Using Marimo Moss Ball And Snail To Keep Tank Clean

HI there,

I've had my betta for a few months now and I'm still pretty new to everything. I have a 2.7G tank and when I first set it up, it was in pristine condition. I never had any issues and only had to add in more water every week or so when the levels would get low from evaporation.
After a couple months he had an accident (bit his dorsal fin off ) so I put in betta revive to help him heal. He's totally recovered now, but ever since then his tank has been getting really dirty really fast. I've done almost complete water changes a couple times, and regular cleaning of the sides/gravel but every time, after a week it starts looking a bit dirty and after 2 weeks it's really dirty. I went to petsmart yesterday and followed their suggestions on getting a cleaner snail and a moss ball to help with the algae production.
I just got one of each so I know it'll be a while before I start seeing any results, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with those? The girl at petsmart mentioned the moss ball would be like having a filter - so I'm also wondering if I should remove my actual filter altogether?

 

all fish need filters. while yes the moss ball is like a filter but isn't actually a filter, it doesn't remove waste, leftover food, agitate the water, etc.
the snail will eat algae depending on the type of snail and leftover food but not fish waste. how often do you clean the tank?
also I wouldnt 100% water changes unless its needed because it will normally do more harm then good

 

Yeah you shouldn’t add the snail. A 2.7 is really bare minimum for a betta. A snail would make the tank dirtier and put pressure on the bio load. Instead of 100% water changes do weekly 25% water changes. Don’t just top it off. What do you mean by dirty? are the sides covered in algae?
No don’t remove you filter. A moss ball is super slow growing and helps very little with filtration. Live plants don’t help with making it clean but they use the excess nutrients/nitrates as a food source.

 

Moss ball isn't going to do much, it's more of a decorative piece and does only a little bit of filtration but not enough to sustain an entire tank.

Having a snail in such a small tank with a fish will cause a higher spike in ammonia since snails produce a high amount. So you might run into some trouble.

If you want the tank clean and free of brown algae and whatnots...it's time to get a sponge and start cleaning it yourself.

 

Also I get my water tested regularly and the readings are always fine.
I've been cleaning the tank about every 1-2 weeks (I do use a sponge and scrub the sides of the tank, and all the plants/decorations) and once everything is settled to the bottom I use a gravel cleaner and end up doing probably 50+% water change from that
I haven't been very good about doing smaller water changes more often

 

Also I get my water tested regularly and the readings are always fine.
I've been cleaning the tank about every 1-2 weeks (I do use a sponge and scrub the sides of the tank, and all the plants/decorations) and once everything is settled to the bottom I use a gravel cleaner and end up doing probably 50+% water change from that
I haven't been very good about doing smaller water changes more often

Okay so, I have a 2.6 flex that get's algae ridden quite often. I have 4 amano shrimp, 1 cherry shrimp, a nerite snail, and a small crayfish in the tank (to be moved to cichlid tank when slightly larger :X, I wanted something different for a bit.) and 1 Moss ball, Java moss, and 1 java fern.

When you say dirty, are you referring to the algae? or are you referring to gunk build up?
If it's algae: Keep the light off for an extended period (or periodically reduce light time and stick to a schedule of -8on and +16 off). You could also add a 'polyfilter' media to the filter to pull out phosphates, nitrates, and other waste nutrients that algae feed on. When there is algae present, then there are excess micro-nutrients in the tank (the marimo will help with this if you don't already have live plants) and/or you're leaving your light on too long/too much light is hitting the tank.

If it's gunk: Add more BB. Careful not to over-feed. Continue doing weekly water changes until problem resolves. Usually that means there's more organic matter than the BB in your tank can break down. So either add BB. or reduce the amount of organic matter over time.

When you say you 'get your water tested'...if you mean you let petco test your water for you, I mean, that's 100% fine, but you'll have much better readings and a better idea of your parameters if you bought a test kit and tested yourself. You'll be able to notice an ammonia spike better that way as well. the strips are cheaper now, but in the long run, API master test kit will save you $100. depending on the extent of your aquatics hobby, and it's more accurate..

When changing water, try not to change too much of it at one time unless absolutely necessary. As others have said about the filtration, don't remove your filter. Either way, More filtration is always better than less filtration.

Edit: what kind of filtration do you have? have you changed the carbon? Added carbon again after adding medication?

 

Your betta would probably much appreciate being moved to a 5-10 G with a proper filter and heater.

Bettas need to be kept between 75 and 80 F and while I know you think the room around them is probably about that temp, the water is considerably cooler.

There's some fairly inexpensive options out there, the BEST if you can find it is someone unloading a small tank w/ filter and all on craigslist.

Once you have him settled in a bigger home, plants & either shrimp or a snail can fill in the space.