Snails and crushed coral.....?

[swaman]

Hi All!
I used crushed coral as the substrate in my tank.
The more I read about snails and clams, the more I like their reputation as tank cleaners. Would it be beneficial for me (and them) to put snails/mussels/clams etc. in my tank, although they obviously won't be able to burrow?
Thanks again!
Swa
TRIVIA **The zebra mussels that now plague our great lakes and their tributaries are estimated to purify 1qt of water/day!

 

[austinsdad]

Clams don't clean tanks. They may filter water to get food, but not enuf for you to notice and more cleanliness in the tank.

Only certain variety of snails (nassarius, conchs, nerites) burrow anyway. Clams and mussels don't.

 

[melosu58]

I would be more worried about the higher nitrates that will result from having it. CC traps waste and debris causing higher nitrates that are more harmful to inverts. As Ray said alot of them you mentioned are not burrowing creatures.

 

[Ocean3kid]

I had set up an aquarium for my grandfather and used crushed coral and found out that it may hurt snails easier and other inverts that normaly burrow or stay on top of it. Plus it got a huge algae out brake too. I have been told by many poeple that deal with this kind of stuff all the time and they all say to use sand because its better for inverts and for algae control.