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Solid team snail. Mystery Snails may be horrible with algae, but they are SO frickin' cool. And nothing cleans like a nerite, they are like slo-motion scrubbing bubbles, even if watching them tackle an algae bloom is like watching a drunk guy cut your lawn.
I love my Nerite...I hear what you're saying....its my invasive that get the aquarium looking spotless though. My Nerite lives on a piece of root and it is very clean. Theyre not as fast as invasives but they do great in smaller areas where they tend to like to hang out
Team snail here. Let me tell you why. 1. They are a huge indicator of tank health. If you have population explosions I can tell the tank is either being fed too much or needs a deeper than usual clean. 2. They turn and clean your substrate. If you get any amount of sunlight on your tank you're going to get brown detritis growing on your substrate and glass. Nerites especially love to eat this. I had a 35g tank covered in it because it was getting sunlight reflected onto it. 5 nerites took 2 days to turn the gravel completely white and another 2 days before it was unfindable throughout the tank. 3. They are food for fish. Not just puffers either. I've seen my shell dwellers gobble up small trumpet snails. Rainbow sharks will eat them as well. I enjoy natural looking ecosystems/biotopes. Shrimp, snails, crayfish, plants, etc etc all happen in nature and it's nice to look at. My wife will spend hours in our fish room just looking at the snails. Bottom line, both arguments work. Just don't drive yourself nuts trying to eradicate them. Once I stopped doing that and realized I was the cause of their population explosions, I became a better aquarist/hobbyist.
I'm definitely team pro-snail. When I first setup a planted aquarium, I usually get an explosion of snails. As the aquarium matures and I get it balanced, the snail population levels off to a reasonable amount. I consider them essential to a balanced ecosystem. They break down dead and dying matter that is easier for the filter to eliminate. Now if I could find a snail that eats hair algae, it would be the perfect critter!
Team snails!!!! They complete the esthetic look and feel of the aquariums. I use to have to lie to the pet stores to give me snails for my gold fishes ( I don’t even own gold fishes) just so I can have some as they do not sell them and they always refuse to give any away unless it’s for fish food. But like you said, they are natural cleaners and makes tank cleaning a bit more manageable.
I just walked into my local PetSmart and asked for some ramshorn snails. He didn't know what I was talking about so it pointed them out asking for the "curly shelled" pest snails and he was happy to give me a few for free! Now I'm just feeding them to start my own horde lol.
My biggest beef with snails is that they eat the eggs my fish lay. It's not that I'm intentionally breeding my fish, but I do enjoy seeing babies in the tank. I'd probably have so many more if I managed the snail population. I did see my betta fish eating snail eggs last week, though. That was surprising, and also entertaining, since he was struggling with the viscuous membrane, but at the same time, very determined to get them down.
Get a few assassin snails to eat all your pest snails. When the pests are gone take the assassins out and trade them or sell them (or just keep them in their own tank, they're really pretty). Assassin snails reproduce slowly so you won't get overrun and people buy them to control pest snails so they're easy to sell.
Interestingly enough, I've been having trouble keeping enough snails around lately. I've got several different puffers, and will drop a few snails into each tank every day - just 2-3. In my 4 planted tanks, I've managed to feed out enough snails so that I don't have enough adults left - I've got 2 salt buckets set up with sponge filters that I'm using to grow snails!
I can see Dean's point about not wanting to deal with snails in a fish breeding situation but I'm cool with the bladder snails in my community tank. They're not overrunning it but I have tons of platy fry constantly so I feel like the tiny baby bladder snails are being eaten. As long as things are relatively balanced it's all good
Platt dry eat bladder snail hatchlings? My tanks have live plants and lately I’ve had a bladder snail population explosion.. Kelly eggs everywhere and in everything. I keep endler’s, elephant ear guppy’s and an elephant ear betta. In 3 tanks. None eat snails. Wondering if I could keep pea puffers in 7.2-8 ph water?
@@quki3 Usually the platy fry will go after anything that fits in their mouth. I've seen adults feed on snails so I figure the fry are probably eating smaller snails
@@quki3 I used to have platy and ram horn snails at the same tank.. The adult platys would be always pecking at their eggs. I had to put snails from other tanks because they could not reproduce there. But I'm not sure if they eat the baby snails.
I’m not overly keen on snails, but (and I’m probably parroting Corey here) once you get them they’re a good indicator on the health of your tank. You know your feeding too much if you have a population explosion. Where I don’t like snails is in tanks with sumps - once they’re in the sump, it’s almost impossible to control them (in my experience)!
I like snails for the most part. Have to keep the population under control if they get too crazy though and to protect fish eggs too. I just think they're another part of a more complete ecosystem.
Team snail here. I think they are easy enough to get under control, population wise and they will break down things in the tank that otherwise not break down for a longer period of time. Plus they are fun to watch
Snails under control are great. Once they get out of hand they are a nuisance to me lol. Tried snails in my oscar tank. He finds them and eats them lol.
From the small scapes video, she shows snail traps. Doesn't get rid of them all, but, the more you clean the trap and put it back into the tank, the more snails you can get rid of so that it is manageable.
I am split. I had a fry tank and I had all plastic decor in there so I decided to try MTS and they over grew in my fry tank and there was snail poop everywhere. They created more waste then the fry did and they started reproducing. But when I have put them in my bigger tanks with bigger fish they didn’t over reproduce and they keep the tank clean. 🤷🏽♀️
This just can't possibly be true. Waste is ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. They can't be producing it. Did you mean poop? They can't produce that either if they don't have any food. It's you that's creating the mess. People talk about them breaking waste down as if it's only a physical/mechanical breakdown, while it's much more importantly a biological breakdown. They are reusing poop and eating algae and plant matter and basically leaving less of it inside the tank when they poop it out, since they used some of it for energy and some of it they used to grow their body. If they were somehow releasing all the nutrients/waste they ingested back out into the tank, they would die.
Dude, I keep a snail farm for my loaches, and was thinking about getting a tall 55 to set up for a puffer fish! I'm thinking once I see at least 100 in my snail farm, I'm gonna start getting a puffer tank ready!
I don't know what fish you have or what size tank.... but if all those snails are not being eaten, they're just rotting in your tank... creating a better environment from more snail reproduction.
@@2869may I have them in a 150 gallon, 55 gallon, and 3 40 gallon breeders. Trust me, they aren't just rotting away. The pond snails are the problem, not the mystery snails. You can control the mystery snails, the pond snails are a different story. They lay millions of eggs every day. The pond snails, which are TOTALLY different than apple snails, are all over. Think you miss read my comment. I got the pond snails off plants I bought and now they are all over. They do make great protein source for my pleco and cory.
