Snails that eat algae?

Nerite snails of any kind, mystery snails love a snack, ramhorn snails... list goes on

BettaBettas said:

Nerite snails of any kind, mystery snails love a snack, ramhorn snails... list goes on

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Thank you so much fr your reply, Does all of them eat brown algae? Which one would you prefer ?

nerite

Nerite are the best for algae cleaning. Though, not sure they like the brown algae.

Did you cycle the Tank ? No ? Did you use the ADA Instructions ? No . Well that's why You have an Algae bloom . Go back to step 1.

[email protected] said:

Did you cycle the Tank ? No ? Did you use the ADA Instructions ? No . Well that's why You have an Algae bloom . Go back to step 1.

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Those seem like assumptions based on the original post. Brown diatoms are very common in new tanks.

A true apple snail can get to be the size of a softball. You may be tubing of a mystery snail which is much smaller. They will eat algae, but you really have to feed them other calcium rich foods like zucchini as well.

As mentioned, nerite snails are the best algae eating snails (although diatoms are not algae, they will still go to town on diatoms). I said this in one of your other threads, but diatoms will go away once they have consumed all excess silicates. You'll just have to wait it out, but snails and fish could be used to make it look nicer until then.

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theDCpump said:

Nerites.

I've read that Nerites have difficulty successfully breeding in our freshwater systems.
Can we get a few head nods on a yes for that comment?

They or someone else seem to leave dotty white spots on the driftwood at times if this is the "nerite-way"
I see the spots show up every so often.

Other smaller snail species are pretty out of control in some of our tanks and we have to put cucumber in to catch them at the same time we feed the Farlowella stickfish cats who also eat algae.

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Yes, nerites will lay eggs in freshwater, but they cannot hatch there. They need to be moved to at least brackish water (though full salt seems to be better) within a week or so of being laid.

There is no way to scrape them off without breaking the shell, but you could use removable driftwood with good algae on it to encourage them to lay eggs on it.

My nerites are lazy, I don't ever see them doing much. My mystery snails are always out and on the glass or plants eating algae.


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jmccullough108 said:

My nerites are lazy, I don't ever see them doing much. My mystery snails are always out and on the glass or plants eating algae.


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If you have driftwood that is soft enough for them to bite into a bit, they'll pretty much just camp there. In my home tank, they are all over the glass - crazy poop machines... In my work tank, one of them roams great while the other rarely leaves the driftwood.

HannahFergusonFan said:

Thank you so much fr your reply, Does all of them eat brown algae? Which one would you prefer ?

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https://youtu.be/7fD8XkIiRS4

As to Nerites breeding in FW.. NO.. They lay eggs but fry will not survive..
Prefer Olive Nerites myself.. After an initial egg laying "spree" they usually calm down..

Yes diatoms are common in new tanks and "generally" will go away by themselves.. but cleaning as much as possible eliminated recycling the Silica they need..