Snail / Alga Eater For A Brackish Tank?

[nigsy]

I have a small (70 litre) brackish tank which houses Darwin my green spotted puffer. I just wondered if there was a type of snail I could put in the tank that:
 

1. Could withstand brackish water
2. Darwin is not going to see as a food source and eat

I don't really want to risk any other fish in the tank as he doesn't take well to company.

 

[Baccus]

The only snail I can think of would be a large nerite snail, but it would need to be a large one and Darwin would need to be small. Even then there is no guarantee that Darwin wont nip at the snail.

 

[Mads]

There's a few brackish water gobies that eat algae e.g.  Stiphodon ornatus and Lentipes whittenorum and probably many more

 

[DerpPH]

There's a few brackish water gobies that eat algae e.g.  Stiphodon ornatus and Lentipes whittenorum and probably many more

 
 
Stiphodons need freshwater when adult.
 
A molly would be good. THe true black molly. They eat algae. Tried and tested
 
Or you can try amanos.(with caution)

 

[ech0o]

I have about 6 different kind of molly in my green spotted puffer tank, ranging in colors and types, sailfins, lyretails, blacks, they ALL eat algae, nonstop, day and night.   Our green spotted puffers attack and eat ANYTHING, any snail no matter what size will be either crunched or sucked from their shells,  but they really do seem to live quite happily alongside the molly for some reason.
 
Their favorites are hair and BBA algae, although I see them trying to suck the dust algae off the glass too.

 

[nigsy]

Cheers all.
 
He really is aggressive so putting another fish in there with him isn't going to work. He's a good 1 1/2 inches in size, so anything that goes in the tank needs to be bigger.
 
Think I'll just leave things as they are.

 

[DerpPH]

yah. 70 liters isnt ok for a molly anyway. considering they reach about 3.5"
 
Well i think youll stick to weekly scrubbing then

 

[iliveinazoo]

To keep stable water parameters with low nitrate readings you really want about 100-125 litres minimum for a GSP so you are over-subscribed with what you have.  They also eat shrimps and snails so an algae eater isn't really an option.  With a GSP you will also be going to high brackish or marine salinity so if you did look for something then it would also have to be compatible with those parameters.
 
But with an aged stable tank with low "nutrients" and good circulation combined with a weekly water change and cleaning regime then you shouldn't see a lot of algae anyway

 

[jonny5]

definitely mollies, and I would try nerite snails they are supposed to have shells too hard for puffers.
A good way to prevent algae is with sifting feeders to use up those small particles in the sand. if you tank is low salinity get some horse faced loaches, if its above 1.005sg then get a dragon goby (but give him a place to hide because the puffers will destroy his fins, trust me).

 

[ech0o]

lol, my GSP's are the second hardiest fish I own, next to those molly fish.    anyways yea i am not familiar with liters on first sight, my apologies, that is something like 18 gallons which for sure is a bit small for mollies, they get fairly large and are extremely active fish, ALTHOUGH, i believed the same thing that my puffers would certainly attack my mollies, but mollies are super active and aggressive, and really do intimidate the puffers into a peaceful coexistance (very occasional nip marks on a molly tail fin, never serious or large).
 
anyways, like everyone else said, with 1 fish in a tank, and keeping up on regular water changes, you really should not be seeing much algae in that tank.  if you are, i would suggest more frequent water changes, lower the light exposure time to less hours a day, or even dim the lights slightly.