snails to keep sub clean

[angel12]

what kind of snails can i use to eat all the fish poop and debris enabling me to at least get the most muck out of the substrate ....

I wasnt very keen originaly but it seems afer reading many articles that they are a good thing rather than a hinderance and my tank is now coming along nicely I thought id ask your views

are apple snails a good species to have and how do you get rid of them once they start to mulitply .. is it the saucer job :)

dont know abot MTS due to the fact there arent many sellers of this species over here in the UK

anyway your views as always are valued .... (how many would i need to start of with for 40 Gall Tank)

[TnMark]

I like MTS because they don't eat my plants. If you have a planted tank apple snails will eat the plants. I was told to use 1 MTS per gallon but they multiply quickly. I think 1 per 2 gallons would be adequate.

I also like Red Ramshorn that don't eat plants. They are a little larger than the MTS and do a little better job at cleaning. They are however always visible in your tank while the MTS stay in the substrate most of the time. These wont aerate the substrate like the MTS (if that is needed).

[ChloroPhil]

Most LFS have MTS whether they mean to or not. They're the little cone shaped ones all over the glass. Try asking your LFS if you can have some, they'll usually oblige you with a weird smile on their faces..:)

[Wahter]

what kind of snails can i use to eat all the fish poop and debris enabling me to at least get the most muck out of the substrate ....


Bear in mind that snails are scavengers like catfish loaches, etc... while they might pick up uneaten food and go through some of your fish's waste, the snails themselves will produce waste too.

[Francisco_Borrero]

While some people like to have snails in their tanks, and there may be some benefit to it, the negatives have outweighed the positives in my experience.
All of them produce too much waste, and do only a partial job on algae. They reproduce too much and become pests.
If the purpose is to eat uneaten food, much better is to have a couple of cories, who would at least look good, and not breed uncontrolably. Algae on plants ?.....otos do a better job.
Sure, MTS's re-work the sediment with their burying activity, but so does some regular surface cleaning, and a couple of cories or like-behaved fish. MTS's reproduce way too much.
All in all, I wouldn't purposely add anails to my tanks again. They probably will come in with plants anyway despite all efforts against it..
JMO. Cheers, Francisco.

[Jason]

I'm far from an expert on the subject, every planted/biotope tank I've tried failed miserably.

but how about some of those freshwater amano shrimp or something simmilar, I think they are kinda cool looking.

[RAWesolowski]

In my experience the problem with amano shrimp is that they do not tolerate discus temps very well. Snails add bio load and tend to over populate then have a population crash adding to waste and spiking ammonia then nitrites.

Preference in the planted aquaria is water changes with good vacuum regime. Although I prefer a fine substrate, I have found that larger particles are more conducive to vacuuming.

Split the tank into quadrants a vacuum each quadrant once per week. IMHO forget snails.

[angel12]

Well rightly or wrongly I went to my LFS (whos advice and guidance I might add have been superb so far) and bought 4 freshwater puffers (before anyone jumps on this thread) I cant remember what species the Manager called them .. will update later however these are very very tiny even when fully grown they are alive and well in my tank and swimming around they wont harras my Tetras (they where already in a tank with them in the LFS)
sufice to say that this morning it seems all my snails are gone and the little puffers are fat and round looks like they have been extremly busy... in fact they look rather cute with there little eyes and big cheeks....

ive just posted to update you on how ive got on no doubt by the time I get home ill have no fish left in the tank

:-[ (joking I hope)

:)

[Aquaticdreamland]

Snails, ah how I despise them. They long ago infested my planted tank. Tried putting them in a BB to help with clean up, what a waste IMO. Only thing good about them is my discus live for mooshed snail treats. My husband crunches them with his fingers in the tank and the discus come and pick them out of his hand. So if you get some and they over populate, feed the fishes lol.

[Francisco_Borrero]

angel12:

I would be careful about the puffers. All species I am familiar with, stop very quickly being cute and charming. They grow very aggressive and very strong. They eat eveything and anything, even those who stay small.
Also, it sounds as if you skip quarentene and put them right in the tank...not safe.
Good luck. Francisco.