Apple Snail

[augustaranger]

I have a 10g fry tank for unexpected babies. It has a sponge filter and a nice size clump of floating water sprite. I have read that an apple snail is good for cleaning fry tanks. What do you guys think? Thanks!

 

[Teelie]

They aren't too bad but they're not the gift of algae eating either. It's better to keep the amount of waste to a minimum with fry so you could use snails but it might be better to keep the conditions from needing one in the first place.

 

[jayjay]

I wouldn't use apple snails in fry tanks, they make way to much waste. Normal pest snails are better. Algae isn't normally a problem in fry tanks as they are normally bare so it's easy to scrap off. Do you want the snail to clear algae or left over food?

 

[augustaranger]

Don't have any algae. The tank is bare bottom. I read that an apple snail would help clean up uneaten food and would produce infusoria(?) that the fry need.

 

[Teelie]

Use a siphon instead. Clean up any obvious waste and just do a general 25-30% water change daily to keep the aquarium clean. No sense adding to the bioload if you can help it.

 

[augustaranger]

Is there a trick to not accidently suck up fry when cleaning the tank?

 

[Teelie]

Being very careful?