Snails with Discus

[chicagophish]

I'm somewhat new to the whole discus fish setup. As of right now, I have 2 discus and 2 angel fish. However, I'm getting some algea build up almost weekly. I was wondering if anyone has used these snails before sold at this website, http://www.azgardens.com/aquarium_snails.php

They seem like a safe option as opposed to the algea eating fish.

As of right now I'm cleaning my tank almost every 5 days or so...which seems a little too much. I would like to keep as much cycled water in the tank as possible.

[scans]

Every 5 days.... Some of the folks here do it every day...

[Jeckel]

I've never heard of keeping salt-water snails in freshwater tanks before. Obviously, it's probably a little hard on the snails. If they are brackish water snails, I suppose they might be used to warm water. In any event, if their natural environment is salt water, I think they would want a high pH. So if your water is acidic it might be a problem (actually, this is probably true for any animal with a shell).

About 2 months ago I bought 5 common apple snails for my discus tanks. Four died quickly, but one is still alive, so I don't know what lesson that teaches us. I also have some trumpet snails that seem to be doing okay with my discus (temp 86, pH around 6.8).

[brewmaster15]

I don't like snails in a discus tank.. They can act as intermediates for parasites that can harm the fish.

imo,
al

[Jeckel]

Al,

Do you have any more specific info on these parasites? I thought most snail-borne parasites need other hosts as well (i.e. birds) so they don't usually cause problems in aquaria.

Jerry

[chicagophish]

Well if I can't use snails to control the algea in my tank, what should I use? I've read that some of the algea eating fish can get aggressive, so I thought snails would be a good idea...I guess not.
Any ideas?

[pcsb23]

Many people keep the nerite snails in discus tanks. Some would argue they are the best of a bad bunch. Personally I don't like snails. Algae is caused by an imbalance in nutrients, light and trace elements. The most common, but not always the reason, is too much phosphates and not enough potassium. My advice is treat the cause not the symptoms. Regiular w/c and tank maintenance will go a long way to sorting this. 3 times a week would be the minimum in my view.

Paul.

[Kindredspirit]

I don't like snails in a discus tank.. They can act as intermediates for parasites that can harm the fish.

imo,
al


Well, *******! I am going from Sting Rays, to my Hammer Blue Lobster and now I can not have my Apple Snail~


No....no new tanks...nope~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_30.gif


Marie~

[lauren0626]

We have 20+ Red Cherry Shrimps and 5 Apple Snails in the planted tank with 3 discus. It works out pretty well. No algae problem any more. and the little shrimps are fun to watch too.