As a responsible fish enthusiast, understanding the behavior and personality of your fish is very important for choosing tank mates. You want to avoid the dangers that could result from cohabiting a very aggressive fish with a docile tankmate.
This responsibility of ensuring the safety of the community tank members is why many aquarists often wonder if Zebra snails and Betta will be happy in the same tank.
This article answers the questions. It discusses some tricks to ensure that they cohabit peacefully and answers other questions about pairing zebra snails with Betta.
Read on to learn everything you need to know.
Can Zebra Snail and Betta Live in the Same Tank?
Yes, they can. Zebra snails are a very hardy species of invertebrates. They can survive and thrive in temperatures of about 70°f-80°f. They can also cope with lower temperatures. The ideal temperature range for Betta fish is 75°f – 80°f. If you maintain a stable temperature range within 75°f-80°f, you can keep your Zebra nerite snails with your Betta fish happy in the same tank.
Apart from the similar temperature requirement, Betta fish are top dwellers, while Zebra nerite snails are nocturnal. They have a sleep and wake cycle of about 45 hours and spend most of their time burrowing, hiding under the substrate, and in caves during the day. This means that the chances of a confrontation are very low. So, yes, they can live in the same tank.
Will They Be Happy in One Tank?
Generally, they will be happy together. Although Bettas can be aggressive sometimes, they are usually aggressive when they see another colorful fish in the tank trying to outdo the brilliance of their colors. Zebra nerite snails do not have colorful, flowy wings that they can flare. So, the chances of any aggressive confrontation are very minimal.
But there are some instances when a Betta fish could mistake Zebra snails for food. If this happens, then your snails would be in danger. However, many times, Bettas have been reported to simply ignore the presence of Zebra snails in the tank. They are hardly bothered by their presence.
However, if your Betta has a very aggressive personality, you can be sure it will attack your Zebra snail. There have been many cases of Betta fish nibbling at the antennae and, sometimes, the eyes of the Zebra snail. Many aquarists also observe that male betta fish are more aggressive than females and will usually bump into your Zebra snail when bored. So, for the most part, it depends on the temperament and personality of the Betta.
Will My Betta Attack My Zebra Snail?
The answer depends on the personality of your Betta fish, the order with which you introduced them to the tank, how big your tank is, how much decoration you have for distraction and barriers, your betta diet, etc.
If your Betta is innately belligerent, it may just not accept your Zebra nerite snail. It will go after your Zebra snail to show its disapproval.
At other times, your Betta may attack your Zebra snail out of curiosity, especially if you do not have enough caves and hiding places for these nocturnal invertebrates to hide. Your Betta fish will hardly get a chance to attack your Zebra snails if you provide adequate hiding spaces because Zebra snails do not go far when they move around.
But if your tank does not have adequate hiding spots and caves, the chances that your Betta will go for your Zebra snails are very high. This is usually the case with bigger snails like Mystery snails, but Zebra nerite snails are also victims of their boredom.
However, you do not have to worry much about your Zebra snails because only their antennae get exposed. And the antennae regrow in a few weeks if your Betta bites them off.
Keeping a small tank could also increase the chances of your Betta going for your Zebra nerite snails. But if you have a larger tank, your Betta will be less likely to care about your Zebra nerite snail as there is so much room to explore and claim territory.
These factors affect how your Betta fish will interact with your Zebra snail. But most Betta fish will accept your Zebra snails, especially if you do a proper introduction.
How Can I Make Them Happy?
Here are a few tips to ensure that Zebra snails and Betta fish remain happy in the same tank. Check out these tips below.
Proper Introduction
Perhaps the first step to successfully making them cohabit and remaining happy tank mates would be properly introducing them.
If you introduce your Zebra snails to your Betta fish, you put your snails in danger. Your Betta fish will confuse them for food, and you can guess how the story will end. It would be best to introduce your Betta to your snails.
You will need a breeding box to do this effectively. You want to fix the breeding box on the aquarium and have your Betta fish in it for a couple of days. Ideally, the snails will crawl all over the box. It will also help if they crawl around the area where your Betta fish swims.
This effect is that your Betta fish will get used to them over time. When you eventually release your Betta into the aquarium, it will be less likely to pay them any attention. It will consider them a part of the ecosystem in the tank. This way, the chances of your Betta attacking or eating your Zebra snail will be very low.
While this may not work for every single Betta fish out there because Betta fish can have varying personalities, this introduction means is a very great tactic to make them your Betta fish cohabit and respect your Zebra snails.
Proper Nutrition
Many aquarists have also found that providing Betta fish with the right nutrition is an excellent tactic to ensure that they do not mistake your Zebra snails for food.
Betta fish are carnivores. In the wild, their diet consists mostly of insects and insect larvae. They also eat plant matter but keeping them exclusively on plant matter for long will not sustain their lives as the plant matter will not provide them with the nutrients they need to survive.
To ensure that your Betta fish is not hungry to the point where it begins to try your Zebra snails out of curiosity, you want to feed it high protein foods like pellets and flakes with high crude protein content. You also want to try out various live foods like brine shrimp, insects and insect larvae, and blood worms. You can also feed them freeze-dried foods. This will keep them happy and ensure they do not “taste” your snails.
It would be one-sided if you only kept your Betta happy. To be fair, you must also keep your Zebra snail happy, and one of the best ways to do this is to use an established aquarium. Zebra snails eat algae. They do a great job cleaning the tank. They work very hard to eat hair algae and to clean it off your glass tank, plants, rocks, and substrate. They work hard to restore the color of the substrates and other decoration pieces in the tank. If you do not have algae in your tank, your snails will not be happy. So, you must use an established tank.
Proper Water Parameters
Notice that although Zebra snails can tolerate lower temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the appropriate water temperature for Betta fish is 75°f- 80°f. Temperature levels below 75°f are too cold for Betta fish. So, to keep both of them happy, you need to maintain a stable temperature in the range of 75°f-80°f even though your Zebra snails can cope with lower temperatures.
You also want to keep the pH level above neutral. Zebra snails have shells that are made up of calcium carbonate. A pH below 7 will be too acidic for the Zebra snails and erode their shells over time. This will not be a problem for your Betta as Bettas can cope with a pH level of up to 8.
Regular water changes are also necessary to keep them happy because snails are prolific polluters even though they clean algae in the tank. Without regular water changes, they will mess up the water parameter in the tank. You can do a larger water change or increase the frequency to keep up within the right water parameters.
Bottom Line
Zebra snail and Betta can cohabit, but you need to consider many things to make their coexistence peaceful. You must provide caves and hides, use a spacious tank, and introduce the Betta fish to the aquarium last. This way, it will ignore your Zebra snails and probably treat the snails as part of the tank’s ecosystem.
The hides and caves will also limit the chances of a confrontation, making your Betta less likely to attack your Zebra snails.
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