@@nolas1360 I understand, it took me quite a while to get rid of them as well, but I was netting them out... I wasn't being condescending, like I said I didn't know what fish, what size tanks or how much knowledge you had about them... My comment was made with good intentions. Keep on keeping on.
@@2869may Yeah, I pretty much have one tank dedicated to Apple Snails. I love watching them. I feed them a ton of squash and broccoli. I got the pond snails by accident off plants I bought on Ebay. They're just all over and there is not much to be done about it but tear down my tanks.
I’m team snail. Although I’ll admit at times they get out of control and I have to remove a bunch or I think they cause problems. For instance they eat decaying plants. Until they run out. Then I catch them munching on perfectly healthy leaves. I do have a pea puffer tank though so that’s a factor. I’m also not breeding but when I do breed I omit snails from the breeding tank.
Team "Kill It With Fire" for sure. I don't like anything that reproduces out of control, whether it's algae, duckweed, snails, livebearers that won't eat their young, etc.
I'm team snail. I especially love my Mystery snails. They are so interesting to watch. I think the Nerite's beauty over weighs the eggs but I never have had an explosion of eggs. The rams horn, bladder, trumpet and pond snails I feed to my puffers, and turtles. So, most of my 23 tanks have snails of some sort in them.
Big fan of snails here! Malaysian trumpets are probably my favorite. I used sand from an oldish African cichlid setup to start a saltwater aquarium and after my tank cycled I had trumpet snails living and actually breeding in that full salt setup. This sand also sat in 5 gallon buckets for over a month on my back porch in winter! Took a few to show a guy at my LFS and he was amazed after using a refractometer. They ultimately met their fate by hermit crabs but you have to tip your hats to these guys!
Mts are indestructible 😂 mine survived the tank being emptied (the sand was just wet) for a month during winter, the pH dropping to 5.5 for 6 months, the KH being 0 for years in this tank, assassin snails eating them, heatwaves over 38C over summer with no cooling on the tank... It's insane what they can survive in. I don't mind them being in the tank but I bought more assassins in the hopes that the population would be controlled somewhat.
Snails for sure! I have Mystery snails, Nerite and Rabbit snails! I don’t like Nerite eggs but still have them. Raising baby mystery snails now! They all play a role in keeping the tank maintained!
My nerite snails lay eggs in my brackish tank and hatch but never in my fresh water tanks. But my favorite is my america trap door snails that have 1 or 2 live babies. I have been thinking about mystery snails do you keep your guys with live plants?
@@sugarbabie1681 I have a couple trap door snails also! Get Mystery snails for sure! You will love them! I have all live plants in mine and community fish too! And they do great! And with all the other snails as well
@@mariahpierson9573 I may have to there adorable overall I think I have 8 trap doors and 60 nerite in my tanks 😅 but that's between 40 sum odd tanks lol the one i want them is my 30 gallon planted I sit next to on my coffee table with a plant island and Java moss rocks with my shrimp in it. Without having to use the nerite to clean off the top of the broad leaf plants. Only down side to nerite is there eggs that hard scape is a pain to clean. Do your snails breed im not fussed if they do i have a puffer tank or 2 😅
@@sugarbabie1681 snails are my fav! And they all do good with shrimp too! The mystery snails do breed but you need male and female! And the lay eggs above water on the water line or lid! If you don’t want more babies just get rid of the egg clutch! But I like to keep mine and hatch them out! They are sort of slower breeders!… in my 6 months of having them I’ve only had 4 egg clutches! And hatched out two big egg clutches! first two times I failed lol
@@mariahpierson9573 okay sounds like a winner to me! Probably will do 6 for this tank since its feed heavy for shrimp and snails got to love easy bactera are food and there shrimp line up makes it to easy to feed any algae lover.
hey! i find your videos very informative. but one small suggestion if you could include pics of the stuff you are explaining that makes it even awesome. cheers!!!
I added 3 Malaysian trumpet snails to one of my tanks and I've now become team "no snails"... It was nice at first but it became very cumbersome. My sump is FULL of snails. They have clogged everything that can possible get clogged. I walked into my bedroom (the room with the snail-infested tank) and noticed a load buzzing sound coming from the sump. Turns out the return pump was JAMMED full of MTS. Fun times! Also, you basically have to leave that tank by its lonesome now. I can never move any plants to a new tank. I can't move the driftwood or rocks or filter media unless I dip them in potentially dangerous chemicals. I have to just keep everything there separate. I made the mistake of moving a plant over once and I INSTANTLY noticed little snails in my other tank. Good thing it wasn't established yet so I quickly took everything out and cleaned it up and rescaped it. Non-freshwater breeding snails are fine. I'm 100% ok with them. Slow breeding snails are probably ok too. Snails that can't breed asexually are fine if you just have one. But MTS or anything like that.... nah, I'll pass.
I’ve had assassins and nerites in tanks together for a long time with no issues, all of the nerites were full grown and regular size ones not the smaller horned variety
Team Snail!!! I have both nerite and mystery in my 60 community tank with live plants. They are good tank cleaners along with the shrimp and Cory's. If you havent watched a snail parachute from the top of a tank to the bottom its amazing.
Team No Snail…don’t like the eggs or out of control breeding. I did enjoy the debate and learned that snails would be good food for puffers. Keep up the great work!!!
I never have a crazy amount of snails in my tanks despite not really taking them out. Don't see too many eggs around either. A couple clusters here and there. They are big waste producers but their usually breaking down what already was waste into a more usable form for the BB.
Team Snail. With the exception that Ramshorns for some reason like to munch on my Mystery Snails foot on occasion. This led me to start thinning them out. Side note: I have all three and out of no where Bladder and Pond snails disappeared. Solely ramshorns and mts. Somehow as I was thinning ramshorns the Bladder and Pond Snails slowly are showing back up but more controlled. This tank is established 8+ months no new plants.
I'm with Dean on this one.... local plant sales brought in pond snail and ramhorns on two separate occasions.... both seemed to LOVE my tanks. YUCK!!!!!!!! I'll use an algae scraper any day....
I like to keep trumpet snails. I have fully planted tanks and they help with lowering toxic buildup in the substrate by burrowing underground and I have a few tanks with sand at the bottom and they help uncompact the sand which can promote easier root growth in plants.
