What type of snails are suitable for my coldwater fish tank?
Hello!
I have a 30Gal coldwater fish tank with very good water quality, along with 2 adult coldwater fish, and 2 baby ones recently produced.
My tank is as natural as it can get, there are NO plastic ornamnents. Both ornaments I have are made and modified from real rocks alongside dozens of plants - small leaved, pinned, big leaved, palms etc.
The gravel is cleaned every week using a battery powered siphon and the pH of the water is exactly 7.0. Ammonia level is 0ppm. Nitrate and Nitrite levels are again, both 0ppm.
I was wondering what type of snails (small if possible) would be suitable to live in my tank, along with ther advantages and disadvantages if applicable.
Any information would be grateful, would like some kind of little creature to add to my community.
Thanks
@Sarah : Great answer! We need more people like you. Thanks (:
Cold water snails include the Japanese trapdoor and the Malaysian trumpet snail, but the JTS grows too large for a 30g aquarium. Also, I must comment that your nitrates shouldn’t be at 0ppm, in freshwater aquariums, it’s best to keep nitrates around 20ppm or below.
MTS actually don’t eat live plants, which makes them safe for planted aquariums. They will eat dead or decaying plant matter. They reproduce by a process called parthenogenesis which means that they give birth to live snails and they are asexual. They do thrive in hard water which keeps their shell nice and healthy and strong. They hide in the substrate during the day and after dark, they come out to perform their janitor duties. They will eat algae, clean and aerate the substrate which prevents pockets of bacterial formation which can produce Hydrogen Sulfide gas.
Finding them can be a problem because most fish stores don’t sell them as such. If you are lucky enough to have a fish store that carries them, then great – if not, you could always get them online.
Edit: "clonkers" doesn’t know how to give credit to a website when she copy pastes. I got my information from the exact same website as her, except I actually took the time to put it into my own words.
just buy any plant from pets at home, they are covered in tiny snails, but its really hard to get rid of them and they breed a lot and leave lots of poo…although they look pretty funny when they are slimeing around the tank. think these can live in cold water but not sure, can try init :P
I wouldn’t put any snail from the applesnail species (cana, brig, marisa, spixi, haustrum, etc…) in anything under 65 degrees if you want to keep them alive for long. All these snails are from tropical regions and prefer temps in the mid to upper 70′s. Many people remove their snails from their ponds during the colder months and put them in aquariums. If you must keep cold water snails go with MTS or Japanese Trapdoor Snails.
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