# Ghost shrimp for snail control?



## khoile (Jan 27, 2005)

Hi,

Will ghost shrimp eat snails? or maybe snail eggs? I am thinking of getting 10, they're cheap, to cleanup uneaten food and maybe some snail in the process.

Thanks,
Khoi


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## danmhippo (Feb 3, 2005)

They are opportunistic feeder and I wouldn't be surprised if they will eat snail eggs, but that's only if they can get to them.

Many snails lay eggs higher up in leaves or on the glass, and I don't find many ghost shrimps of mine that frequent those places. As far as live snails, I don't recall seeing them turning over snails. But you can surely give it a try and let us know.

For snails, I think Dwarf Puffers are a very good choice. I got 2 in my 10G and I have to beg for free snails from my LFS to supplement their diet.


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## Desolas (May 9, 2004)

IMO, no, they do not control snails. They may consume some, but their general impact is so low you won't notice.

They are really good at cleaning everything else however and they are a great (and cheap) addition to any tank. I had added 55 to my 20L and they did an amazing job of keeping the substrate cleaner, as well as disrupting any algae that was forming on the substrate.

My tank was also heavily populated in the "Malaysian Burrowing Snails", and a smaller algae eating snail, neither of which had their population effected by the amount of shrimp I had. The shrimp did consume any dead adult snails, but left all of the smaller and more easily picked off snails alone.

I'd still get them though, Ghost Shrimp IMO are awesome and nearly as cool as Amano Shrimp. They do a much better job of general cleanup also, and they are inexpensive to replace as they tend to be short lived.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

The answer is maybe 

I've personally seen ghost shrimp picking at snail egg clusters. I've also heard they may eat baby snails.

Every time I've added ghost shrimp to a tank, I've noticed a reduction in the pond snail population. I can't say for sure if this was due to egg eating/snail eating/competition for food/coincidence.

They don't seem to affect Malaysian Trumpet snails at all, but these are normally considered desirable.

The ghost shrimp are cheap, and fun little creatures. Try it. Let us know what happens.

Note that they tend to die in a few weeks unless they have a trace of iodine. Iodine deficiency is visible - they'll start turning cloudy white. Two drops of Kent Tech-1 Iodine per water change does the trick in my 10 gallon.

-DarkCobra


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## GTApuffgal (Feb 7, 2005)

*Ghost Shrimp*

Just be aware - don't know about the mollies, but the Betta will quite likely make them a snack...

Kathy


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## jhoetzl (Feb 7, 2005)

danmhippo said:


> For snails, I think Dwarf Puffers are a very good choice. I got 2 in my 10G and I have to beg for free snails from my LFS to supplement their diet.


Be careful with these little guys...they might make snacks of some of the other fish in your tank...but they are fun to watch in the right environment.

You might want to try some loaches...a bit easier on the community, and most will readily eat small snails.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

I can conclusively say that No, ghost shrimp definately do NOT eat trumpet snails. I have a 1 gallon tank that I kept about 16 ghost shrimp and 1 trumpet snail in for months. Not once did they bother him. 
I wouldn't be surprised however, if they ate the eggs, or the baby snails, since it might just be too good to pass up. I have seen them eat newborn baby guppies, even though they were well fed.
-Aphyosemion


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## Veneer (Jan 18, 2005)

Aphyosemion said:


> I can conclusively say that No, ghost shrimp definately do NOT eat trumpet snails. I have a 1 gallon tank that I kept about 16 ghost shrimp and 1 trumpet snail in for months. Not once did they bother him.
> I wouldn't be surprised however, if they ate the eggs, or the baby snails, since it might just be too good to pass up. I have seen them eat newborn baby guppies, even though they were well fed.
> -Aphyosemion


Trumpet snails (_Melanoides_) are *extremely* resilient - most non-chemical extermination methods will prove ineffective.



> Subclass Prosobranchia
> 
> Family Thiaridae
> 
> ...


[From http://www.applesnail.net/content/snails_various.php#Thiaridae]

In addition, these snails do not externally deposit eggs (essentially precluding aquarist prevention of further population recruitment); rather, they are incubated in an internal brood pouch, rendering _Melanoides_ essentially viviparous.

Trumpet snails begin to succumb from thermal stress at a water temperature of 50° C (~120° F): optimum temperature lies between 18° C and 25° C, though _Melanoides_ can tolerate significantly cooler conditions; trumpet snails thrive across a broad range of salinities (well past 30 ppt).

[Note: I posted this on another forum.]

Even large crayfish and _Macrobrachium_ find it difficult to consume trumpet snails - their shell structure, combined with their ownership of an operculum, makes it difficult for them to be crushed or prized out.


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## Veneer (Jan 18, 2005)

_Macrobrachium_ shrimp can prove an effective means of biological control for common "pond" and ramshorn snails; while larger forms will tend to consume fish in addition to mollusks, other species - _Macrobrachium lanchesteri_ in particular - are both community-suited and proven snail-consumers.

Images of _M. lanchesteri_:

See http://www.akwa.aip.pl/macrobrzdj.htm, http://www.aquamaniacs.net/forum/download.php?id=29, http://www.aquamaniacs.net/forum/download.php?id=30, and http://www.aquamaniacs.net/forum/download.php?id=31.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

GTApuffgal said:


> Just be aware - don't know about the mollies, but the Betta will quite likely make them a snack...


I've successfully kept ghost shrimp with a betta, but it really depends on the betta's disposition. Some bettas will eat baby pond snails too... it all depends on what they've learned to consider "food".

-DarkCobra


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## khoile (Jan 27, 2005)

My betta took a look at one ghost shrimp once, move on and never look back. I think I got a chicken betta, lol, even the cardinal can pick on him, and chase him around the tank. OH well, he's a nice looking fish and the red color really come up in a mostly green tank.


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