding spaces upon introducing them and it’s not 100% guaranteed the betta won’t attack the snail regardless. it’s like 50/50 for bettas imo, 50% are okay with tank mates, 50% aren’t. completely depends on the personality of the betta.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 09 '24

Yeah I’ve decided against the betta after all the comments. For now I’m just going to focus on the snail lol maybe add some other snail breads that don’t reproduce on their own lol

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u/Few-Part-5643 Oct 09 '24

I have had only snails before, and they are fun. I just found a baby snail in my tank last night. I think it's from one of the plants I just got. It's so tiny, like the to of a pen. I noticed it when I was feeding my betta, and it was sitting on a leaf of my frogbit. I can't wait to watch him/ her grow.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 09 '24

Awwww that’s so cute!! Ngl i was kinda hoping for a snail baby on one of the plants I got, that way it wouldn’t be my fault that there are lots of snails in here LOL

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u/Few-Part-5643 Oct 09 '24

Now I wait and see what kind. And how long it take it to grow.

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 09 '24

Very exciting:))

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u/Few-Part-5643 Oct 09 '24

BTW you need a good thing taking the snail in. I don't get people. SMH

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u/NiwaLeaf Oct 09 '24

Thank you! I have no clue, it just is the obvious thing, spend over $100 on homeless snail lmao

1

u/DianeMarieArt Oct 07 '24

But beware, because it matters it seems where you buy Bettas. They can be very frail, actually... People have said it's because of irresponsible breeding to get colors over hardiness, so they recommend checking out breeders (that have good reviews, I take it?) and avoiding big box pet stores.

But yes, Bettas are really cool pets because they are intelligent and personable -- even recognizing their owners. I had one I rescued, his name was Tom Sawyer, but unfortunately, he wasn't very hardy and didn't live too long, despite getting him a 10 gallon aquarium and doing everything I could read up on to make him comfortable and cure him of dropsy.