red algae growing on snail's shell

[mapexmac007]

Hi Folks,

I've been battling a few varieties of algae in my 30gal aquarium. Some of it is the usual tiny green spots on the glass, maybe a little yellow patch here and there.

On the advice of some folks with respect to lowering nitrates WHILE combating algae, I allowed the algae unchecked growth on a large lava rock formation in my tank.

Well, this red fuzzy algae kept growing: onto my plants, other decorations, and now even my snails.

QUESTION: Will this algae growth on their shells eventually harm the snails? And recommendations as to how I might rid the shells of this algae?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[emerald76]

A nerite? Mine have some algal growth on the shells- they should be okay. I seem to recall nerites in SW are normally covered in algae.


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[mapexmac007]

Hi Emerald,

I have no clue as to what species the snails are. I bought my first live plant from my LFS, (an anubia) and noticed a few days later, we had a small hitchhiker on the plant. It was a welcomed addition to the community, as I hoped it would help keep some mild algae growth in check.

Months later - my daughter noticed a few small snails! One of them made it past the two hungry goldies, and has now grown to a nice large size.

When I removed all 3 live plants from the tank (to rehab them from damage caused by excessive algae growth) I discovered another batch of tiny young snails.

To date, as I write this, I've got one surviving plant in a glass pitcher, home to 6 small-yet-growing snails. When they reach a size large enough to ensure they won't get eaten by the goldies, I'll introduce them into the main aquarium — in hopes they'll join the battle against my algae woes.

 

[emerald76]

Ah that's a ramshorn. Nerites are honestly much better algae eaters.


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[mapexmac007]

Ramshorn, huh? Yeah, the shell does resemble a ram's horn.

Nerites? I'll look into it. If they're better algae eaters, I may draft them into the battle.

Do Nerites and Ramshorns get along?

 

[emerald76]

They should be fine. The only thing is if you are unlucky enough to get males and females they will lay little white eggs EVERYWHERE! Nothing eats them. I had a pair of females for ages, got another and ended up with a male. But they can clean a tank in a day. I put one in my ten which was covered in three types of green algae and every speck was gone within a day.


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[mapexmac007]

Ugh! Of course, there likely isn't an easy, fool-proof way of deterring Nerite gender... I can imagine that turning into an eventual outbreak of Nerite snails.

Do voracious Goldies eat Nerites?

 

[emerald76]

The eggs won't hatch in freshwater


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[mapexmac007]

Very nice! Then, I may have a cure for this out-of-control algae.

Thanks!

 

[Fishfur]

Nerites don't have sexes either. They all lay eggs, just like ramshorns, though it's true they cannot hatch in FW. They need full marine conditions to hatch.

Algae often grows on snails shells and often shrimp will pick it off, if you have shrimp. Other snails will also often consume it, though I've no experience of red algaes, so I can't say if they'd eat that.

Nerite species are one of the very best of the algae eating snails though. They adore brown algae [ diatoms].

MTS snails [ Malaysian Trumpet snails] are also voracious algae eaters, though being so small, it takes them awhile to clean up large patches unless you have many. They don't lay eggs, they have live young, which they release a few at a time at the water's surface at night, babies so tiny they float on water tension. They do reproduce fast, but are not that hard to control, and no unsightly eggs. They spend much of their time in the substrate, turning it over as they search for food. Won't eat live plants other than algae either.

 

[mapexmac007]

UPDATE:
Conditions with algae took a bad turn...

Not only was the Red Algae running rampant, but green bloom was taking shape. Water flow through my Fluval 206 was somewhat diminished to a point where it needed attention (rare condition BTW). I was seeing green algae growth on the tank walls and filter ports growing at an alarming rate.

During a WC, upon opening the filter, I saw that a blue-green algae was really taking-off within the filter's interior. I'd NEVER seen this in over a year of operating this tank.

I am hypothesizing here that the algae growing inside the filter killed-off my BB, thereby throwing the tank out of cycle. As the chems fell-apart, Nitrates soared, this fueling an even-faster algae growth. Naturally, nitrites appeared for the first time in over a year, and I had ammonia showing-up — first time in a year.

After seeking advice and remedies, I added one dose of API's "Algaefix" to the water column. Within 72 hours, ~60% red algae was definitely dying.

The "D-Day" clean-up went like this:

• completely rebuilt the filter
• added 40% new bio-mech
• added two new (of four) course pre-filtering sponges
• added a new polisher
• scrubbed and scoured the filter housing and plastic bins
• scraped all glass walls and tank's corners
• aggressively conducted a deep, thorough gravel vacuuming
• removed the large lava rock formation which was the primary growing source of the red algae (for separate, concentrated treatment in a 5-gal bucket).
• replaced the air stone
• snaked the filter hoses
• treated the water column again with a dose of API Algaefix

As such massive changes would destabilize ANY cycle, now's the time to change my gravel substrate to a black sand substrate. The large lava rock formation may NOT go back in. I'm considering real wood and lots of live plants.

I've also learned that a likely source of the red algae was indeed the large lava rock formation. Given that red algae is primarily found in salt water aquariums, and I NEVER saw any red prior to this rock going in, well, it doesn't require Steven Hawking to deduce the rock is the smoking gun.

I.
HATE.
ALGAE.