diatoms and a snail

[msquared]

I have a 2.5-month-old tank that we bought new. It recently finished cycling, and now appears to be developing some diatom coverage on a big rock and some plastic plant leaves. I've searched enough here to realize it's probably the silicates leaching out of the glass, and that it will eventually stop. I can also clean it (though not so easily the plants without tearing up the decor) by hand. So I'm not worried or panicking. But it so happens that my kids would think that a snail is really cool.

Question is this: Is there a type of freshwater snail I could add one of that might help out a little with cleaning out the diatoms I have for now; would maybe housekeep the tank a little even after the diatoms are gone; and would not make 1000 more snails in the tank? I don't want a tank full of snail babies, I don't want a snail to starve after the diatoms go away, and I'd prefer a snail to not become a delicacy for my fish.

Oh, and yeah I know I will still have to vac and change water and all - I know a snail won't relieve me of my responsibilities to maintain the tank. This is a 20g tank with 4 peppered cory, 4 guppies, and 3 cardinal tetras (hopefull soon to be 6-7).

So what do you all think? Is there a single snail in my tank's future?

[Spewn]

Really, the only snail that won't reproduce without a partner is an apple snail.

If you *want* a snail, and are prepared to care for it in the same way you'd care for the rest of your tank inhabitants, I'd say go for it. They're fun and interesting and as I said, apple snails need a breeding pair to reproduce so you definitely won't have tons of them one day. In addition if they *do* reproduce you can find/"extricate" their egg clutches quickly and easily enough.

A snail will do a poor job of keeping your tank free of any kind of algae or dead plant matter. Not only will it not keep your tank free of algae, but it won't live very well unless you feed it properly.

Edit: See the freshwater inverts section for more info. There's a sticky at the top with some snail recipes you can use for easy-to-make(ie; with your kids) snail treats. You can fortify these with calcium to aid the snail with proper shell growth.

[jlines]

I'm in pretty much the exact same situation. I have diatoms and already purchased an apple snail, although it was called a mystery snail at my lfs.

He's pretty cool to watch, but has only a slight impact on the diatoms. I still have to clean the glass once a week or so.

Also, i found him on the floor the other day. After putting him back in the tank he was fine, but you will want to be sure the snail doesn't have a way out of the tank.

[msquared]

I will check out the inverts section. I should have already looked over there, and I guess I should have posted over there. Oops. I will look into this more. I don't mind taking care of the snail as well, and I don't really need one to clean (but would be happy for whatever impact it could make). One more question occurred to me though: do they add much in terms of bio load? My impression is that they don't, but I'd rather find out now than later. Thanks.

[msjinkzd]

Apple snails are not efficient algae cleaners at all. They much prefer to be fed vegetables or prepared foods. They will graze on algae, but in no way can be considered a cleaner. Olive nerites on the other hand are exceptional algae eaters, and do not reproduce in freshwater (lay eggs, but the eggs will not hatch). This being said, I don't know how easy it is to supplement their diet and with it being diatoms that should resolve, they may not be the best choice for you. You could also look into something like otos who are very good at eating algae, but would need supplementation as well (veggies or algae wafers).

As far as bioload, a fullgrown apple snail is a poop machine, you should consider them needing about 2.5 gallons. This being said, they are really fun to watch and can be an excellent addition to a tank. What are the tank mates?

[thebullit]

shame on you jinkz shes already said lol This is a 20g tank with 4 peppered cory, 4 guppies, and 3 cardinal tetras (hopefull soon to be 6-7).
nothing realy to add but they are so much fun to watch.

[msquared]

Hmm, food for thought (no pun intended). The tank is 20g, and tank mates are 4 peppered cory, 4 guppies, and eventually 6-7 cardinal tetra (down to 3 now, planning to build up the ranks). So I don't know that I have a ton of bioload headroom left at this point. I considered otos and other fish, but I also don't want to overstock the bottom strata with fish. I don't really mind getting one oto and feeding it algae wafers and veggies if that would satisfy it, but I don't know anything about them. I will read up.

[thebullit]

reading up on fish or anything is always the best way to go befor purchasing. i know some dont ive been there but reseach now not through loss but through having room for say an arowanda lol. example btw lol

[Spewn]

Hmm, food for thought (no pun intended). The tank is 20g, and tank mates are 4 peppered cory, 4 guppies, and eventually 6-7 cardinal tetra (down to 3 now, planning to build up the ranks). So I don't know that I have a ton of bioload headroom left at this point. I considered otos and other fish, but I also don't want to overstock the bottom strata with fish. I don't really mind getting one oto and feeding it algae wafers and veggies if that would satisfy it, but I don't know anything about them. I will read up.

