Should I use my apple snails to clean the algae off my pants?

[Pokechoo]

I have little tiny babies I could throw in there but I'm scared they are going to eat my pants too. I just want my pants clean.

 

[henningc]

They will eat your plants, not your pants!

 

[Cactuspixie]

They will eat your plants, not your pants!

Hehe. Not likely to clean his pants either

 

[Fishfur]

Mystery snails prefer their plants dead rather than living as a general rule. Though you may get the odd rogue that's into live stuff, it's not that common. Nerite and MTS snails, as well as common ramshorn snails, will all eat algae off plants without damaging the plant. I have quite a few mystery snails in with loads of plants, they don't eat any of them.

I use snails to eat algae off plants all the time. MTS snails are particularly good for this but they are small, so they can be slow if there is alot of green to consume. They also reproduce in large numbers, which not everyone is happy about. But no eggs.. they have live babies at the water surface at night. You can sell extras, they are often wanted by others. They also burrow in substrate, which can help it stay a bit cleaner.

Giant apple snails, on the other hand, do eat live plants, eagerly. So will some pond snail species, but not the little bladder snails, which are not live plant consumers. They also prefer dead stuff, leftovers and algaes.

 

[wildroseofky]

Diffusia mystery snails will eat healthy plants if nothing else is available. I tried cutting back on feeding mine and they just started eating the plants. LOL I supplement mine with dandelion leaves, lettuce, spinach and other greens. Just blanch them in hot water to soften. The snails love it. They will do a pretty decent job of keeping the algae at bay too. I like mine. They keep the tank clean.

 

[Pokechoo]

Oh no I need my pants cleaned! Jk. But I thew some of my baby apple snails in, it's been a few days, I seen that they are just now starting to eat the algae on the glass. I have a Hi-Finned banned sharks that is no help at all..
But! I did find a tiny hole in one of my lilly leaves, I'm going to keep an eye on them and see what happens

 

[Cactuspixie]

Oh no I need my pants cleaned! Jk. But I thew some of my baby apple snails in, it's been a few days, I seen that they are just now starting to eat the algae on the glass. I have a Hi-Finned banned sharks that is no help at all..
But! I did find a tiny hole in one of my lilly leaves, I'm going to keep an eye on them and see what happens

Pin holes in the leave are more likely to be the result of nutrient deficiencies than nibbling by your snails

 

[Fishfur]

I would think most critters will eat whatever they can find, if what they prefer is not available. I perhaps should have qualified my comments by saying that if one feeds the snails, plant eating is not usually a problem. I feed mine, and they don't eat any plants.