Quick Question: Mystery/apple Snails Or Ramshorn?

[akainechu]

I have three black/purple mystery snails in my 29 gallon freshwater community tank. I also have a 10 gallon nursery tank. 
 
29 Gallon Fresh Community tank:
-female bettas (peaceful)
-female molllies (relatively peaceful)
-3 Black/Purple mystery snails (1"- 1 1/2")
-Live plants galore
-Medium black gravel
-Small fluorite (black) substrate
-A few large smooth rocks for decoration
-Equipment: filtration, air wand, lighting/hood 
-Decorations: A groundhog skull that has been soaked and thoroughly cleaned out for months, and a blue/brown ceramic glazed garden pot. 
 
 
10 Gallon Nursery tank:
-13 molly fry (will be adopted out as soon as they can be gendered, at the moment they're a month and a few days old)
-some live plants
-A few large smooth rocks
-Equipment: filtration, air wand, lighting/hood 
 
My main question here is what do you think would be the best addition to each tank? I love the colors of both types of snail, and as I already have three mystery snails in the larger tank, I would like to add a few more of another color. I have been feeding the mystery snails with broccoli stems, spinach leaves form the garden, and other fresh vegetables like carrots and the like. They have also been fed sinking spirulina veggie pellets (by hand). I have seen them breeding, but I haven't seen any egg cases anywhere as of yet. One of my main concerns with adding more snails would be the decimation of my live plants and their reproduction rate. (I know that to some extent the mystery snails can be managed by routinely removing and drying out the egg cases, but I'm not sure about the ramshorn snails or if these methods are effective/humane). 
 
Extra information: In both tanks I add calcium to the water and I have some shells and other sources of calcium in both tanks for potential snails to nibble on. I also plan on acquiring some plain gelatin and other ingredients to make my own snail calcium food cubes. In the 29 gallon, the mystery snails have grown exponentially since I bought them, and their shells are strong and brightly colored. When I initially received them, they has notches on their shells from nibbling on them for calcium. Since I have added the other calcium supplements to the water, they have not been seen nibbling and their shells look much better! In both of my tanks, there is no visible algae except on the inner hood (with the lighting), which I clean out every week. 
 
Please give me your advice and help me decide! (If there are other snails you recommend, let me know too!) 
 

 

[Mamashack]

I believe Ramshorn snails are prolific breeders and you only need 2 to mate as they are hermaphrodite and will adjust gender to suit.
Don't know about apple snails to be honest but you could have a look at this article by Donya - it is very informative and helpful.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/424364-freshwater-snail-species-in-the-hobby/

 

[Brin]

No recommendations sorry just wanted to say that I love mystery snails and I've never seen them eat plants. I've only ever seen the brown and yellow in stores.

 

[akainechu]

Thanks for the replies guys! 

I re-read Donya's article (I have to agree that it really is very informative!), and I really think that for the big tank I should get a few more mystery/apple snails!

I love them too! They are really quite lively and interesting to watch. I ordered my three from a seller on amazon, and these guys are great! I don't have a LFS that I trust because most of the ones I have seen have atrocious tank conditions. They make Petco and Petsmart look like a safe haven!! So that lead me to looking online. 

Currently I'm looking into some while or golden mystery snails I asked my dad to keep an eye on a few auctions on ebay as well. Most of them are in the Uk, and I'm in the US, so that's a long trip for them. I wouldn't order them because of the distance they would have to travel (especially in the summer! No matter how awesome the packaging, they would still be stressed). 

 

[Brin]

I love them too, it's so funny really. I get so attached to them. Lol I also bought some purple on eBay because I couldn't find any locally. The sellar sent extras incase of....... She sent white and blue also and they all survived and I love them all! Too funny.

 

[akainechu]

That's awesome! I need to continue searching for more snails  

 

[Brin]

Good luck and to your dad. I don't know the article that you mention but I've read before that they don't eat algae, I disagree.

 

[Wildbetta]

Ramshorns with a good availability to constant food will quickly breed.  Although I really do like this type of snail myself, for someone that wants to keep very close dibs on the number of snails in their tanks, they might not be such a good idea.  
 
I love my mystery snails.  I have yet to see them eat my plants as long as I have made sure they are fed.  Unless you have a decent space above the water in your tank (between the surface of the water and the lid) they will not lay eggs no matter how much they breed.  They need a dry space above the waterline of at least an inch to lay the eggs.  There are many sellers of all different colors in the US, you just have to find them.  I know you have looked at Ebay but another place to check is Aquabid.com.

 

[akainechu]

Ooo thanks for the suggestions! I know about aquabid.com, but I forgot about them (how silly, right?). 
 
And I'm the same way, as soon as I go to my tank, I do a roll call for all the fish and snails to make sure they're all there and doing okay.