So I have a 1.5 gallon tank that was made for a desk beta, set it up with a live plant and petsmart was kind enough to gift me 5 of the little snails. I drop an algae pellet in there once a week. After a 3 month period, I couldn't tell you how many are in there. Over 40 at least. I started picking out 4 a week to give my yoyo loaches a treat, fortunately they have a favorite place to hang out and a I can just drop them in front of them. They never fail to instantly clean out the snail shells, which I quickly clean up with a turkey baster to keep the bottom clean 😁 Team snail? Maybe. Kinda sorta? It's complicated. I thought about getting a big snail for my main aquarium, but didn't know if my loaches would kill it. My thought is "well, if I get one big enough maybe they will leave it alone" but I also don't wanna spend $5 on a pair of snails to watch my loaches enjoy thier expensive snack. Lol
Team Snail all the way! Mine are just pond/bladder snails that hitchhiked in on plants, but I like the ecosystem feel that snails give in a planted tank.
Only tanks I believe the 3 "pest" snails belong in are the Walstad or Planted tanks, there is a bunch going on so they fill the ecological niche of decomposer in a smaller planted tanks. I love my little pond snails. They do a good job I think.
I have mixed feelings about this, at first I was team no snail. But then I got pea puffers and needed snails. I now have snails in all my tanks. I even breed mystery snails and sell them back to the LFS. So now I'm team snail. In the puffer tanks I had bladder snails, trumpet snails and mystery snails. The bladder snails are gone, the trumpet snails hide and the mystery snail is too big for the puffer. My angels also like to snack on the snails (free food).
I have a love/hate relationship with my snails. All of your points are valid, both of you give a good argument, I think it boils down to personal preference.
I have four nerite snails in my display tank and for whatever reason, they have never laid eggs, ever. I keep them because I like the appearance of their shells, which add an aesthetic element to the tank. Now if the snails were laying those little white eggs all over the place, I would have removed the snails.
I have Nerites and love them, never saw the eggs everyone talks about. I also got some free pond and/or bladder snails from a plant and now have them in all three of my tanks. I don't really mind them except for how fast they reproduce.
Team "few snails". I have two pink ramshorns in Cosmo's tank and they help clean the algae (tho it's a low light tank) and if they are somewhere he doesn't want them to be, he gets a little flairing exercise. In my other tank the bladder snails were really hard to control when I was trying to feed otocats!
I love Ramshorn Snails, I cannot grow enough for my puffers and they do a great job cleaning my tanks. I also love Mystery and Nerrite snails as well, but for whatever reason I can’t keep them alive specifically. However, MTS are the bane of my existence. All of my fish refuse to eat those terrible snails and they reproduce uncontrollably. The only solace I can take away from them is that they hide in the sand until the lights go out.
I am team both. I never liked snails for years then I started to keep Loches. The reason I disliked snails is they will plug up equipment even a sponge filters. Thanks and I joy your tanks
Once my African Cichlids put on size they ate all of the snails. They did a great cleaning job but lately I had no luck. Put 3 in a few weeks ago and they didn’t last 10 minutes.
Snails all the way, but in moderation. I’ve taken Cory’s stance and use them as a meter for if my tank has a bit too much food left over based on how they’re reproducing and it’s helped. I will say that the trumpets are my faves and side note there are a good indicator of there is a critical issue in your tank like oxygen deprivation before you have too many casualties in your tank you’ll see the trumpets all on the walls. 👍🏾
Team snail here, i even ask fish stores to have their extra mts for my tanks when I'm low on stock! I leave the pond snails be as well, they aren't a problem to my tanks and if their population explodes, I'll immediately know something is wrong. I also have freshwater clams in one tank, these needs strong current to stir up food for them but they are fun to watch feed, frankly said, i love my mollusks! As for the poop the snails produce, again, is no issue imho, they break down algae and other trash matter they find, the resulting waste is probably easier for bacteria to break down after. They don't create new matter, they just convert it to another state. My tanks are over filled with plants (one is a 30 gal open top riparium/paludarium type of tank), and they are on the natural side so the more types of critters filling voids in my little echo systems, the merrier! I totally understand why they aren't welcomed in breeding tanks, but in a planted tank they're fine by my book.
I love snails. I have nerite, ramshorn, bladder, and Malaysian Trumpets in all my tanks. I always introduce them to my new tanks once they're established too. I feel they help me keep my tanks cleaner. I nearly never have to worry about any kind of algae in any of my tanks.
Team Snails!!! Ramshorn, Nerite, and Bladder snails! My Blue and Red Ramshorns are Gorgeous and they clean all the algae off my plants. the bladders even clean the delicate PSSO leaves. They also provide food for my Shrimplets. My Nerite 'Gary' has never made eggs.
I honestly just got started with snails but the Rabbit Snails I got, 2 of them have small white "carved" trails into their shells(1-2mm random line patterns), but no skin is exposed, which is something I have struggled to find any information about them, making it seem like people don't care because they are "just snails". For now all I can do is rely on my imagination and pretend it was some previous deficiency issue from where they were being kept, and my beyond steady KH and higher PH stopped any further degradation. But again, I could be wrong, right? I like the idea of what snails can achieve, but for how long they have been in the hobby, there is no excuse for such important info to be hard to find unless people don't care. Kinda like finding seeding packs of microfauna for NON MARINE aquariums, no one cares. 😂 But I gotta say I m team snail cuz they have been very helpful with my algae growth in an unplanted tank! 😎
Team Snail - love my mystery snails... but hate trumpet snails. Used to have trumpet snails to feed my yoyo loaches. Nothing but shells in my black sand.
i have nerite, bladder and malaysian trumpet snails. the nerites are the only ones i bought. the other 2 types came from plants i bought online from "tissue culture" and guranteed pest free... either way they arnt a problem as long as they dont grow out of control. ive had the bladder and trumpets for about 6 months now? one cool thing ive noticed about the bladder snails is they like crawl on the water at the top of the tank upside down kinda like they float along but they seem to be in control of it!
Actually I agree with both of you guys since I'm in somewhere on between show of tanks and breeding tanks I do like snails in community tanks and where they help with braking down materia. On this other hand I do not like them when it comes to breeding projects. When I have fry yes I can have some snail around; eggs snail free area...
If you're not a fan of snails that lay eggs, like nerites, a good snail that's relatively new to market is the piano snail, Taia naticoides. They're endemic to Lake Inle, but they breed quite readily in captivity. Sexually dimorphic, so you know what you're getting, great detrivores and algaevores (I've seen them eat everything, just like cherry shrimp), and they're live-bearing snails, so you get one baby every few weeks to a month, and you get it as a fully-formed baby snail, not as an unsightly egg on your glass or plants. Hardy to a range of water parameters and temperatures; I've kept them in everything from 68F to 82F, in tannin-rich water and in clear, moderately hard water. The only really big thing they benefit from is sand; they like to bury themselves about halfway after a large meal. They get to be about the size of a golf ball at their very largest.
