Snails for Algae

[Fish Tank Travis]

Hey everyone, I wanted to talk about the effectiveness of snails on algae in an aquarium...particularly, my son’s ten gallon aquarium. I recently lost the clown pleco that was keeping the algae under control. So, now I am thinking about adding some snails instead of another pleco.

Do you all think that snails will help keep the aquarium clean? Also, what type and how many snails do you recommend? Around here, I mostly only see mystery snails. I definitely don’t want anything that will multiply like crazy. Just something I can put in and watch grow.

Thanks for the help!

 

[FreshyFresh]

I'd be more for addressing the algae situation, by reducing the lighting to the tank or reducing nutrients, but I hear you on the effectiveness of small plecos on keeping hardscape clean. The 2 bristlenose in my 55g keep the glass and hardscape spotless. Snails? From what I've experienced, not so much algae cleaning. Most of my tanks have many Malaysian trumpet snails.

 

[Randys]

Nerite snails are known for eating algae and won’t reproduce in fresh water.
They’re usually available at most local fish stores.

 

[Mighty Wizard]

Mystery snails will eat plenty of algae, but due to their potential size carry with them a potentially enormous bio-load. Some species will also eat healthy plants. Best viewed as a pet snail really. They look great though.

Nerite snails as mentioned are great little algae eating machines. The black racer nerite snail is particularly effective I find.

Ramshorn snails is another great option, especially for soft-water tanks or low-oxygen tanks. Their blood is also, unusually for molluscs, iron based, and so will tolerate copper-based medications and fertilizers.

Pond snails is another commonly seen snail, but they reproduce asexually and quickly, and I find they will more readily eat healthy soft plants (effective teeth), and so they might best be avoided.

Snail population booms are, like heavy algae growth, usually a sign of underlying problems such as overfeeding. Simply feed less and the problem goes away. An easy way to remove excess snails is to simply unplug the filter and wait, as the snails will scurry(slowly) to the top as soon as the oxygen levels drop, or water goes bad. This is also a great early warning system.

If you're still worried about a population outbreak, adding an assassin snail to the tank will help keep the little bastards in check. It's also surprisingly exciting to watch them hunt.

Malaysian trumpet snails and other sand snails are usually great algae eaters, but stay close to the substrate, and don't often climb the walls or decorations. Their true value lies in their effectiveness at cleaning and airating the substrate. I consider sand snails a must for any tank with sand. I really haven't vacuumed since I started keeping mts and thiara populations in my tanks.

While most species of freshwater snail will eat algae, they will eat pretty much anything that contains energy at all, like dead plant matter and even some types of waste. Keep in mind that snails add to the bio-load and oxygen consumption rates in the tank. All in all, snails are great clean-up crews in general.

Another great option for algae control would be certain species of fresh-water shrimp.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Thanks for the info. I might go ahead and go with some mystery snails. I’m not too worried about the bio load considering they are replacing a clown pleco that I’m sure was much higher. In addition, the ten gallon tank runs about 300gph with two bio wheel 150’s. I also give the tank a 95% or higher water change every weekend.

I might add some nerite snails later, if I can find some. They are very good looking snails.

Is there anything I should feed the snails in addition to leftover flake food and algae that is on the glass? Just curious if they might like any pellets or veggies, or something like that.

 

[itrebebag99]

I collected a bunch of pond snails and introduced them to a small native aquarium with the intent of them becoming food for the fish. The fish didn't seem to eat them, but I did notice that the snails would make the glass crystal-clear. Only problem is although the glass is clear, it becomes speckled with baby snails and snail egg sacks.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Hey all, just a quick update, my local Petsmart actually had some really nice tiger stripe nerite snails. I went ahead and picked up ten of them for my son’s ten gallon tank. They have cleaned up the tank extremely well. They have eaten the algae off of the sides and all of the decor. I have algae pellets that I am using to supplement their diet as well. Very happy with these guys so far.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Here is a picture of the tank as it sits now. Before the snails, the glass all had a bit of brown algae on it, and the car and pipe ornaments were completely brown with a thick layer of algae. These nerite snails have cleaned all of the algae off of everything. They have kept the tank clean better than any pleco.

I have been dropping in a few algae wafers a few times a week to help supplement their diet. I’m not sure if they actually eat them, but they are either gone from being eaten or they dissolve. Any other suggestions on what I can use to feed them?