Snails

[lovefishies]

should i get any snails for my tank i just have 3 guppies in my 10 gallon and they wont give ick to my other fish will they?

 

[hc8719]

no, snails dont carry ich as far as i know

 

[JohnPaul]

The only worry would be if you have a planted tank. Some types of snails will eat your plants; others are generally seen to be safe for planted tanks and will only eat dead/dying leaves and not healthy ones.

 

[hc8719]

most mainstream snails dont eat plants...

 

[joannde]

Snails are great - I say get one

 

[fish_4_all]

I have a bunch of ramshorn type pond snails and they are great. They keep the glass clean and clean the plants really well. They are going to get to be a neusance but my loaches need a meal so they will be getting some here really soon.

 

[shayfish]

Do mystery snails eat plants?

 

[hc8719]

mysteries do not. neither do ramshorn, or mts as far as i know

 

[Mosaic]

The smaller hitchhiker type ramshorns are ok with plants, but the giant Marisa ones you buy are not. I put one in a planted tank and it had a feast. But it also got rid of every spot of algae that I've been trying to get rid of for weeks, so I just gave it a little pat on the head and put it in another tank.

When I bought the guy, he came from a tank where there was one fish with a spot of ich on it, so I put him in QT for a while, just to be safe. I just didn't want to take any chances.

You have not truly lived until you've had a snail. I've become more addicted to them than even my bettas.

 

[Pleco]

I have 1 Mystery snail in my tank, lately he seems to like to hang out on the powerhead for some reason.. I was thinking to get another one but the thought of 2 mystery snails turning in to 1049375973693 snails frightens me

I was at petco and they had "black mystery snails" and "gold mystery snails" and then they had "blue snails" the blue ones had noticably blue shells, but i wasnt sure if they were mystery snails or some other breed since they werent explicitly labeled as mystery snails.

I think i may go to Capital Aquarium either later today or tomorrow after work... Im such a sucker for inverts and plecos..

-Pleco

 

[hc8719]

blue mystery snails are an actual color of mysteries. actually now they can get pink and striped snails, which are supposibly bred that way...

 

[joannde]

there's no risk of unwanted mystery snail multiplication - they lay their eggs above the water line in sacs that turn pink - sort of hard to miss - you just scoop away and discard the eggs if you don't want more (btw, mystery snails require both a male and a female to multiply, unlike many other snails that have both male and female reproductive organs in each individual)

 

[hc8719]

not to mention most snails (not mysteries) breed asexually as well

 

[racer]

Do snails eat just the algae in the tank, or do they need a supplement food, such as algae wafer tablets?

 

[Mosaic]

I just feed my fish a little bit more than they'll eat, and the snails will eat that. Occasionally I'll throw in a wafer or veggies for them, but not often. They're actually not very good algae eaters. As I mentioned, I just learned that the Marisa ramshorns are super algae busters, but they'll eat every other form of vegetation too, so watch out.

 

[lovefishies]

so i should get snails instead of ghost shrimp

 

[MyCatsDrool]

Snails are actually really interesting creatures. I see mine do fascinating things all the time. For example, they have an interesting mating ritual. Some have extremely interesting patterns on their actual bodies, iridescent and colorful, outside their shells. They make zen like patterns in my substrate sand, and clean up waste fish food. I do not count on them to clean up algae or feces, but for cleaning up extra food, they work like a charm.
I truly enjoy them.

I have never owned shrimp, so I cannot tell you if they are a better choice. I have woned a crawfish and it was horrible. I ended up having to isolate it to it's own tank with no plants.

 

[lovefishies]

how much are snails?

 

[Pleco]

I think my snail may be dead He doesnt smell at all but when i touched the trap door it didnt retract in. that and now he is just sitting on the bottom, he was upside down for a little i think.

I'm kinda bummed, kinda holding on to hope too as this is the 2nd "scare" that we have gotten..

Edit: his air thing just came out a little, maybe there is hope yet...
-Pleco

 

[joannde]

Pleco - sometimes snails get a little sluggish. I've found that if I remove them and put them in some very shallow cool (not cold) water for a bit that it does them alot of good. Water changes are also a great way to"wake up" a snail - if he doesn't come out after a water change then cool some tank water down and put him in a shallow plate of it for some time (20 minutes to a couple of hours). Seems they just "swell" sometimes and this helps them to get back to normal - nobody really understands how or why.

Lovefishes - snails are about $1.50 - $2.00 each; sometimes you can find them for less. I'd get a snail over a ghost shrimp any day - they're really cool.