Otos are best kept in groups, I have 4 but they mostly hide :/ I'm not sure if that's just how otos are or what...but mine are almost noctournal :P

One mystery snail should be fine, I personally like the gold mystery snails(bridgesii species). The coloration on their flesh is very nice :)

[jones57742]

msq:

Obviously my grandeurs of glory went away the other night.

"H...l" I cannot even floss the crow out of my teeth with barbed wire!

With respect to your thread please forget the "silicon business".

99.9% of algae (in the global term) comes from (ie. getting back to the basics as in physics):
overfeeding;
lighting of too long a duration;
lighting of too great an intensity;
improper fertilization (yes live plants will definitely help control algae production); or
lack of bacteriological filtration media.

Which one of these is causing the problem?

TR

[Carp37]

I'd go for an apple snail too- mine are apparently canaliculata rather than bridgesii, do create quite a heavy bioload, but also seem to clean brown algae pretty well. They do like other general fish foods (flake/catfish pellets), but only seem to go for veggies when they've cleaned algae right out (but when they go for them, they really go for them).

[msquared]

msq:

Obviously my grandeurs of glory went away the other night.

"H...l" I cannot even floss the crow out of my teeth with barbed wire!
I wasn't going to say a thing! (I'm an Ag, what sport can I boast about these days?)


With respect to your thread please forget the "silicon business".

99.9% of algae (in the global term) comes from (ie. getting back to the basics as in physics):
overfeeding;
lighting of too long a duration;
lighting of too great an intensity;
improper fertilization (yes live plants will definitely help control algae production); or
lack of bacteriological filtration media.

Which one of these is causing the problem?
I went to that explanation because it seems to fit the classic pattern of diatom formation. It can't be too much light, since we usually only run the light from 5ish - 10ish each evening, and I've not run it at all since my little Ich outbreak a couple weekends ago. I have no live plants, ergo no fertilizer. Biofilter recently established fully, with 0 ammonia or nitrites, and this brown algae just cropped up after the cycle completed. It is not impossible that I'm overfeeding, although I only feed what the upper fish can eat in 2-3 minutes, and what goes to the bottom gets snagged by the corys overnight. In fact, I was feeding every other day during the cycling process. And when I vac the gravel, I'm not seeing leftover food - just poop.

The good news is that it came up and then seems to have stopped getting worse. It's not overruning the tank, and if you didn't know the color of the big rock I have in there, you might not even notice it. I will clean it this weekend and see how quickly it returns. I'm not really stressing about it because it seems like a very small issue at this point. Oh, and yes I've ruled out otos due to their need to be in groups. I wondered if one might schoal with the corys, but that seems like a long shot and a big experiment I'd like to avoid.

[Carp37]

I also don't have live plants, and most of my tanks are unlit (except for natural light). My 2 tanks that don't have plecs or apple snails are developing a brown algae problem too- presumably because they're now getting some direct sunlight (it's spring here). Nitrates don't have to be high to support some algal growth- in our office at work, we put tapwater in bottles for boiling in the kettle, and over time these also get algae in them despite never having anything other than tapwater in them.

All the tanks with plecs or apple snails have very little algae in them, which suggests that the problem is not rampant- it's just that there's nothing in the other tanks to eat the algae.

[Bobnova]

Let the diatoms grow for a month, then scrub 'em all off.
Odds are decent that they won't come back.

Pond and common ramshorn snails love diatoms, but they also love reproducing.
IF you don't overfeed, they won't overpopulate.
IF you overfeed, you'll have thousands of 'em.
Their actually a fairly good indicator of how you're doing at feeding properly.

[Arakkis]

Nerites snails should do the trick, get a Neritina reclivita aka vita usnea. They're cheaper and will even eat that tangynikian red coraline algae.

[msquared]

Well, yesterday I discovered that I have somehow "acquired" two eensy weensy snails that I had no intention of adding to the tank! The only way I can figure they got there was by stowing away as eggs on a ball of java moss I bought at Petco a couple weeks ago. Not long before that, the whole tank was treated with salt for ich, so I can't see any snails making it through that. These things are really tiny - between 1/16" and 1/8" at the very most - and have black shells. Any ideas?

[thebullit]

could be ramshorn snails, but with no pic's cant really say...salt doesnt tend harm snails.

[msquared]

They're so small I don't even know if I can get a pic. I'll see, though.