# snails for algae control? or fish?



## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Mori,
How about cleaning the glass by hand, and adding a couple of otos and some Amano shrimp?

Mike


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

In my experience, snails are not very efficient algae eaters. They basically eat a pattern into algae fields.
For glass, the best algae cleaners IMO are pleco's/ancistrus. Have you tried them? What kind of algae eater did you have before?


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## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

do otos eat green spot algae or whatcha ma call it? the stuff that looks like green paint over gravel, etc. i think they do. because i have seen a lot of green poop in my tank. hahah. i don't think they like to eat it tho. i have 3 otos in my 5.5 gallon.


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

cleaning by HAND? i'm not even sure i know what that MEANS! 

the deceased was a chinese algae eater. he wasn't that great, but he stuck to the glass every once in a while and acted like he was trying to help. there's also a dinky clown (maybe) pleco in the tank but i don't think algae is his thing. i don't see him very often.

in a larger tank i have big plecos and another CAE. no green in there! i can tell that that CAE is working because the places the plecos can't get to are clean. the odds of getting another non-agressive CAE aren't great from what i understand, though, so i was hoping to find something else.

i'll have to check out the otos. not sure if they meet the "cute" requirements. do they do glass?

i've thought about shrimp...i'd love to have some but they seem sort of fragile. are amano shrimp tough enough to not look tasty?

any recommendations on small plecos for a small tank? preferably something that doesn't HIDE all the time. i love my big fat plecos because they're pretty darned tame, but i sure don't want any more enormous spiky poopy fish.

i guess if i HAVE to, i can actually--what was it?--clean by hand? 

thanks guys! i'll look into these critters.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

How large is the tank you want to house this fish in?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Mori said:


> i'll have to check out the otos. not sure if they meet the "cute" requirements. do they do glass?
> 
> i've thought about shrimp...i'd love to have some but they seem sort of fragile. are amano shrimp tough enough to not look tasty?


Otos are the cutest things!!! Mine are not great on glass, but they thoroughly clean the leaves from brown and green alga.










I have some Ghost Shrimps, I really like them and they are big enough to not getting eaten. They look fragile, but when they run away with one of the "wafers" that I feed sometimes I can't help but giggle.


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

the tank is a 27 gallon cube with a couple big rocks, so it doesn't have alot of bottom area. it's "over" filtered but probably won't hold too many more fish. 

do otos hang out at the bottom or are they happy on rocks and plants and swimming freely? they aren't as cute as my little yellow CAE was, but as long as they don't require the entire bottom of the tank they might work. the large niche (physical, not ecological) previously dug out by the CAE takes up about a fifth of the tank's floor and is still occupied by a betta and the clown pleco baby (who says CAEs are aggressive?  he made them a home and shared it!). but there's quite a bit of green rock surface a fish could sit on.

gotta pick up some shrimp now i'm afraid. if they turn out to be a snack, think how happy some fish will be!

thanks!


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Mori said:


> Do otos or SAEs do a decent job on glass? or are they best for clumpy algae?


I think you are on to something with that statement. My Oto's and SAE's do great at brush, spot and other types of clumpy algae. But for broad surfaces like the glass, filters, heaters, broad leaves, nothing beats a small pleco. I've got a dwarf bristlenose that is doing an amazing job at keeping up with an entire 55 gallon tank. I need to clean my glass maybe once or twice a month to get rid of a few small spots he doesn't seem to bother with.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Mori said:


> do otos hang out at the bottom or are they happy on rocks and plants and swimming freely?
> 
> 
> > They are mostly attached to plant leaves and stems, sometimes to rocks or the glass. Not much on the bottom. There are different varieties with different behaviours, but all of them are social, so if you decide to buy them get at least two.


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## BonesCJ (Jan 13, 2003)

Few people must use these but i love them, they are called Nerite snails, they are plant safe little algea munching machines. The are about the size of a medium marble and eat nothing but algea, i use 3 of them plus 1 oto and 1 rainbow shark in my low light 25 gallon tank and they keep it quite clean. The other snails that do help sometimes are MTS. When i turn on my lights in the morning the tank is usually spotless.


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Where do you get nerite snails?


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## BonesCJ (Jan 13, 2003)

Local fish store, you can also find them at some online retailers, sometimes they are called marble snails but their latin name is neritina reclivita.
try this dealer 
http://www.aquaticplantdepot.com/missnail.html


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## John (Sep 7, 2003)

I have 2 Ottos and three Japanese Algae Shrimp. I have had the shrimp for ages and I recently got the Ottos but something I want to go away isn't. On the edges of the leaves of my Java Fern and Amazon Sword is a dark brown hair like "algae" that I have trouble pulling off with my fingers! :roll: 

Does anyone have some info for me?

I am new to this board and it seems quite nice and active.


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## Guttboy (Jul 19, 2003)

John if it looks like dark brown/black fuzz it is most likely black brush algae...it is a pain to get rid of and very hard to remove by hand. I had some SAE's (siamese algae eaters) and they nibbled at it but now ignore it. From my limited experience it is very hard to get rid of but very slow growing....you might try removing the affected leaves.

If it is hair algae...I have two florida flag fish...that absolutely love the stuff....usually I have seen this as green thread algae but may appear brown in your tank.....

You may again try removing as much as you can by hand then let your tank stabilize.

My 3 cents....

Mike


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

BonesCJ said:


> Local fish store, you can also find them at some online retailers, sometimes they are called marble snails but their latin name is neritina reclivita.
> try this dealer
> http://www.aquaticplantdepot.com/missnail.html


thanks for the link!

James


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

good info here! 

of course it turns out i can't find any of these critters at my local stores--part of it i think is a lack of labeling. 

so, i'm still hunting, and when i find something, it'll have plenty to eat!


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## John (Sep 7, 2003)

Thank you for your help. I will see what I can do.


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