A little snail friend?

[Syriiven]

In a little while I plan to be moving my little guy to a 10 gallon tank with lives plants, of which I plan to have Anacharis and some moss balls and maybe some java moss. I was wondering if there was a specific snail species I should be looking for at the store when I get the plants that could help with the algae. I'm not looking for a group, just one snail to help out. Any suggestions?

[babystarz]

Nerites are fantastic for algae and dead plant matter, but they're the priciest option. They will not reproduce in a freshwater tank though, so if you buy 1 snail you'll always have only the 1 snail.

Apple snails tend to "burn out" quickly in an aquarium setting because they can't hibernate in the mud, so I usually don't recommend them.

Ramshorn snails and MTS are both my favorite options, but they can reproduce on their own even if you only start with one snail. So if you don't want to end up with a huge colony of them, don't go this route. MTS don't come out during the day though (they bury themselves in the substrate), so a tank full of them doesn't look infested or anything.

Hopefully that helps :)

[Syriiven]

Originally Posted by babystarz

Nerites are fantastic for algae and dead plant matter, but they're the priciest option. They will not reproduce in a freshwater tank though, so if you buy 1 snail you'll always have only the 1 snail.

Apple snails tend to "burn out" quickly in an aquarium setting because they can't hibernate in the mud, so I usually don't recommend them.

Ramshorn snails and MTS are both my favorite options, but they can reproduce on their own even if you only start with one snail. So if you don't want to end up with a huge colony of them, don't go this route. MTS don't come out during the day though (they bury themselves in the substrate), so a tank full of them doesn't look infested or anything.

Hopefully that helps :)

Wow, I was considering going mystery snail, but I didn't know they didnt do well. My substrat is blue gravel, lol, not much to dig into. Thanks for the advice =)