i was just told that ramshorn snails and mts eat algae and bba?
why has noone else ever said this before and why doesnt it work for me?
why has noone else ever said this before and why doesnt it work for me?
ramshorns and mts eat bba algae?
- Thread starter customdrum
- Start date
ive heard 2x tonight that they do if there hungry enough, although i have never heard of this before now and its the best lie ive heard all year.
HAHAHAHA that is funny ! NO< ramshorns may eat algea here or thier, but I dont care how hungary they are, they will NEVER eat all algea, and ESP not BBA< LOL thier are only a few nerites that actually WILL eat BBA. LOL ~~ MTS are great for the bottom of the tank debree, and to stir your sand. they do NOT eat algea, and NO algea eater' will FIX your algea problem, you have to find the sorce 1st , THEN get algea eaters to help keep it at bay . The amano shrimp , sae's, plecos, nerites ARE great algea eaters, BUT they will NOT get rid' of your algea, and I have NEVER heard OR seen this before, I HAVE MTS & ramshorns , I have never seen them eat' algea. I have watched a nerite eat brown, & green spot ........LOL ``
Sounguru
Guru at being an expert
Sorry to say but yes they will, but there needs to be nothing else in the tank as food.
A little background for you I inherited a 55 gallon that was covered in BBA from the previous owner due to the need to reset right now it was just drained moved and refilled. The goldfish were added in and then removed 2 days later when they were rehomed. I seeded the tank with a shipment of 200 rams and MTS I recieved and left them to fend for themselves since their lot in life was feeders anyway.
Now this tank had no live plants or any other source of food, but the BBA and the other alages that were present. Within a few weeks I started to notice trails thru the BBA and in 3+ months not a speck was to be found. You could follow these trails and find the ramshorn that was making it and they were present on every surface that BBA was attached.
So in conclusion when there is no other and I mean no other source of food and this includes dead plant matter, poo from fish, or any fallen foods, they can and will eat it. This is not something you will see in a normal tank setup because there exist other sources of food.
Now on a side note the 62 gallon I had was the same way and as people know BBA can be a real pain to get rid of but the nerites cleaned it to the bone within a few days. As a matter of point the plastic rock that is in there was black in color but when they were done it was tan again. Now that the nertites have been removed (5 months ago) and the rock is once again turning black but is not growing the tufts like it had before and is always covered with rams and MTS. So I have to draw the conclusion that they are keeping it mowed down.
You can not count on Rams or MTS to keep alages under control but given the right conditions they can and will eat it. This is also not the first time in my 30+ years that I have had this happen when conditions are just right for them to do this.
One of the few times I did not document it with photos but them are the breaks in life.
A little background for you I inherited a 55 gallon that was covered in BBA from the previous owner due to the need to reset right now it was just drained moved and refilled. The goldfish were added in and then removed 2 days later when they were rehomed. I seeded the tank with a shipment of 200 rams and MTS I recieved and left them to fend for themselves since their lot in life was feeders anyway.
Now this tank had no live plants or any other source of food, but the BBA and the other alages that were present. Within a few weeks I started to notice trails thru the BBA and in 3+ months not a speck was to be found. You could follow these trails and find the ramshorn that was making it and they were present on every surface that BBA was attached.
So in conclusion when there is no other and I mean no other source of food and this includes dead plant matter, poo from fish, or any fallen foods, they can and will eat it. This is not something you will see in a normal tank setup because there exist other sources of food.
Now on a side note the 62 gallon I had was the same way and as people know BBA can be a real pain to get rid of but the nerites cleaned it to the bone within a few days. As a matter of point the plastic rock that is in there was black in color but when they were done it was tan again. Now that the nertites have been removed (5 months ago) and the rock is once again turning black but is not growing the tufts like it had before and is always covered with rams and MTS. So I have to draw the conclusion that they are keeping it mowed down.
You can not count on Rams or MTS to keep alages under control but given the right conditions they can and will eat it. This is also not the first time in my 30+ years that I have had this happen when conditions are just right for them to do this.
One of the few times I did not document it with photos but them are the breaks in life.
Sounguru
Guru at being an expert
Nerite on rock covered in BBA
Nerite on same rock 3 days later...
Need I say more. I was actually pissed they ate it I wanted to use it as a photo backdrop.
I agree finding and controling the source is always the best route, but sometimes critters can do amazing things.
Nerite on same rock 3 days later...
Need I say more. I was actually pissed they ate it I wanted to use it as a photo backdrop.
I agree finding and controling the source is always the best route, but sometimes critters can do amazing things.
I did say , nerites have been seen' eating BBA, YEAH , its true !!! BUT I DO NOT belive that ramshorns & mts will really do anything in a fish tank , WHO has a tank with no fish ? you have to feed your fish .... SO this is really not a good sorce of info , when I buy a tank , I ALWAYS clean it well ... thier would be NO algea when I was setting up my tank . I am glad you seen ramshorns starve, but that isnt going to help people that are thinking that they can buy' ramshorns & mts in thier fish tank to eat' algea, thier going to eat the leftover food, NOT any algea. A nerite snail loves algea, and from my reviews, and exp. I have seen them eat algea over the flake . !
Sounguru
Guru at being an expert
I thought I made it quite clear that the conditions have to be right for this to happen.
As a matter of fact my statements were...
This is not something you will see in a normal tank setup because there exist other sources of food.....
and
You can not count on Rams or MTS to keep alages under control but given the right conditions they can and will eat it.
And if you call going from 200 snails to over 1000 starving then so be it.:headshake2:
As a matter of fact my statements were...
This is not something you will see in a normal tank setup because there exist other sources of food.....
and
You can not count on Rams or MTS to keep alages under control but given the right conditions they can and will eat it.
And if you call going from 200 snails to over 1000 starving then so be it.:headshake2:
i know nerites eat bba when there starved or hungry enough in a tank with no food or anything else to eat but were not talking about nerites not eating bba.
im sure all fish and inverts would eat bba to if there in a tank with nothing to eat but algae lol. im sure its possible that the mts ate the bba but not in a normal tank as you say with food,plants etc.
so to say they eat algae is correct but in reality not true since no one has a all snail no food tank lol
im sure all fish and inverts would eat bba to if there in a tank with nothing to eat but algae lol. im sure its possible that the mts ate the bba but not in a normal tank as you say with food,plants etc.
so to say they eat algae is correct but in reality not true since no one has a all snail no food tank lol
LMAO ~~~
they are horney little snails..... but it just does NOT make good common sense, WHO makes a algea tank, and then stocks it with snails ?????
WHO has a fish tank, just for snails , and doesnt feed' thier snails. ?? if you made this out to find out the answer, YOU would be the ONLY person that would say they did this .........
i out of this convo IT just does not hold ANY commonsense !
they are horney little snails..... but it just does NOT make good common sense, WHO makes a algea tank, and then stocks it with snails ?????
WHO has a fish tank, just for snails , and doesnt feed' thier snails. ?? if you made this out to find out the answer, YOU would be the ONLY person that would say they did this .........
i out of this convo IT just does not hold ANY commonsense !