My tank is a 55 gallon tank with most of it in real life plants. All the plants including a piece of drift wood are covered in algae fuzz. I really need some good algae eating snails but I heard they eat plants as well. Is there any algae eating snails that eat a bunch of algae but not the plants? I want snails that like to eat the algae from the plants cuz that's where most of the algae is, any help would be appreciated.
Algae eating snails
- Thread starter jay733
- Start date
My experience has been with standard "mystery snails," found at PetSmart, most LFS, etc. They are absolutely champion at cleaning algae (tonight I was shifting due to new additions, and put my two into the algae-ridden 10g). Right at it!!
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR: and I use caps because apple snails, sometimes put in with mystery snails, not only get huuuge ( mine has literally tripled in one month) but they will mow through your plants!!! I can't tell the difference just looking in the tank, and I guess if you don't study closely the differences, if any, when they're small, it's guessing. Both were purchased at same time and were the same size. The yellow apple snail has eaten most of my small collection of plants--oh well. So:
Mystery snails are grrrrreat!! Just make sure that's what you're getting. Cheap, too--and they actually have personallity!! Good luck.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR: and I use caps because apple snails, sometimes put in with mystery snails, not only get huuuge ( mine has literally tripled in one month) but they will mow through your plants!!! I can't tell the difference just looking in the tank, and I guess if you don't study closely the differences, if any, when they're small, it's guessing. Both were purchased at same time and were the same size. The yellow apple snail has eaten most of my small collection of plants--oh well. So:
Mystery snails are grrrrreat!! Just make sure that's what you're getting. Cheap, too--and they actually have personallity!! Good luck.
As hated as they may be, the "pest" pond snails (and equally fast reproducing cone snails, i don't know the proper name) eat algae and dead plants, but not live ones.
You will of course, end up with a pretty good number of them, but once the algae is gone the snails will die back to a smaller number (not enough food to support a ton of 'em)
You will of course, end up with a pretty good number of them, but once the algae is gone the snails will die back to a smaller number (not enough food to support a ton of 'em)
I used to have tons of snails in my tank ... Then I introduced a bunch of hungry guppies (1 male 2 females) and the numbers dropped dramaticly ...
At first I figured the guppies were just excellent algae eaters and thats why but one day I caught a female eating a bunch of baby snails >.>
Now I see one or two of them but never enough to complain about.
These are pond snails btw ... I didn't really want them and I was trying to be careful but *mutter* they found a way in anyways... >.> Now I really don't care about them because they don't really cause a problem.
At first I figured the guppies were just excellent algae eaters and thats why but one day I caught a female eating a bunch of baby snails >.>
Now I see one or two of them but never enough to complain about.
These are pond snails btw ... I didn't really want them and I was trying to be careful but *mutter* they found a way in anyways... >.> Now I really don't care about them because they don't really cause a problem.
i have no algae in my tank and i just ripped out 160 pond snails last night and at least 20 more today. their populations do not die. hot water would not kill them. only bleach!
get a mystery snail.
get a mystery snail.
Ahh well, no snail is perfect 
Thats odd though, i've been watching a huge (1/4"+) pond snail in the 10g on my desk eat diatoms off my anacharis plants for a few weeks now, never taken a bite out of the plant, except for leaves that were already dying (damaged in transport, or shaded).
I would guess that there are probably more then one actual kinda of snail lumped into the "pond snail" name though.
Thats odd though, i've been watching a huge (1/4"+) pond snail in the 10g on my desk eat diatoms off my anacharis plants for a few weeks now, never taken a bite out of the plant, except for leaves that were already dying (damaged in transport, or shaded).
I would guess that there are probably more then one actual kinda of snail lumped into the "pond snail" name though.
my pond snails dont bother with the plants too....
they eat the algae on the plants and some of the leaves from nearby non-aquatic plants that find their way into the pond
they eat the algae on the plants and some of the leaves from nearby non-aquatic plants that find their way into the pond