Help pick a snail

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Elohssa6

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 31, 2009
25
0
0
NY
Hello......

I am in the process of setting up a NATIVE 120gal tank......Water is cycled and Im ready to go.....

I would like to use some snails for a cleanup crew but don't know what to pick....

I dont want the common snails that will reproduce OVER AND OVER until im choked with snails

I thought I read that there were snails that dont reproduce.....AM I correct??

What would you suggest?
 
Could go with P. Diffusa (Mystery snails) the only way that they reproduce is if the water is low enough for them to lay eggs above the water line and if they do they are easy to spot and remove.
 
They will not stop laying eggs even if you don't give them space above the waterline. They will attempt to escape the tank to look for spawning sites. All apple snails will do that. Just remove the egg clutches and freeze or crush them when disposing them off. It's not that difficult.

Your other option is get nerite snails. A lot of species can lay white eggs around the tank but the eggs will not be viable as they need varying salinity in order to survive. The velligers (larva) need microalgae as well until they reach small snail stage which is lacking in most tanks thus they won't be able to survive at all.

You might want to study their requirements further. Apple snails are very prone to shell erosion in wrong water conditions and are vulnerable to attacks by other fish compared to other species. Check Aquariacentral.com-Freshwater Invertebrates or a sticky thread titled "Freshwater Invertebrate References" for more information before you decide on them. They need to be treated like fish and not as an afterthought like most people do. Just my opinion on this matter.
 
What native species are you stocking? Comptabalilty is important when considering snails. Vittnea usnea (olive nerites) might be an option, or japanese trapdoor snails. What temp will the tank be?
 
Natives will be LMB, bluegill, crappie ect.


IM just looking for something low maintainance and good cleaning capacity.....I'd like to avoid having millions of snails in my tank and filter....

Thats why I thought a NON-Reproducing snail would be ideal
 
I have a 125g. native tank with 6 mystery snails for clean-up. I have two blue, three ivory, and 1 gold. They really get the job done! I feeed them feeding blocks , that works pretty good. I sometime give them flakes. But they mainly eat algea off the tank, they are always working. I recommend them highly over using any algea chemicals.
 
The apple snails lay large clusterlike egg clutches above teh water line. They are easy to remove. Even the olive nerites will lay eggs on decoration or glass in yoru tank, they just won't develop into baby snails. The japanese trapdoors are coolwater species which are algae eaters. They are livebearers but have a relatively long gestation period.
 
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