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Not too sure about that. They clean up brown algae pretty good, and occasionally, newly formed green spot algae.
Personally, I have had BBA growing on my Ramshorn snail. Looks like a furry snail.
Cheers,
Is it true that Ramshorn snails will feed on BBA? I was told that these snails only feed on certain species of plants.. Any idea?
Not too sure about that. They clean up brown algae pretty good, and occasionally, newly formed green spot algae.
Personally, I have had BBA growing on my Ramshorn snail. Looks like a furry snail.
Cheers,
I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?
Oh.. now.. Now it seems that is eating my plants. Anyway to get rid of BBA?
Originally Posted by benny
Damn it, the BBA
colin | The Wilderness and Forest | FTS
I noticed that some of you guys actually buy and keep snails and was wondering if anybody can advise on what type of snails to keep to get rid of algae and what type will eat plants?
I use MTS to eat detritus and algae.BBA I'm assuming you mean beard algae? There are a few routes you can go. A fert in large doses called tropical master grow killed mine. some use flourish Exell in massive does to kill beard algae and swear by it. you may want to research this. A peroxide dip may work for you. MTS are all I trust to eat algae aside from otto cats.
MTS are actually more carnivorous. I had some last time and they fed primarily on the live tubifex I was feeding to the fish.
The ramshorn however are detritus feeders and will gladly graze on brown algae.
The nerites (zebra snails) are the best for spot algae. I had 3 in my tank and they wiped out all of the spot algae.
BBA? I haven't found something that will eat it but I think ramshorns will eat a small amount.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Not in my tank. My planted tanks couldn't do half as well without them.
Pardon my ignorance but what does MTS stands for cos i'm not very familiar with snails. From the looks of it you can use 2 or 3 snails of different species to get rid of most types of algae and the best part is the snails won't breed with each other and cos a Nightmare later on.
What if they've eaten all the algae and have nothing to munch on, won't they eat the plants?
MTS = Malayan Trumpet Snails.
Livebearer snails. Some people love them, some hate them. I'm neutral because they do their job at churning the substrate much like earthworms do in a terrestrial habitat but they can reproduce at an alarming rate.
Snails don't exclusively feed on just algae. Most usually feed on algae but they do require some form of nutrition in other types of food. My red ramshorn are feeding on Sera Vipachips and if I recall correctly, they also feed on Hikari's Crab Cuisine. You need to supplement their diet, otherwise they might die of hunger in a tank with very little algae for them to graze on. In the tank, they will readily feed on a rotting fish carcass when given a chance to.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
They won't die. They do multiply like crazy, but will eat common detritus. Mine do. Mine only eat detritus and absolutely thrive. Suplimenting their diets would only be an invitation to raise the nitrate level. One of the points of having them is to eat what the other fish miss in my pred tank. for me, feeding them is pointless. Their whole point is that of a clean up crew. They do not just stir the substrate, they eat the debris out of it. Having been a fishkeeper for over 22years, I find that they are an invaluable part of my aquariums.
daddyo72, I am referring to supplementing the diets of the snails on an irregular basis. Not all snails are detritivores and some will die of hunger in a tank that does not have adequate food for them. The occasional treat of a pellet, tab or two doesn't really do much for nitrate levels since they tend to be absorbed quickly by certain plants.
Some people keep the fancy snails like the Nerites, which happen to feed exclusively on algae. However other snails like the rams, will appreciate a food pellet every now and then. Those rams that I keep in bare-bottom tanks as scavengers for fry, really need the live foods that I feed to the fry. I've personally observed them munching away on live tubifex and that keeps them alive when the algae runs out.
What may work for you may not work for others. Perhaps your MTS spent alot of time in the substrate and remained detritivores in general, but those that I had and multiplied many times over, were slightly more carnivorous in diet. They would always appear whenever I fed tubifex.
I had several times that the young MTS died on me when I moved them over to other tanks. But they're tough as nails if they're the big adults. I transferred some over to a low-maintenance guppy tank that has no filtration and they're still alive to this day, and as usual, still making babies.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
You mean they actually burrow into the substrate to feed on the debris?
Yes they do. Also great for removing anerobic gas pockets.
From the comments here, i'll seriously consider getting 2 or 3 different species of snails each to help the shrimps out as cleaners cos i find that otos don't really do a good job of getting rid of algae.
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