I have snails in almost all of my tanks, but I also have duckweed in almost all of my tanks, I like the free food aspect, I have gold fish that I scoop up some duckweed and feed, and I have some pea puffers, I do the same with snails and the puffers, I think the snails are way better than the duckweed, at least they don’t clog up filters and keep the light out from the tank when they get out of hand
I like snails for certain tank setups depends what I'm growing or breeding. Micro ramshorns are my favorite, they only get about the size of a pencil eraser.
Some snails are ok, too many snails sucks... They are a good sign of a healthy eco system in your tank, but can also become a nuisance and overwhelm your tank if left unchecked especially if you are feeding heavy...
I keep assassins which are great to control pest snails, est uneaten food and turn the sand over and nerites which clean the decor. Both add colour and interest to the tanks.
Team 🐌!!! I keep a group of razor back musk turtles and they absolutely love them. I used to keep snails in only one tank but have since integrated them into all of my aquariums and about once a week I harvest them for the 🐢s. 😀
I actually really like the little sesame seeds from the nerites! I think they’re cool. I keep snails in my planted tanks because I think they fill in a niche in these little ecosystems I’m trying to keep.
NO SNAIL! I find them to be added waste in my tanks and I tend to go for a more bare tank but that's just me. thanks for the nice video, you guys are great!!
I love snails, but certain species annoy me. Nerite snails will NEVER inhabit my tanks because of how they are such escape artists. I don't like tank covers, I prefer open tops for planted tanks, and that won't work for nerites. I also like bladder snails but find housing them to be a nightmare. Bladder snails breed too quickly and they agitate other snails with their presence. They out compete other snail species, so basically, bladder snails have to be the only snail species.
Late to the party. But so far in my hobby I like using nerites. I find them the nicest visually, and I can tolerate the eggs on decor. If it get too out of control I just get new decor. I only use rocks and wood I find locally so changing out decor is easy and fun!
I was team no snail until my tanks started getting ramshorn snails from plants I purchased. Now that I see the benefits they provide I have moved them to almost all my tanks.
My planted tanks looks great since i added snails. When I have overpopulation i move around some of my pea puffers and they take care of the problem in a weekend. For fish breading not cool, i notice some of the snails go directly to eat the eggs...
Team 🐌!! Between my nerites and trumpet snails, they have really help me get my brown algae understand control. It's not completely gone but now my tank has a nice natural look.
I’m gonna be ruffling a few feathers, but I personally dislike bladder snails and ramshorn snails because for some reason their appearances gross me out. The only snails I like are nerites and mystery snails, because nerites don’t reproduce in freshwater and mystery lay their clutches above the water so the population is easy to control. My favorites are nerites because you can leave them to their own devices as long as there’s some algae for them to graze on. Mystery snails have more dietary needs. Bonus tip: Snails, at least nerites, need way higher GH than people think they do. They need a minimum of 10 dGH and can go up to over 20. When my tanks were at 7-8 GH they suffered shell erosion. They can survive with a big chunk of their shell missing, but I just don’t think it’s fair to sacrifice their well being for softer water. If the water can’t be that hard then they shouldn’t be kept in those tanks. Just my two cents.
My planted tank has been running for close to 3 yrs now and in my experience I feed my fish once every other day and only allow algae to grow on the back glass that’s hidden from view by the plants, so I feel like I do not have enough food in the tank to support a large number of snails I have only ever put maybe 15 snails in the tank they breed once that I know of but I now only have like 5 or so left in the tank
Team snail! I have a pair of Nerites that do an awesome job with algae, but the "bedazzling" is pretty annoying. I just added Malaysian Trumpet Snails and I kinda love them. I chuck any babies I can catch to my pea puffer and they do a really nice job of keeping my smaller tanks clean.
Bioload is the big reason I don't want them. The other is that they look ugly when crawling across your glass. I may be a little more willing to try plants if there were no snails. A little.
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I love how Dean pops up on everyone channel "hey guys back with another one" like they all his channels lol
Lool so true! I mean how many of us see Dean and then click though 😅
Solid team snail. Mystery Snails may be horrible with algae, but they are SO frickin' cool. And nothing cleans like a nerite, they are like slo-motion scrubbing bubbles, even if watching them tackle an algae bloom is like watching a drunk guy cut your lawn.
I like that, good analogy, a drunk guy cutting your lawn. Or perhaps the older style Roomba vacuums cleaning up the floor.
I love them, too. They're active and fun to watch.
I love my Nerite...I hear what you're saying....its my invasive that get the aquarium looking spotless though. My Nerite lives on a piece of root and it is very clean. Theyre not as fast as invasives but they do great in smaller areas where they tend to like to hang out
Team snail here. Let me tell you why. 1. They are a huge indicator of tank health. If you have population explosions I can tell the tank is either being fed too much or needs a deeper than usual clean. 2. They turn and clean your substrate. If you get any amount of sunlight on your tank you're going to get brown detritis growing on your substrate and glass. Nerites especially love to eat this. I had a 35g tank covered in it because it was getting sunlight reflected onto it. 5 nerites took 2 days to turn the gravel completely white and another 2 days before it was unfindable throughout the tank. 3. They are food for fish. Not just puffers either. I've seen my shell dwellers gobble up small trumpet snails. Rainbow sharks will eat them as well.
I enjoy natural looking ecosystems/biotopes. Shrimp, snails, crayfish, plants, etc etc all happen in nature and it's nice to look at. My wife will spend hours in our fish room just looking at the snails.
Bottom line, both arguments work. Just don't drive yourself nuts trying to eradicate them. Once I stopped doing that and realized I was the cause of their population explosions, I became a better aquarist/hobbyist.
I'm definitely team pro-snail. When I first setup a planted aquarium, I usually get an explosion of snails. As the aquarium matures and I get it balanced, the snail population levels off to a reasonable amount. I consider them essential to a balanced ecosystem. They break down dead and dying matter that is easier for the filter to eliminate. Now if I could find a snail that eats hair algae, it would be the perfect critter!
They are called shrimp, get em
Pretty sure bladder snails do.
I’m a big fan of the nerite snails… the individual natural designs on their shells are pretty awesome..
Same! And I rather have some eggs than algea in my displays, The eggs go away if you just scrape them.
