Why wont they stay alive?

[MistersMom]

Every time i get a pleco or a snail it dies! i had pleco once for a good long time and one day he was dead, i was so mad! i prefer snails because i dont have all the space in the world for the Pleco's but my goodness! what is up with them dying? i have had like 6 of each! i have a really bad algae problem in my tanks, neon green algae and brown algae, and i scrub and scrub and turn my lights off and nothing helps.... so any one know why they could be dying?

[thekoimaiden]

What kind of snails are you getting? The mystery snails need hard water and need to be fed. They can't just live on algae. It's the ramshorn snails that are the best algae eaters. I've never seen them for sale in a store.

[TheCrabbyTabby]

Water params please. And temp, size of tank ect.

[djembekah]

and what kind of pleco have you been buying? commons need practically 75gallons to themselves

[MistersMom]

uhm, water is normal betta water? 80 degrees i guess... i havent had one in a long time (snail pleco) i just want to know why they keep passing. can AQ salt kill them? and i dont know what kind if snails they are....

[Jupiter]

How big is the tank? Is it filtered? What exactly is "normal betta water"? Do you mean you use those bottled "betta water" things?

I don't remember exactly but i think AQ salt doesn't sit well with scaleless fish as well as snails.

[megaredize]

ya salt plus snail is death, and it does say on the salt packaging to be careful with scaleless fish. like mentioned they need to be fed also cant live just on algae

[Coppermoon]

Pleco's don't "eat algae", they eat a specific algae. The have to be fed wafers.
I have Rams snails, pond snails, an apple snail, mystery snails (trapdoor less) and MTS. My tanks have 1tsp for 1g or 1 TBSP for 5g (according to if I mix up 15g of water at a time, then I use the 1 TBSP). All snails are fine....anyone need MTS...I'm overrun!!!

Are you sure you have algae? There are several "algae" that are not algae at all, it is bacteria/fungus. Each algae eater eats specific type of algae.

[MistersMom]

yes i had algae wafers too and dropped them in there. and the algae is brown and green, i dont what it is D: wonna send me some MTS lol. jk , its a death wish lol.and nooo not betta water i mean its fine the perameters are fine, i dont have any testing things atm but i take it to class ans test it, is soft water. not slaty but i do add salt. and even then it soft... i don't know....

[Mo]

How large is the tank and what type of Pleco have you been purchasing, what have you been feeding it,