Best clean up crew for 10g fish tank

[Byron]

I must say after receiving this feedback I don’t think I want to purchase these anymore. You seem to have also ended up with more than you aimed to initially have. Thanks for your help.

Remember that the snails only reproduce according to the organics in your aquarium. It is not the snails themselves, but the fact that there is so much food, and someone or something has to remove this regularly, and that is where snails are so beneficial. Your water changes and filter cleaning and substrate vacuuming (aside from plants) also work to achieve this.

I would go with Malaysian Livebearing Snails as the overall best scavenger as they burrow throughout the substrate and that is a benefit. Ramshorn may damage plants, there are apparent instances of this, but MLS never eat healthy plant leaves.

Hardiness of snails was mentioned earlier...the MLS will be happy in soft to hard water; I have zero GH and they are fine. Some of the others need more calcium so they sometimes fail in soft water. My pond snails are doing well though, but in the past not so much.

 

[Essjay]

Nerite snails can't breed in fresh water, and although they do lay sesame seed like eggs they never hatch. But don't get any nerites till your tank is fully cycled (been reading about the ammonia problem in your other thread). Snails - and shrimps - are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite than fish.
However Malaysian trumpet snails (aka Malaysian livebearing snails)will survive anything . I have black MTS in my tanks as I think they are prettier than the brown variety and there are currently a few sellers on Ebay. You don't need to buy many, two or three are plenty.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Remember that the snails only reproduce according to the organics in your aquarium. It is not the snails themselves, but the fact that there is so much food, and someone or something has to remove this regularly, and that is where snails are so beneficial. Your water changes and filter cleaning and substrate vacuuming (aside from plants) also work to achieve this.

I would go with Malaysian Livebearing Snails as the overall best scavenger as they burrow throughout the substrate and that is a benefit. Ramshorn may damage plants, there are apparent instances of this, but MLS never eat healthy plant leaves.

Hardiness of snails was mentioned earlier...the MLS will be happy in soft to hard water; I have zero GH and they are fine. Some of the others need more calcium so they sometimes fail in soft water. My pond snails are doing well though, but in the past not so much.

Many thanks for your feedback. I do maintain lots of water changes in my fish tank and substrate cleans. Feeding is minimum due to my ammonia problem but I’m in a regular routine of cleaning my fish tank. I’d always maintain this even once the tanks cycled. Fish aren’t easy to look after which is what I’ve learnt, maintaining good water quality is the key. I’ve had a look at the Malaysian snails you have recommended. I do like the idea of the fact that they can hide in the aquarium gravel. I think this will make my guppies less territorial when I add them in. Just a thought. I’ve heard that ramshorn snails only eat dead plant matter. Is this not true? After some further research on these snails too I’ve learnt that their commonly known as “pest snails” and commonly lurk into tanks through live plants etc. I encountered this problem many years ago and remember having to add assassin snails to that tank. I imagine the ones on eBay aren’t the same species at all, and they are stunning. However, I don’t think I can deal with them reproducing. I’m worried even with strict cleaning and feeding, these may reproduce. Thank you for all your help

 

[Guppylover3x]

Nerite snails can't breed in fresh water, and although they do lay sesame seed like eggs they never hatch. But don't get any nerites till your tank is fully cycled (been reading about the ammonia problem in your other thread). Snails - and shrimps - are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite than fish.
However Malaysian trumpet snails (aka Malaysian livebearing snails)will survive anything . I have black MTS in my tanks as I think they are prettier than the brown variety and there are currently a few sellers on Ebay. You don't need to buy many, two or three are plenty.

Many thanks for your reply. I’ve had a look on eBay I assume the ones you are referring to are black Malaysian snails? I think I’d personally prefer some brownish coloured ones with a bit of a pattern but these seemed to be sold in larger batches. Thank you for your help

 

[Byron]

Many thanks for your feedback. I do maintain lots of water changes in my fish tank and substrate cleans. Feeding is minimum due to my ammonia problem but I’m in a regular routine of cleaning my fish tank. I’d always maintain this even once the tanks cycled. Fish aren’t easy to look after which is what I’ve learnt, maintaining good water quality is the key. I’ve had a look at the Malaysian snails you have recommended. I do like the idea of the fact that they can hide in the aquarium gravel. I think this will make my guppies less territorial when I add them in. Just a thought. I’ve heard that ramshorn snails only eat dead plant matter. Is this not true? After some further research on these snails too I’ve learnt that their commonly known as “pest snails” and commonly lurk into tanks through live plants etc. I encountered this problem many years ago and remember having to add assassin snails to that tank. I imagine the ones on eBay aren’t the same species at all, and they are stunning. However, I don’t think I can deal with them reproducing. I’m worried even with strict cleaning and feeding, these may reproduce. Thank you for all your help

The so-called "pest" snails (as some see them) are usually pond snails, bladder snails (which look remarkably similar to pond), Ramshorn or Malaysian Livebearing snails. I had to buy the latter many years ago, but the others frequently do arrive with plants or sometimes wood. According to most sources, none of these will eat live healthy plants, except maybe Ramshorn. All will readily eat dying, decaying plant matter, and organics like fish excrement. This is their benefit.

There will always be food for any of these snails, always. None of us can keep organics out of a tank with fish (and/or plants). It would be totally unhealthy and devoid of life if we could achieve this. So it is better to have ways of dealing with the organics.