@@elmee96 no they do not.
@@MattyP650 then my eggs are easier i guess lol
@@elmee96 it’s not nerites then! Nerite eggs are hard and really tough to remove
@@MattyP650 they are 100% nerites
Team snails!!!! They complete the esthetic look and feel of the aquariums. I use to have to lie to the pet stores to give me snails for my gold fishes ( I don’t even own gold fishes) just so I can have some as they do not sell them and they always refuse to give any away unless it’s for fish food. But like you said, they are natural cleaners and makes tank cleaning a bit more manageable.
They don't want you to see how easily they multiply lol.
I just walked into my local PetSmart and asked for some ramshorn snails. He didn't know what I was talking about so it pointed them out asking for the "curly shelled" pest snails and he was happy to give me a few for free! Now I'm just feeding them to start my own horde lol.
My biggest beef with snails is that they eat the eggs my fish lay. It's not that I'm intentionally breeding my fish, but I do enjoy seeing babies in the tank. I'd probably have so many more if I managed the snail population.
I did see my betta fish eating snail eggs last week, though. That was surprising, and also entertaining, since he was struggling with the viscuous membrane, but at the same time, very determined to get them down.
Get a few assassin snails to eat all your pest snails. When the pests are gone take the assassins out and trade them or sell them (or just keep them in their own tank, they're really pretty). Assassin snails reproduce slowly so you won't get overrun and people buy them to control pest snails so they're easy to sell.
I like my mystery snail, fun to watch it cruise around the community tank. They add interest to the tank.🙂
Thanks for including Master Breeder Dean, I really enjoy his insight and knowledge about the hobby!
Glad you enjoyed it
Interestingly enough, I've been having trouble keeping enough snails around lately. I've got several different puffers, and will drop a few snails into each tank every day - just 2-3. In my 4 planted tanks, I've managed to feed out enough snails so that I don't have enough adults left - I've got 2 salt buckets set up with sponge filters that I'm using to grow snails!
I can see Dean's point about not wanting to deal with snails in a fish breeding situation but I'm cool with the bladder snails in my community tank. They're not overrunning it but I have tons of platy fry constantly so I feel like the tiny baby bladder snails are being eaten. As long as things are relatively balanced it's all good
Platt dry eat bladder snail hatchlings? My tanks have live plants and lately I’ve had a bladder snail population explosion.. Kelly eggs everywhere and in everything. I keep endler’s, elephant ear guppy’s and an elephant ear betta. In 3 tanks. None eat snails. Wondering if I could keep pea puffers in 7.2-8 ph water?
@@quki3 Usually the platy fry will go after anything that fits in their mouth. I've seen adults feed on snails so I figure the fry are probably eating smaller snails
@@quki3 I used to have platy and ram horn snails at the same tank.. The adult platys would be always pecking at their eggs. I had to put snails from other tanks because they could not reproduce there. But I'm not sure if they eat the baby snails.
I’m not overly keen on snails, but (and I’m probably parroting Corey here) once you get them they’re a good indicator on the health of your tank. You know your feeding too much if you have a population explosion. Where I don’t like snails is in tanks with sumps - once they’re in the sump, it’s almost impossible to control them (in my experience)!
It’s Dean!! This guy is a plethora of knowledge to the hobby, and modest too.
I like snails for the most part. Have to keep the population under control if they get too crazy though and to protect fish eggs too. I just think they're another part of a more complete ecosystem.
Awesome!! I'm with Deans team no snail.
Team snail here. I think they are easy enough to get under control, population wise and they will break down things in the tank that otherwise not break down for a longer period of time. Plus they are fun to watch
I used to be team no Snell. now I'm team snail. Corey's enthusiasm about snails kind of got me to try them and now I love them.
Snails under control are great. Once they get out of hand they are a nuisance to me lol. Tried snails in my oscar tank. He finds them and eats them lol.
From the small scapes video, she shows snail traps. Doesn't get rid of them all, but, the more you clean the trap and put it back into the tank, the more snails you can get rid of so that it is manageable.
A few snails are in my tanks, along with Assisan snails to keep them in check. Never in a tank where spawning eggs are present.
I am split. I had a fry tank and I had all plastic decor in there so I decided to try MTS and they over grew in my fry tank and there was snail poop everywhere. They created more waste then the fry did and they started reproducing. But when I have put them in my bigger tanks with bigger fish they didn’t over reproduce and they keep the tank clean. 🤷🏽♀️
This just can't possibly be true. Waste is ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. They can't be producing it. Did you mean poop? They can't produce that either if they don't have any food. It's you that's creating the mess. People talk about them breaking waste down as if it's only a physical/mechanical breakdown, while it's much more importantly a biological breakdown. They are reusing poop and eating algae and plant matter and basically leaving less of it inside the tank when they poop it out, since they used some of it for energy and some of it they used to grow their body. If they were somehow releasing all the nutrients/waste they ingested back out into the tank, they would die.
Snails give you a good excuse to set up a puffer tank, case closed.
That is why I have a 10g pea puffer tank. I have pond snails and miniature ramhorn snails.
I want to dislike this comment... it has triggered my Multi tank syndrome and exposed a "valid reason" for another tank...
Thank you I agree 🤣
Dude, I keep a snail farm for my loaches, and was thinking about getting a tall 55 to set up for a puffer fish!
I'm thinking once I see at least 100 in my snail farm, I'm gonna start getting a puffer tank ready!
@@King_DarkSide plus I pull them from the shrimp tank too the puffers are in my 125 gallon with my loaches an guppies now 🤣
I like Apple Snails and Nerite Snails. Pond snails get too invasive. I crush about 100 a week and they just keep on keepin on. lol
I don't know what fish you have or what size tank.... but if all those snails are not being eaten, they're just rotting in your tank... creating a better environment from more snail reproduction.
@@2869may I have them in a 150 gallon, 55 gallon, and 3 40 gallon breeders. Trust me, they aren't just rotting away. The pond snails are the problem, not the mystery snails. You can control the mystery snails, the pond snails are a different story. They lay millions of eggs every day. The pond snails, which are TOTALLY different than apple snails, are all over. Think you miss read my comment. I got the pond snails off plants I bought and now they are all over. They do make great protein source for my pleco and cory.
@@nolas1360 I understand, it took me quite a while to get rid of them as well, but I was netting them out... I wasn't being condescending, like I said I didn't know what fish, what size tanks or how much knowledge you had about them... My comment was made with good intentions.
Keep on keeping on.
