Algae on gravel

[shw104]

I would get some snails. MTS are great in planted tanks and do a wonderful job at keeping the gravel algae free. They also benefit plants by keeping the substate aerated.

that is a great idea... yes.. don't have any snails.. this is the only tank i've had where I haven't picked up snails by accident with my plants. My only concern with snails is don't some of them eat the plants and how do you keep their population in control? The last time I had snails (very small type) I ended up with tons of them.

Thanks!!

 

[plah831]

The only snails that will really do a number on plants are the larger apple snails, like canas and Florida. MTS's don't lay eggs, but produce crawl-away young snails (livebearers). Like any other hermaphroditic snails, if you don't overfeed and keep up with water changes/tank cleaning, they won't get out of control. Situations where their populations explode indicate overfeeding and poor tank maintenance, to me.

I think I remember something about MTS's breeding in brackish water, but I'm probably wrong about that.