# plants that won't tear / snag fins



## skincareaddicted (Mar 19, 2007)

When I order plants online, it's hard to tell if they are betta friendly. I only keep bettas so I try getting plants that are friendly to them. I purchased a gorgeous halfmoon betta with fringes on his tail and noticed it being caught in the christmas moss a few times--he was dragging a sprig around his container. I immediately took it out. Seems for now only anacharis and java moss as well as frogbit are safe for him from my plant collection. 

I have some foxtail but i can already tell it is way to rough and will tear something. 

Any suggestions for other "safe" plants for bettas with long tails? 

Thanks! Kristen


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## joycould (Mar 13, 2007)

I have bettas and never had a problem with live plants damaging the fins, even of the poofie veil tails. I have banana plants, pennywort, and hornwort in several of my bowls. Marimo balls in a couple of them. One betta loves to snuggle with his, when I take them out to clean them they float afterwards and he is always trying to get on top of them, the other fish doesn't care at all. Java ferns and sag is also a couple of my easy to care for favorites. What size tank or bowl do you have? I have mine in 5 gallon down to 1 gallon bowls some with lights and some without. The ones without are the bowls and vaes that I change around from location to location. The one on my kitchen table gets about 20 minutes of direct sunlight in the morning and that bowl gets switched at least 2 times a week. I keep 3 mystery snails that travel from bowl to bowl to clean up the plants and algae, in 2 of my tanks I have MTS that I really like for clean up they are never seen but the results are!


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## skincareaddicted (Mar 19, 2007)

Hi joycould, 

I never had a problem with christmas moss and veiltails but it seems this new halfmoon betta I have has spikey tips, makes me think he is some hybrid so his fins are extra snaggy. 

I keep him in a giant brandy glass (same as Jimbo's nano at the office) i think it's over a gallon. 

I have a fear of mystery snails, since one of my bettas died shortly after I placed a gold mystery snail in with him. The snail is still in the betta container by himself and i hesitate to place him with any of my bettas. It's probably silly since the betta could have died from multiple other reasons but i can't get over it for now...I notice you move your snails from bowl to bowl, do you worry about contamination? I have been getting a bout of different diseases lately so i am absolutely careful about not moving plants or rocks from each tank/vase.

marimo balls seem like a really good idea, i was thinking of purchasing some. Funny that you say you switch your containers around, because i do the same thing. I think moving them around all the time stresses them out so i am looking for a way to minimize the stress--I am thinking of getting them caves and of course adding more plants to help them avoid the sunlight. 

What is MTS? 

Kristen~


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Try anubias barteri or anubias nana. These grow well in low light. A leaf can last several years.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

MTS in this context is Malaysian Trumpet Snail. They are a small live-bearing snail with a conical shell that burrow into the substrate during the day so you don't normally see them. They come out at night and eat algae, decaying plant matter and leftover food. (In other cases, someone might refering to Multiple Tank Syndrome - a very common affliction here.)

For small containers, anubias nana petite is also a good plant. I have an area about 6 by 8 inches covered in them and my bettas like to hunt around among the leaves. Have you considered any grass-type plants? They'd give the betta something to swim through but shouldn't catch hold of his fins. There are all different types, so one should match your conditions.


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## joycould (Mar 13, 2007)

I don't worry about moving the snails I have only a couple of fish that have developed a taste for them and will actually attack them so they don't get any visits anymore. MTS are Malaysian trumpet snails they are live bearers. 

Do you have any idea what diseases are? What are the readings on your water I find ph and ammonia are the 2 worst things to control in a small bowl or nano.

I am wondering if you don't actually have a crowntail. I have a halfmoon that was sold as a veiltail and also a super delta that was sold as a veiltail I look at it as a good buys. My crowntails were actually sold as crowntails.

The biggest problem I have is with the water my ph is low and so I have to make sure I keep my bowls clean and the water changed. I change our 1/2 of the water on all bowls and tanks everyday. I use buffers in my big tank to keep that stable.

I have a couple of little fin nippers I thought putting one in a 5 gallon would help but it really hasn't so I keep an eye out for fin rot just in case. All he does now is patrol his kingdom. The other one has stop probably temporarily and it is growing back nicely. 

Furballi I have been searching for some anubias locally I still haven't had any luck. I might have to order some from online when I decide which one I want.


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## skincareaddicted (Mar 19, 2007)

Hi thanks for the replies. I actually have some pearlgrass now but haven't yet planted it in substrate. I am floating some in the containers and have potting soil but am waiting on some more research before i will start seriously trying to plant it. Anubias sounds like a good choice too.

I am pretty sure mine is some sort of halfmoon or delta, i haven't measured his spread yet so i can't tell for sure, but here is a profile picture of him

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/...ID=3175024659/a=24025958_24025958/t_=24025958

my crowntail on the otherhand, is fine with the foxtail and christmas, no snagging that i can see.

ETA: can't seem to remember how to directly paste photos onto here so sorry!

ETA: joy--changing the water everyday would stress the fish i think. I know it's recommended to do so once a week but i feel that even that may be too much. I don't measure pH or anything, i know i should but i am little confused about all this. Seems like the bettas that are the healthiest among people i know are those where the owners don't mess with them too much. i figure adding a flora of plants will help clean the water. i haven't decided the best method for my bettas yet...

i also found some MTS in the pearlgrass sent by a member here, it is so tiny. i don't know if i will remember he is in there next time i clean the container.


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