@@2869may Yeah, I pretty much have one tank dedicated to Apple Snails. I love watching them. I feed them a ton of squash and broccoli. I got the pond snails by accident off plants I bought on Ebay. They're just all over and there is not much to be done about it but tear down my tanks.
@@nolas1360 That's the same way I got them in my shrimp tanks (3) it took me months of netting them out to get rid of them....
Good luck brother.!
I’m team snail. Although I’ll admit at times they get out of control and I have to remove a bunch or I think they cause problems. For instance they eat decaying plants. Until they run out. Then I catch them munching on perfectly healthy leaves. I do have a pea puffer tank though so that’s a factor. I’m also not breeding but when I do breed I omit snails from the breeding tank.
Team "Kill It With Fire" for sure. I don't like anything that reproduces out of control, whether it's algae, duckweed, snails, livebearers that won't eat their young, etc.
I'm team snail. I especially love my Mystery snails. They are so interesting to watch. I think the Nerite's beauty over weighs the eggs but I never have had an explosion of eggs. The rams horn, bladder, trumpet and pond snails I feed to my puffers, and turtles. So, most of my 23 tanks have snails of some sort in them.
Big fan of snails here! Malaysian trumpets are probably my favorite. I used sand from an oldish African cichlid setup to start a saltwater aquarium and after my tank cycled I had trumpet snails living and actually breeding in that full salt setup. This sand also sat in 5 gallon buckets for over a month on my back porch in winter! Took a few to show a guy at my LFS and he was amazed after using a refractometer. They ultimately met their fate by hermit crabs but you have to tip your hats to these guys!
Mts are indestructible 😂 mine survived the tank being emptied (the sand was just wet) for a month during winter, the pH dropping to 5.5 for 6 months, the KH being 0 for years in this tank, assassin snails eating them, heatwaves over 38C over summer with no cooling on the tank...
It's insane what they can survive in. I don't mind them being in the tank but I bought more assassins in the hopes that the population would be controlled somewhat.
I am certainly team snail. I love "pest" snails like bladder snails, as they help manage the algae in my tank between breedings of my fish.
Snails for sure! I have Mystery snails, Nerite and Rabbit snails! I don’t like Nerite eggs but still have them. Raising baby mystery snails now! They all play a role in keeping the tank maintained!
My nerite snails lay eggs in my brackish tank and hatch but never in my fresh water tanks. But my favorite is my america trap door snails that have 1 or 2 live babies. I have been thinking about mystery snails do you keep your guys with live plants?
@@sugarbabie1681 I have a couple trap door snails also! Get Mystery snails for sure! You will love them! I have all live plants in mine and community fish too! And they do great! And with all the other snails as well
@@mariahpierson9573 I may have to there adorable overall I think I have 8 trap doors and 60 nerite in my tanks 😅 but that's between 40 sum odd tanks lol the one i want them is my 30 gallon planted I sit next to on my coffee table with a plant island and Java moss rocks with my shrimp in it. Without having to use the nerite to clean off the top of the broad leaf plants. Only down side to nerite is there eggs that hard scape is a pain to clean. Do your snails breed im not fussed if they do i have a puffer tank or 2 😅
@@sugarbabie1681 snails are my fav! And they all do good with shrimp too! The mystery snails do breed but you need male and female! And the lay eggs above water on the water line or lid! If you don’t want more babies just get rid of the egg clutch! But I like to keep mine and hatch them out! They are sort of slower breeders!… in my 6 months of having them I’ve only had 4 egg clutches! And hatched out two big egg clutches! first two times I failed lol
@@mariahpierson9573 okay sounds like a winner to me! Probably will do 6 for this tank since its feed heavy for shrimp and snails got to love easy bactera are food and there shrimp line up makes it to easy to feed any algae lover.
hey! i find your videos very informative. but one small suggestion if you could include pics of the stuff you are explaining that makes it even awesome. cheers!!!
I just got back from Peru and can't wait to go back. I would of loved to walk into you guys there.
Loves snails! Always interesting to watch them mvoe around in the aquarium
I added 3 Malaysian trumpet snails to one of my tanks and I've now become team "no snails"... It was nice at first but it became very cumbersome. My sump is FULL of snails. They have clogged everything that can possible get clogged. I walked into my bedroom (the room with the snail-infested tank) and noticed a load buzzing sound coming from the sump. Turns out the return pump was JAMMED full of MTS. Fun times! Also, you basically have to leave that tank by its lonesome now. I can never move any plants to a new tank. I can't move the driftwood or rocks or filter media unless I dip them in potentially dangerous chemicals. I have to just keep everything there separate. I made the mistake of moving a plant over once and I INSTANTLY noticed little snails in my other tank. Good thing it wasn't established yet so I quickly took everything out and cleaned it up and rescaped it. Non-freshwater breeding snails are fine. I'm 100% ok with them. Slow breeding snails are probably ok too. Snails that can't breed asexually are fine if you just have one. But MTS or anything like that.... nah, I'll pass.
Nerite yes. Bladder and pond snail no! Was just looking at snail traps last night. Great video
Try getting some assassin snails they work great for population control
@@MTSLINY I thought of doing that but I also nerites in the tank. Afraid they will get eaten as well
I’ve had assassins and nerites in tanks together for a long time with no issues, all of the nerites were full grown and regular size ones not the smaller horned variety
Wait what was those things crawling out of the water on the intro! They looked dope
I love snails, i have multiple snails in almost all my aquariums
I love most snails, in most situations. Great chat. More videos with Dean please! - Little Bobby
Nice video. Dean is so charismatic, no matter what he does, he's still interesting to watch.
Team snail, for all the exact reasons that Zenzo already said!
Team Snail!!! I have both nerite and mystery in my 60 community tank with live plants. They are good tank cleaners along with the shrimp and Cory's. If you havent watched a snail parachute from the top of a tank to the bottom its amazing.
Team No Snail…don’t like the eggs or out of control breeding. I did enjoy the debate and learned that snails would be good food for puffers. Keep up the great work!!!
I never have a crazy amount of snails in my tanks despite not really taking them out. Don't see too many eggs around either. A couple clusters here and there. They are big waste producers but their usually breaking down what already was waste into a more usable form for the BB.
I love snails every tank I got got them in it good video keep on keeping on
Team Snail. With the exception that Ramshorns for some reason like to munch on my Mystery Snails foot on occasion. This led me to start thinning them out.
Side note: I have all three and out of no where Bladder and Pond snails disappeared. Solely ramshorns and mts. Somehow as I was thinning ramshorns the Bladder and Pond Snails slowly are showing back up but more controlled. This tank is established 8+ months no new plants.
