tank occupants vs. snails

[fish_newbie]

im thinking of keeping some snails in my 5g for the puffers im about to get. but i dunno if it would work out. i have a betta, 2 ottos, 3 ghost shrimp, and a couple of aponogeton bulb plants in there. will this work out? i dont what the snails eating my plants and i dont want the betta or shrimps eating my snails ..so am i good to go *crosses fingers* :?

 

[TankGirl]

You can get nerite snails, which don't eat plants, and they should work fine in there. I have heard of some bettas eating baby snails, but I don't think this is typical. I know several puffer keepers who raise snails in a small betta tank.

The shrimps should not be an issue.

 

[fish_newbie]

my shrimps ate the snails

 

[TankGirl]

What? :?

I have never heard of a ghost shrimp eating a living thing. That is amazing. What kind of snails did you get?

 

[grimlock3000]

Wow, never heard of that one before! Are you sure they were Ghost Shrimp?

 

[fish_newbie]

pond snails and whatever other snails that came with my plants ...im pretty sure they're ghost shrimps ...are there any shrimps that are sometimes labled as ghost shrimps but arnt?

 

[TankGirl]

Not usually. Do the shrimps have claws? There are prawns available that have claws and they will kill small fish.

I am just really curious how they pulled it off! I am wondering if the snails were dead and the shrimp were scavenging - that would be more like what a ghost shrimp would do, since they don't really have anything to kill with.

 

[fish_newbie]

dont all ghost shrimp have tiny lil claws that they use to pick up lil scraps of food? the snails were still alive ..right when i dropped them in my ghost shrimp attacked the snails.

 

[Guest]

WOW das kwazy!!!! Ghost shrimps dont do that!

 

[Lance M.]

Lol. Everyone's right ghost shrimp don't kill snails. I have 15 of them in with three trapdoor snails and a pond snail. The shrimp won't touch them unless they are dead just like Tankgirl said.

In a 5 gallon get a couple trapdoor snails. They are big enough that bettas won't eat them and they won't reproduce rapidly since they are livebearers, reprdoducing a max. of two times a year, instead of the small viviparous hermaphrodite snails that lay eggs (the ones that come with the plants and most all other snails).

 

[fish_newbie]

i guess i got some crazy ghost shrimp den