 

[Guppylover3x]

The so-called "pest" snails (as some see them) are usually pond snails, bladder snails (which look remarkably similar to pond), Ramshorn or Malaysian Livebearing snails. I had to buy the latter many years ago, but the others frequently do arrive with plants or sometimes wood. According to most sources, none of these will eat live healthy plants, except maybe Ramshorn. All will readily eat dying, decaying plant matter, and organics like fish excrement. This is their benefit.

There will always be food for any of these snails, always. None of us can keep organics out of a tank with fish (and/or plants). It would be totally unhealthy and devoid of life if we could achieve this. So it is better to have ways of dealing with the organics.

Thank you for this very useful information. I always wondered which snails they were that I encountered. Do you think it would be possible to keep one ramshorn snail or more and not have any breeding? I think it may be a case of it just being in their nature to breed quickly. Many thanks.

 

[Byron]

Thank you for this very useful information. I always wondered which snails they were that I encountered. Do you think it would be possible to keep one ramshorn snail or more and not have any breeding? I think it may be a case of it just being in their nature to breed quickly. Many thanks.

Answering your question, no, it is not likely possible to keep one Ramshorn without it reproducing. You can read more in this article on snails from this forum.

http://www.fishforums.net/posts/3590897

 

[Guppylover3x]

Answering your question, no, it is not likely possible to keep one Ramshorn without it reproducing. You can read more in this article on snails from this forum.

http://www.fishforums.net/posts/3590897

Many thanks for the information

 

[BeckyCats]

My first recommendation would be to add live plants if you don't already have some. They help clean the water and may come with snails if you get the ones that are sold straight from the lfs tanks. The so-called "pest" snails really aren't that pesty if you don't overfeed the fish and as already mentioned, can help to clean up decaying plant matter. Live plants are the best things for tanks in my opinion and (admittedly limited) experience.

 

[Guppylover3x]

My first recommendation would be to add live plants if you don't already have some. They help clean the water and may come with snails if you get the ones that are sold straight from the lfs tanks. The so-called "pest" snails really aren't that pesty if you don't overfeed the fish and as already mentioned, can help to clean up decaying plant matter. Live plants are the best things for tanks in my opinion and (admittedly limited) experience.

Many thanks for your response. I have got live plants in my tank already. I couldn’t imagine my tank without them. I don’t think it would be fair to the fish and I agree that this provides a better habitat for them. It’s good to hear that you’ve managed to control your population well. I didn’t manage too unfortunately and they were soon everywhere. I’ve added plants since that have contained them and managed to just pick most of them out before they overloaded the tank. I try to buy plants that are snail free tested now as much as I can. Thank you for your advice

 

[AbbeysDad]

Long ago now, on the advice of my old friend Byron, I added a dozen Malaysian Trumpet Snails to my 60g. There must be hundreds now. I added a just few to my 37g and there's too many to count. They disappear and come out in the dark of night!
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I got some guppy grass at a club meeting auction and 'inherited' some Ramshorn snails. These are mostly isolated to the grow out tanks and have also multiplied. I haven't really noticed any plant damage, but these just have floating plants. I have put some in the Daphnia bins (55F!) and they're doing well there too! I don't think they're rare at all as I see them on Aquabid in bulk as 'feeder snails'. I think they reproduce pretty readily!
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In any case, as pointed out, snail populations rise and fall relative to the organic waste and are very beneficial. I don't understand hobbyists that feel a need to destroy all snails. Too many, then remove some, but I rarely do unless it's an xfer to another tank.
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Now I hate to disagree with Byron, but I have just two pepper cories in my 60g (and have for years) and they don't seem to mind that there are just two of them and they do just fine cleaning up flake foods and the occasional worms that sink to the bottom. They sure seem 'fat 'n sassy'.
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Ammonia issues? Fast growing floating plants and/or API Nitra-Zorb!

 

[Guppylover3x]

Long ago now, on the advice of my old friend Byron, I added a dozen Malaysian Trumpet Snails to my 60g. There must be hundreds now. I added a just few to my 37g and there's too many to count. They disappear and come out in the dark of night!
------
I got some guppy grass at a club meeting auction and 'inherited' some Ramshorn snails. These are mostly isolated to the grow out tanks and have also multiplied. I haven't really noticed any plant damage, but these just have floating plants. I have put some in the Daphnia bins (55F!) and they're doing well there too! I don't think they're rare at all as I see them on Aquabid in bulk as 'feeder snails'. I think they reproduce pretty readily!
------
In any case, as pointed out, snail populations rise and fall relative to the organic waste and are very beneficial. I don't understand hobbyists that feel a need to destroy all snails. Too many, then remove some, but I rarely do unless it's an xfer to another tank.
------
Now I hate to disagree with Byron, but I have just two pepper cories in my 60g (and have for years) and they don't seem to mind that there are just two of them and they do just fine cleaning up flake foods and the occasional worms that sink to the bottom. They sure seem 'fat 'n sassy'.
------
Ammonia issues? Fast growing floating plants and/or API Nitra-Zorb!

Many thanks for your response. I won’t be adding any snails in until my tank is fully cycled I’d rather not cause my fish or anything else further stress. This information is useful, I’d probably need to stick to just adding in the one nerite snail in as recommend due to my tank being small. Cories seem like a lovely addition to a tank. I’d probably consider adding them if my tank was a bit bigger. Thank you for the advice.