Are snails any good in a planted tank? I hear pro and con. Do they really do any good in controlling algae and do they harm the plants? Which variety of snail, if any, would be good in a plant tank?
...AV
...AV
plants and snails
- Thread starter AquaVelva
- Start date
I find that as long as you try to somewhat control the snail population then it is fine. I have Rams Horn snails and pond snails and they seem to be interested in algae and plant parts athta rea starting to die off anyway. Plus they are a low addition to the bioload. Other snails like MTS are sought after for planted tanks as they live and burrow in the substrate. Really great if you have a soil like substrate.
Yup, snails are fine. The problem is when you have too many snails or snails that really like to chomp on your plants. I've got tons in my tank and honestly, some of my melon sword leaves would be toast right now if my snails weren't eating of the beard algae. Also, the odds of having a planted tank w/o having snails is pretty slim...even if you douse the plants in potassium permanganate....they're tough little buggers.
(side note: i just got a big (2.5-3") black mystery snail...he's the coolest thing!
His fav. food is frozen bloodworms - I have a "syringe" i use that I got from the vet for my hamster's UTI and I now use it to "feed" my fish bloodworms. Its great interaction time, but anywho....my snail eats out of it! Its the niftiest thing
. He's in a 10g planted atm, but he hasn't even touched a plant...I'll keep my eye on him, but I hope I can keep his belly full enough that he doesn't murder my plants...now if only he would stop uprooting the glosso
)
Ok, sorry to hijack the thread.
(side note: i just got a big (2.5-3") black mystery snail...he's the coolest thing!
His fav. food is frozen bloodworms - I have a "syringe" i use that I got from the vet for my hamster's UTI and I now use it to "feed" my fish bloodworms. Its great interaction time, but anywho....my snail eats out of it! Its the niftiest thing. He's in a 10g planted atm, but he hasn't even touched a plant...I'll keep my eye on him, but I hope I can keep his belly full enough that he doesn't murder my plants...now if only he would stop uprooting the glosso )Ok, sorry to hijack the thread.
LMOUTHBASS
My hypocrisy goes only so far
yeah
snails are good lil algae eaters imo they get picked on a lil' much pond snails that are unwanted come in on your planst may eat plants but if you buy like a blue snail or gold snail from the lfs they will be ok no plant eating here
snails are good lil algae eaters imo they get picked on a lil' much pond snails that are unwanted come in on your planst may eat plants but if you buy like a blue snail or gold snail from the lfs they will be ok no plant eating here
That depends on the gold snail - some apple snails are avid plant eaters.
Very few common pond snails are plant eaters.
Very few common pond snails are plant eaters.