Hello (Absolute beginner here)

[Boniface]

Hello I have just recently started keeping fish for about a month now! I’m from Canada and I have a betta and mystery snails in a 10 gallon. Looking forward to learning a lot more about fishkeeping here! My biggest surprise so far is those mystery snails and how much waste they produce… They never stop eating and one produces as much waste as 5 bettas I swear. Is it normal that they eat all my plants as well, at least the thin-leaved ones?

 

[Back in the fold]

Mystery Snails will eat your plants , yes . As for waste , all snails do that to one degree or another but with snails it’s not such a bad thing as it’s fish waste , uneaten food and decaying plant matter that they’ve recycled . They break all that down into a manageable form .
I watched a show on PBS last night about creatures that keep other creatures in check . In Thailand Mystery Snails are a menace to rice crops and farmers use ducks to eat them up between plantings .
You might want to pick out any excess of snails that you have if they’ve been breeding and keep the population small .
Glad you found us and stick around . This is a great forum and a lot of guys actively participate regularly .
Welcome to The Greatest Hobby in The World !

 

[Innesfan45 7]

Yes, welcome to you, your betta and your snail. You've found the right place.

 

[CaptainBarnicles16 3]

Hello Welcome aboard! We're a good bunch here, stick around and have some fun

 

[GaryE7 5]

Welcome, and feel free to ask and answer as many questions as you like. You've wandered into a place where people like talking about fish, and supporting each other's fishkeeping projects.

 

[MattW46 162]

Welcome to the Forum!

Is the title a play on David Bowie's song, " Absolute Beginners "?

 

[bgarthe47 64]

Hello and welcome to TFF. I gotta say that your having a Betta in a 10g tank is wonderful…..your fish is surely happy and your water parameters are likely more stable. So many people use way too small a tank.

 

[JCinPA]

Welcome! And wow! That Betta is a lucky guy, living in a palatial mansion! What I've seen people keep them in sometimes seems almost cirminal. He'll love his new home.

And I'm a beginner, as well, this place is a wealth of deep knowledge and friendly members, you'll like it here.

I don't know if you're using a hang on back (HOB) filter or a sponge filter, but if it is an HOB filter, Bettas don't like current, they like things sedate. In my 10 gallon I attached a rectangle of 20 PPI foam to the spillway with a stout rubber band, like they band vegetables with at the grocery store. It does not limit the flow, so your tank will have nice turnover, but it diffuses the flow quite a bit. Here's a photo of it on my filter.