snails? do bettas eat them?

[marcusbacus]

I have a few snails (of the ugly kind) that came with the plants as usual and today I tried to give 2 to the red betta. It's not a plague yet, they seem to be under control but I'm removing at least 5 every day. They are very very tiny (2mm the most) and I'm trying to catch them while they are too small - they like to walk near the water border at night, so it's easier to catch them this way. The betta picked them up, munched and spitted them out a little later but not as fast as when he dislikes some food, and he had been fed already about an hour earlier than this unusual meal. I can't be sure if he just spitted the shell out or the full snail. Is it usual for bettas to eat snails?

[twoluvcats]

yep, bettas do eat small snails. Mine LOVE the tiny ones. They don't eat the shell, they suck out the snail...so he may have actually eaten it. I have a 5 gallon with a snail "problem" and Skye does a pretty good job of keeping it in check...i vacuum up a host of little empty shells every cleaning.

[marcusbacus]

I will be adding some betta females to this tank in the near future, so I think I dont need to buy one of these other snail eaters then... all these I've found are too big or too troublesome for a community tank.