Cleanup Crew - Snails Or No Snails?

[TheresaK]

I have a ten gallon fish tank with a pleco as the cleanup fish. I would like to have snails instead of plecos cause plecos get big. I have tons of snails at my outdoor pond. My pond is divided into two sections, one is the smaller section for underwater plants and the other section is the koi section. The plants section have tons of snails there. So can I just get one snail and throw it into my tank? Those snails can multiply like crazy, so can I get a male one? And how do you determine a snails gender? The snails shell is black in colour and its small. Around this size --------- maximum size. What's the species of this snail may I know it?

Note that, over here the pet stores doesn't sell mystery snails or algae eaters or cleaner shrimp. So I can't buy one.

 

[josh63762]

yes I would put only one or they can become a pest and clog filters etc but having one would be great

 

[Steffyboy]

Is your tank a cold water one?
If not, i had Apple snails and they are brilliant at cleaning and great to look at.
Pleco's are not really part of the cleaning crew, if anything, they make more mess with their long stringy poops!!
I've got 7 little albino cory's and they make a fantastic clean up crew.
The best clean up crew is you!!
Just keep on top of the algae with a scraper!!

 

[DerpPH]

Shrimp also are good at cleaning but you need spme hiding places and non predatory fish.

 

[DrRob]

I have a ten gallon fish tank with a pleco as the cleanup fish. I would like to have snails instead of plecos cause plecos get big. I have tons of snails at my outdoor pond. My pond is divided into two sections, one is the smaller section for underwater plants and the other section is the koi section. The plants section have tons of snails there. So can I just get one snail and throw it into my tank? Those snails can multiply like crazy, so can I get a male one? And how do you determine a snails gender? The snails shell is black in colour and its small. Around this size --------- maximum size. What's the species of this snail may I know it?

Note that, over here the pet stores doesn't sell mystery snails or algae eaters or cleaner shrimp. So I can't buy one.

 
OK, you're right, most plecos will get too big for a 10 gall. A cold water pond snail may well do badly in a tropical tank but it does depend which one you get.
 
Sadly snails are hermaphrodites, so there is no such thing as just a male one, and they may lay eggs not long after you put them in and you'll be overrun with them.
 
Finally, where are you? Your profile says UK, where you can indeed not buy apple snails (there's an EU ban on trading them) but the shrimp are widely available.
 
Overall, the final question is what you want a clean up crew to do? They serve a specific purpose in marine tanks, tidying up algae that would otherwise mess with the live rock, but their purpose is less defined in freshwater tanks.

 

[TheresaK]

I set the wrong location sorry I needed them to decrease the percentage of food from rotting in the tank, cause I heard that cleanup crews will clear up every tiny morsel of leftover food..

 

[DerpPH]

I set the wrong location sorry

I needed them to decrease the percentage of food from rotting in the tank, cause I heard that cleanup crews will clear up every tiny morsel of leftover food..

 
 
Shrimp is the way to go!!! They did the job for my cardinal planted tank!. Cherries, rili and blue morphs are great choices. They add more visual interest to your tank. Who knows they may even breed?

 

[TheresaK]

Sure thing. I'll just giveaway my pleco and just buy some shrimp :3 thanks!