I rely on snails a lot too. They extra food that gets left over and if you get the right kind they will eat any alge from glass. The trick is keeping them from over running the tank. My two snails turned into about a 1000 in 6 months. Got to the point where they were climbing all over my bichirs. So i threw a spotted puffer in. No more snails. So now i take the puffer out and let them all come back.
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