Same happened to me. I believe that it is the lack of food killing them off due to our "purchased snails" outcompeting them.
I'm with Dean on this one.... local plant sales brought in pond snail and ramhorns on two separate occasions.... both seemed to LOVE my tanks. YUCK!!!!!!!! I'll use an algae scraper any day....
I like to keep trumpet snails. I have fully planted tanks and they help with lowering toxic buildup in the substrate by burrowing underground and I have a few tanks with sand at the bottom and they help uncompact the sand which can promote easier root growth in plants.
So I have a 1.5 gallon tank that was made for a desk beta, set it up with a live plant and petsmart was kind enough to gift me 5 of the little snails. I drop an algae pellet in there once a week. After a 3 month period, I couldn't tell you how many are in there. Over 40 at least.
I started picking out 4 a week to give my yoyo loaches a treat, fortunately they have a favorite place to hang out and a I can just drop them in front of them. They never fail to instantly clean out the snail shells, which I quickly clean up with a turkey baster to keep the bottom clean 😁
Team snail? Maybe. Kinda sorta? It's complicated. I thought about getting a big snail for my main aquarium, but didn't know if my loaches would kill it. My thought is "well, if I get one big enough maybe they will leave it alone" but I also don't wanna spend $5 on a pair of snails to watch my loaches enjoy thier expensive snack. Lol
Team Snail all the way! Mine are just pond/bladder snails that hitchhiked in on plants, but I like the ecosystem feel that snails give in a planted tank.
Only tanks I believe the 3 "pest" snails belong in are the Walstad or Planted tanks, there is a bunch going on so they fill the ecological niche of decomposer in a smaller planted tanks. I love my little pond snails. They do a good job I think.
I have mixed feelings about this, at first I was team no snail. But then I got pea puffers and needed snails. I now have snails in all my tanks. I even breed mystery snails and sell them back to the LFS. So now I'm team snail. In the puffer tanks I had bladder snails, trumpet snails and mystery snails. The bladder snails are gone, the trumpet snails hide and the mystery snail is too big for the puffer. My angels also like to snack on the snails (free food).
I have a love/hate relationship with my snails. All of your points are valid, both of you give a good argument, I think it boils down to personal preference.
I'm a fan of Ramshorn snails, they are reproducing like mad but I have a local fish shop near me that I'm going to give some to
I like snails, they help clean algae in my planted tank. I dont like nerite snails or mystery snails though, the eggs are unsightly.
I have four nerite snails in my display tank and for whatever reason, they have never laid eggs, ever. I keep them because I like the appearance of their shells, which add an aesthetic element to the tank. Now if the snails were laying those little white eggs all over the place, I would have removed the snails.
Love the videos of you two
I have Nerites and love them, never saw the eggs everyone talks about.
I also got some free pond and/or bladder snails from a plant and now have them in all three of my tanks. I don't really mind them except for how fast they reproduce.
We had a standard and now we have 2 mini ausies. Love them.
I really like nerite snails in my display tanks especially for their ability to control diatoms on the decor!
Team "few snails". I have two pink ramshorns in Cosmo's tank and they help clean the algae (tho it's a low light tank) and if they are somewhere he doesn't want them to be, he gets a little flairing exercise. In my other tank the bladder snails were really hard to control when I was trying to feed otocats!
I used to have roughly 20 bettas in planted bowls. I would add one snail for each fish and it would round out the bowl perfectly.
I love Ramshorn Snails, I cannot grow enough for my puffers and they do a great job cleaning my tanks. I also love Mystery and Nerrite snails as well, but for whatever reason I can’t keep them alive specifically. However, MTS are the bane of my existence. All of my fish refuse to eat those terrible snails and they reproduce uncontrollably. The only solace I can take away from them is that they hide in the sand until the lights go out.
I am team both.
I never liked snails for years then I started to keep Loches. The reason I disliked snails is they will plug up equipment even a sponge filters.
Thanks and I joy your tanks
Yaaaaay!!! My favorite duo!!!
Commented before I watched the entire video. Team snail, because I love how they aid in the cycling of tanks!
Once my African Cichlids put on size they ate all of the snails. They did a great cleaning job but lately I had no luck. Put 3 in a few weeks ago and they didn’t last 10 minutes.
Wish I would have watched this before I ordered a bunch of nerite snails yesterday. I like snails overall!
Snails all the way, but in moderation. I’ve taken Cory’s stance and use them as a meter for if my tank has a bit too much food left over based on how they’re reproducing and it’s helped. I will say that the trumpets are my faves and side note there are a good indicator of there is a critical issue in your tank like oxygen deprivation before you have too many casualties in your tank you’ll see the trumpets all on the walls. 👍🏾
Team snail here, i even ask fish stores to have their extra mts for my tanks when I'm low on stock! I leave the pond snails be as well, they aren't a problem to my tanks and if their population explodes, I'll immediately know something is wrong.
I also have freshwater clams in one tank, these needs strong current to stir up food for them but they are fun to watch feed, frankly said, i love my mollusks!
As for the poop the snails produce, again, is no issue imho, they break down algae and other trash matter they find, the resulting waste is probably easier for bacteria to break down after. They don't create new matter, they just convert it to another state.
My tanks are over filled with plants (one is a 30 gal open top riparium/paludarium type of tank), and they are on the natural side so the more types of critters filling voids in my little echo systems, the merrier!
I totally understand why they aren't welcomed in breeding tanks, but in a planted tank they're fine by my book.
I would love to get the horned nerite snail or clithon corona! I see green aqua and others use them haven’t seen them around me in the U.S.
Lol I have a handful full of tanks with rainbows and corydoras and sometimes I find myself staring at my nerites and mysteries
I love snails. I have nerite, ramshorn, bladder, and Malaysian Trumpets in all my tanks. I always introduce them to my new tanks once they're established too. I feel they help me keep my tanks cleaner. I nearly never have to worry about any kind of algae in any of my tanks.
First time I watched one of your vieos. Very entertaining and educational at the same time. Nicely done. Thank you. Beautiful tanks.
Thank you Michelle. I’m glad that you enjoyed it! Hopefully you’ll consider subscribing and will be back to watch more videos!
Assassin Snails are the best snail controller. And if they multiply, you can sell the offspring. Great topic guys
Team Snails!!! Ramshorn, Nerite, and Bladder snails! My Blue and Red Ramshorns are Gorgeous and they clean all the algae off my plants. the bladders even clean the delicate PSSO leaves. They also provide food for my Shrimplets. My Nerite 'Gary' has never made eggs.
