What snails to get?

[Daniel R]

My tank has an excessive amount of green alge growing in the all for sides of the tank as shown in the picture. I have 2 Siamese alge although they don't seem to do much. I want to get a bunch of snails that will wipe out tie alge. I dont mind if they breed but I want them to be fairly small. Any suggestions?

 

[alLexX]

nerites work,but it would be better to find the source of the algea and eliminate it. are you sure the SAE's are real? and what is the stock and tank size?

 

[Sake]

+1 to nerites, they will even eat algae most other snails won't, and the eggs won't survive in freshwater, so they won't over run your tank.

 

[MABJ]

Sorry to disagree here, boys! I advocate in this situation Ramshorn snails. They're wonderful... anything eaters.. and they will reproduce to an appropriate amount of snails to handle the amount of decaying food in your tank.

While I think you should also figure out how to eliminate the algae, these snails should be in every aquarium! In my opinion at least .

 

[Sake]

Pretty sure ramshorn won't eat green spot algae though so nerites are one up on them! Besides I think nerites look way cooler than ramshorn, even the colored ones. Just personal opinion though

 

[jpchin]

i have 4 nerites and i really think they do a good job on the algae. i would recommend them .

 

[MABJ]

Hmmmmmmm. Come to think of it, I'm not honestly sure what algae types Ramshorns eat.

I will say. I have green algae in my 5g, and as soon as I removed all my ramshorns (the only residents other than 1 RCS and plants) I noted that the algae bloomed and spread within several days.

I can't say the shrimp kept all that algae under control. I have to believe it was also the snails too.

I love nerites! I'm just hesitant about using them SOLELY as algae eaters. They starve easy if you only purchase them for algae control.

I prefer to get them as pets first, algae eaters second. Lol.

 

[Daniel R]

Pretty sure ramshorn won't eat green spot algae though so nerites are one up on them! Besides I think nerites look way cooler than ramshorn, even the colored ones. Just personal opinion though

I just want the best alge water that I won't need to feed anything. I just want them to get rid of alge and the green on the glass.

 

[MABJ]

Then do not get nerites.

For the sake of the snails, pick ramshorns.

 

[LyndaB]

Why do you have so much algae? Snails can't perform miracles, you know.

 

[Daniel R]

Then do not get nerites.

For the sake of the snails, pick ramshorns.

I just want to get rid of the alge on the glass. What snail does that best?

 

[Midnighttang]

Scrub the walls, clean the decorations, change the water, vacuum the gravel, move the tank, and don't kill a snail. That's my advice.

 

[Daniel R]

I've actually thought about it and providing food for the snail after there done with the alge won't kill me and it's not a problem

 

[LyndaB]

Daniel, have you figured out why you have all this algae? Sorry if I missed the response to that query.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I cleaned up this thread and moved the ethical discussion to its own thread here;

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ion-of-ethics-in-aquarium-keeping-206955.html

Danial, I hope that some of the discussion was helpful in answering your question, but felt the majority of it really needed its own thread.

 

[Coursair]

What are your tank parameters ???

Regular PWCs should help.
Don't overfeed.
If you don't have live plants, then gravel vacuum.

How long are your lights on ??
Any Sunlight ?

What bulbs are in your light fixture ??

I use timers on my tank lights.

 

[phoenixkiller]

Why do you have so much algae? Snails can't perform miracles, you know.

Yeah, I would say the OP must eliminate the algae problem at the source. What lights does the OP have, and how long are they on per day?

 

[maxwellag]

The most likely cause of your algae issues is leaving the lights on too long. Fix that and see if it helps. If not, try doing larger and more frequent water changes.