George Monnat Jr Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 As I mentioned in my frog thread, I love to have more cool critters for visitors to "discover" as they look in the tank. I'm thinking about getting a few snails. My tank is still fairly new, so there's not a ton of micro-algae, yet. I also have 8 small Synodontis catfish which may compete for browsing food (although they're fat off of fish food right now). I have live plants (Anubias, Java Fern, etc.), so snails, or anything else, can't eat them. I was early for a Dr.'s appointment today at lunch, so I stepped into PetSmart to kill a little time. I saw these Mystery / Apple Snails (Pomacea bridgesii). I saw this quote, Prefers dead and rotting plants and artificial foods like fish food; doesn't eat healthy plants unless no other food is available. This makes the Pomacea bridgesii snail a good choice for planted aquaria. That's appealing. I was thinking of getting one of each of the black, white/ivory and yellow/golden morphs there and a blue one when available. At RCA I saw some Nerita Snails (Nerita sp.). I don't know how they are with live plants. I don't want anything that'll reproduce out of control either (the Mystery Snails are single-sex). Anyone have snail opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Neither nerite nor mystery snails will breed out of control...of at all really. Fw nerites are alot like sw nerites. They need brackish water for their eggs to hatch. And the likelihood of babies surviving is slim. Nerites are awesome fw cuc to have and are plant safe. I have rams horn snails in my planted tank and they breed slowly and do a moderately good job. I've had Malaysian trumpet snails in the past and they can reach the thousands in a matter of weeks. I liked them though. Some people consider them messy looking, but I like that 99% of them only came out when the lights were off (they burrow), and they eat everything not alive and leave living plants alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Nerites are the only ones I will use in FW. There are several varieties, some are very colorful and interesting as well. I've just had too many problems with prolific snails, so unless they cannot breed in FW, they're not going in my tank. Also, despite what they say on lifespan, I have some that are more than 4 years old that are still going strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 you can always throw in a puffer to take care of the snails (unless you have shrimp). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 you can always throw in a puffer to take care of the snails (unless you have shrimp). And you don't mind your fishes fins getting shredded. Yoyo and clown loaches work for the little nightmare pond snails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Yeah, puffers and heir little Napoleon complex. I'm trying an assassin snail. Fun to watch, but, uh, more snails now than when I got him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I dunno, I guess I'm just different in my approach. I can see if you were using mega high amounts of co2, had only the most finicky of stem plants, not a spec of algae, only a handful of small fish, and an award winning "aquascape" I can see the hate for having snails visible. That's not my style of tank. I like a lush and natural looking planted tank. I like a variety of critters at all levels. Bigger fish (not huge), smaller fish, top swimmers, bottom swimmers, plenty of snails. Lots to look at. I can appreciate a high tech planted tank. It's a thing of beauty, but I just don't feel like having snails visible destroys the integrity of a tank. That's just me. When I had Malaysian trumpet snails I felt like the more the merrier. I also have a deliberately large CUC in my reef tank that I actually feed since they tend to stay ahead of the algae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 i don't mind some snails. even quite a few snails. but, i must have over a hundred and they just infiltrated in february. when you see the snails and start picking out constellations, then i start to have a bit of a problem. seeing 25 or so on each side and an uncountable amount in the plants, well, gotta draw the line somewhere. they are actually getting in the way of the fish. i'll probably start scrapping them off the glass and pulling them out until i get a manageable population. then see what surhan surhan can do. if you want any, let me know . oh, it's a 20 gal tank, so i have 5 to 10 snails per gallon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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