algae problem and guppies

[plah831]

I concur with Robin, that 3 is best. I've also heard recommendations of 1 oto per 10 gallons, so that would work out perfectly for you!

A single mystery snail should be great, too. They have separate sexes, as opposed to most snails which are hermaphroditic (both sexes at the same time). That means that if you don't get at least one male and one female, they will not breed. So you shouldn't get an overpopulation of snails at all. Unless, of course, it happened to be carrying eggs already when you bought it. They lay large eggs, though, in a clutch (out of the water, I believe) so you would be able to see it and remove the eggs if it came to that. Mysteries are also not nearly as prolific as smaller snails like my ramshorns and common pond snails, so you should be able to remove any baby snails slowly, too, before it got out of control

Well, hope that helps and best of luck to ya!

 

[rosswake]

That definitely helps! One last question though, would one mystery snail eat enough algae to prevent an abundance from happening? We still do the regular weekly water change, but it would be nice not to have to scrape the plants every week along with that.

 

[plah831]

In a 30 gal, it might not make a huge difference, at least while it's small (I don't remember if it's mysteries that can get huge, like hand-sized). Snails do a great job on keeping the plants clean, so that's definitely a selling point for them. Otos also do pretty well at that, too, being as small as they are.

tmtpowers is really the mystery snail expert, as she breeds them to sell to the pet trade. You may want to shoot her a PM. At least be like, this is my thread, would appreciate your input on it.