Are Snails A Good Or Bad Idea

[chivy]

i have brown and green algae on my rocks tried to scrub it off but with not alot of luck so was thinking putting some snails in my tank to get rid of it, its only on my rocks, i have 2 tiger oscars and a plec and a ruby shark and i have an internal and external filter so got plenty of filtration and i only feed my fish once a day can anyone help thanks

 

[kizno1]

the oscars and plecs might eat them
but if you do you want to get a bigger snail like apple snails rather than the pest snails that breed like crazy

 

[Sarah5098]

the oscars and plecs might eat them
but if you do you want to get a bigger snail like apple snails rather than the pest snails that breed like crazy

Make sure you only get one male apple snail if you dont want them to breed (females can store sperm packages). Pets at home is your best bet for large apple snails. They do need supplements like cucumber and greens though, they dont live on just algae. I love mine, and think its a fab idea they are a great clean up crew, dont know if the fish will gobble them though
Good Luck!

 

[tgo]

I picked up a zebra nerite snail after my tank had cycled and I'm glad I did. It eats lots of algae types IME, and there is no worrying about population explosions since eggs won't hatch in freshwater. Only downside is that it eats slowly.

 

[chivy]

the oscars and plecs might eat them
but if you do you want to get a bigger snail like apple snails rather than the pest snails that breed like crazy

Make sure you only get one male apple snail if you dont want them to breed (females can store sperm packages). Pets at home is your best bet for large apple snails. They do need supplements like cucumber and greens though, they dont live on just algae. I love mine, and think its a fab idea they are a great clean up crew, dont know if the fish will gobble them though
Good Luck!

how many snails do you really need

 

[kizno1]

i would just get 1 if you dont want hundreds of little snails

 

[chivy]

i would just get 1 if you dont want hundreds of little snails

but would one be ok to clean my tank plus i think my fish mite eat them if i get more than one i should be ok you think

 

[kizno1]

probely but they do breed like mad

 

[chivy]

probely but they do breed like mad

if i get apple snails they lay there eggs outside the water so really i could control how many snails i have if i keep an eye on them

 

[kizno1]

yh ok i would still only get a few though

 

[chivy]

yh ok i would still only get a few though

ok mate thanks for all you info been a great help

 

[kizno1]

how big is your tank?

 

[chivy]

how big is your tank?

its 55gallon at the mo having a new one made at the mo but that could take upto a month or so to come

 

[kizno1]

just thought i would check coz you need a pretty big tank for 2 oscars an d a common pleco

 

[chivy]

just thought i would check coz you need a pretty big tank for 2 oscars an d a common pleco

yea i no mate had to read about it all before i got them but mite be getting rid of one oscar as one of them is bulling the other and is alot smaller than the other but they are the same age