snails/algae

[sharpie]

is there a snail that i could add to a 10 gallon planted tank to help remove algae but wont eat the plants? i dont think that the tank is big enough for a catfish. should i maybe try ghost shrimp? i scrub algae off of the plants every week and i reduced the lighting hours and if i feed my fish any less they will not be to healthy....(because people have suggested that it could be from over feeding)-

 

[Hannys_Papa]

Ramshorn or MTS ?
Or do you mean with "a snail" that you specifically only want one ?

I have both types mentioned above- leave the plants alone and do a great job. I haven't had to clean any algae in a long time.

 

[sharpie]

thank you, should i purchase those online because the only type of snail that my lfs sells are apple snails ( i think there called )(will they eat plants)......or will ghost shrimp clear things up...1 more thing-how many snails do you think i could use to help clean up a 10 g.??

 

[jparnell]

Try ghost shrimp too - not too heavy on the load of the tank, and fun to watch. Depends what else you have in the tank.

Otos do a great job cleaning off plants, and certainly don't eat the plants.

Otos won't eat all kinds of algae, neither will shrimp... as for snails... unless you buy specific kinds (I think Apple snails might be one), they will multiply on their own... I stopped counting how many MTS I have in my tank.

first figure out what kind of algae you're dealing with... then find the appropriate algae eater to deal with it.

You might also want to check out your nutrients levels... might be an imbalance there that no amount of algae-eater will resolve (i've been through the algae-eater additions, reduced lighting, black-out, you name it - just to find that proper nutrients solved the problem).

 

[thesydmonster]

I agree that it is best to figure out why you are getting the algae.

If you are determined to get snails for your tank, I would try nerite snails. They are fabulous algae eaters and do not eat plants and are very difficult to breed in freshwater. I have MTS and rams horn snails, too, but the nerites are by far the better algae eaters. I do like the MTS for mixing up the substrate and the red rams horns are just pretty