I'm setting up a 10G tank, looking to put 5 or 6 Celestial Pearl Danios and 5 or 6 Dwarf Corey's in it. I want to add some snails to help with the algae but I don't know how many I can add. Do they count against the 1 inch per gallon rule?
How many snails?
- Thread starter ccross
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bruinsbro1997
Aquarium Advice Addict
You could add quite a bit. Snails don't add a lot to the bioload so it shouldn't be a problem adding 7-8 nerite snails. On the other hand if you wanted snails with bioloads like apple snails I'd say only 1 or 2.
bruinsbro1997
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not sure about mystery snails, but to be safe I'd say around 4 to 5.
Great! So can I assume I can double that number for my 20G if I decide to add them?
bruinsbro1997
Aquarium Advice Addict
I don't see why not. 
I don't see why not.
If for some chance we get to the pet store and my daughter picks out cold water fish rather than tropical, will the snails still be ok or do they need heated water?
LyndaB
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have 7 mystery snails in my 46 gallon community tank. I think 4-5 in a 10 gallon tank is a bit much. I would actually only put 1 in that tank.
IvanMike
Aquarium Advice Freak
mystery snails have a way of becoming 5,685 mystery snails (even if you only add one).
rive1404
Aquarium Advice Freak
Promiscuous little suckers. Start off with a small amount (2-4) and if you need/want more, then that's more reason for you to take another trip to the LFS
LyndaB
Aquarium Advice Addict
Don't forget also that since the main reason you're getting snails is to control your algae, if you have too many, there will be too much competition for that food source.
adadkins1
Aquarium Advice Addict
I agree with the others. If you are looking at mystery snais, they mainly forage for food the fish missed. So they may be out competed by the cories. If you get nerites you should go with 2 or 3. I put 2 in an algae infested 5g and withing 2 weeks it was sparkling clean. So 2 or 3 should be good for maintaining a 10g.
IvanMike
Aquarium Advice Freak
mystery snails also have a way of making someone purchase a red devil to get rid of them....
bruinsbro1997
Aquarium Advice Addict
I thought mystery snails were the small, tiny ones?
GuppyLover
Aquarium Advice FINatic
bruinsbro1997 said:
There the bigger colored ones. They come in Blue, Black, and Ivory.
adadkins1
Aquarium Advice Addict
They get up to 2 inches long and are omnivorous. They will feed on leftover fish food and sometimes algae.
fish-4-life
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2011
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i would say to order nitrate snails online...
bruinsbro1997
Aquarium Advice Addict
If the goal is algae control, I would agree that the best bet is to go with 1 or maybe at most 2 nerites. If your LFS doesn't sell them, plenty of places online do and you can usually get them for around $3 each. I'm about to buy a few myself, some of the more unusual nerite species are really stunning. Nerites are nice because they are great on algae (more interested in algae than leftover food, in fact...which is rare among snails) and unlike most other snails, they don't breed in fresh water so you don't have to worry about a snail explosion.
If you get mystery snails, I'd only get 1 as those guys become absolutely huge.
If you get mystery snails, I'd only get 1 as those guys become absolutely huge.
Well you've all definitely given me a lot to consider. my LFS only caries the mystery snails. Trying to avoid online because of the shipping costs. Maybe I'll look for a different means of algae control for now. Is there any breed of pleco that would be ok for a 10G tank?
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