All my bladder snails came from the aquarium Co-OP!
I honestly just got started with snails but the Rabbit Snails I got, 2 of them have small white "carved" trails into their shells(1-2mm random line patterns), but no skin is exposed, which is something I have struggled to find any information about them, making it seem like people don't care because they are "just snails". For now all I can do is rely on my imagination and pretend it was some previous deficiency issue from where they were being kept, and my beyond steady KH and higher PH stopped any further degradation. But again, I could be wrong, right? I like the idea of what snails can achieve, but for how long they have been in the hobby, there is no excuse for such important info to be hard to find unless people don't care. Kinda like finding seeding packs of microfauna for NON MARINE aquariums, no one cares. 😂 But I gotta say I m team snail cuz they have been very helpful with my algae growth in an unplanted tank! 😎
Snails can also transfer algae from tank to tank! Always check for BB when you buy your snails
Team Snail - love my mystery snails... but hate trumpet snails. Used to have trumpet snails to feed my yoyo loaches. Nothing but shells in my black sand.
i have nerite, bladder and malaysian trumpet snails. the nerites are the only ones i bought. the other 2 types came from plants i bought online from "tissue culture" and guranteed pest free... either way they arnt a problem as long as they dont grow out of control. ive had the bladder and trumpets for about 6 months now? one cool thing ive noticed about the bladder snails is they like crawl on the water at the top of the tank upside down kinda like they float along but they seem to be in control of it!
Team snail. I recently got some micro ramshorn snails an a new plant. Now I have hundreds. What a cool little snail!
Actually I agree with both of you guys since I'm in somewhere on between show of tanks and breeding tanks I do like snails in community tanks and where they help with braking down materia. On this other hand I do not like them when it comes to breeding projects. When I have fry yes I can have some snail around; eggs snail free area...
If you're not a fan of snails that lay eggs, like nerites, a good snail that's relatively new to market is the piano snail, Taia naticoides. They're endemic to Lake Inle, but they breed quite readily in captivity. Sexually dimorphic, so you know what you're getting, great detrivores and algaevores (I've seen them eat everything, just like cherry shrimp), and they're live-bearing snails, so you get one baby every few weeks to a month, and you get it as a fully-formed baby snail, not as an unsightly egg on your glass or plants. Hardy to a range of water parameters and temperatures; I've kept them in everything from 68F to 82F, in tannin-rich water and in clear, moderately hard water. The only really big thing they benefit from is sand; they like to bury themselves about halfway after a large meal. They get to be about the size of a golf ball at their very largest.
I have snails in almost all of my tanks, but I also have duckweed in almost all of my tanks, I like the free food aspect, I have gold fish that I scoop up some duckweed and feed, and I have some pea puffers, I do the same with snails and the puffers, I think the snails are way better than the duckweed, at least they don’t clog up filters and keep the light out from the tank when they get out of hand
I like snails for certain tank setups depends what I'm growing or breeding. Micro ramshorns are my favorite, they only get about the size of a pencil eraser.
Some snails are ok, too many snails sucks...
They are a good sign of a healthy eco system in your tank, but can also become a nuisance and overwhelm your tank if left unchecked especially if you are feeding heavy...
I keep assassins which are great to control pest snails, est uneaten food and turn the sand over and nerites which clean the decor. Both add colour and interest to the tanks.
Team 🐌!!! I keep a group of razor back musk turtles and they absolutely love them. I used to keep snails in only one tank but have since integrated them into all of my aquariums and about once a week I harvest them for the 🐢s. 😀
I actually really like the little sesame seeds from the nerites! I think they’re cool. I keep snails in my planted tanks because I think they fill in a niche in these little ecosystems I’m trying to keep.
NO SNAIL! I find them to be added waste in my tanks and I tend to go for a more bare tank but that's just me. thanks for the nice video, you guys are great!!
I love snails, but certain species annoy me. Nerite snails will NEVER inhabit my tanks because of how they are such escape artists. I don't like tank covers, I prefer open tops for planted tanks, and that won't work for nerites. I also like bladder snails but find housing them to be a nightmare. Bladder snails breed too quickly and they agitate other snails with their presence. They out compete other snail species, so basically, bladder snails have to be the only snail species.
Late to the party. But so far in my hobby I like using nerites. I find them the nicest visually, and I can tolerate the eggs on decor. If it get too out of control I just get new decor. I only use rocks and wood I find locally so changing out decor is easy and fun!
I was team no snail until my tanks started getting ramshorn snails from plants I purchased. Now that I see the benefits they provide I have moved them to almost all my tanks.
My planted tanks looks great since i added snails. When I have overpopulation i move around some of my pea puffers and they take care of the problem in a weekend. For fish breading not cool, i notice some of the snails go directly to eat the eggs...
Team 🐌!! Between my nerites and trumpet snails, they have really help me get my brown algae understand control. It's not completely gone but now my tank has a nice natural look.
I really like snails. I think they're great.
I love the red rams horns snails. They help keep the algae off the plants.
I’m gonna be ruffling a few feathers, but I personally dislike bladder snails and ramshorn snails because for some reason their appearances gross me out. The only snails I like are nerites and mystery snails, because nerites don’t reproduce in freshwater and mystery lay their clutches above the water so the population is easy to control. My favorites are nerites because you can leave them to their own devices as long as there’s some algae for them to graze on. Mystery snails have more dietary needs.
Bonus tip: Snails, at least nerites, need way higher GH than people think they do. They need a minimum of 10 dGH and can go up to over 20. When my tanks were at 7-8 GH they suffered shell erosion. They can survive with a big chunk of their shell missing, but I just don’t think it’s fair to sacrifice their well being for softer water. If the water can’t be that hard then they shouldn’t be kept in those tanks. Just my two cents.
My planted tank has been running for close to 3 yrs now and in my experience I feed my fish once every other day and only allow algae to grow on the back glass that’s hidden from view by the plants, so I feel like I do not have enough food in the tank to support a large number of snails I have only ever put maybe 15 snails in the tank they breed once that I know of but I now only have like 5 or so left in the tank
Team snail! I have a pair of Nerites that do an awesome job with algae, but the "bedazzling" is pretty annoying. I just added Malaysian Trumpet Snails and I kinda love them. I chuck any babies I can catch to my pea puffer and they do a really nice job of keeping my smaller tanks clean.
Bioload is the big reason I don't want them. The other is that they look ugly when crawling across your glass.
I may be a little more willing to try plants if there were no snails. A little.