OnlyGenusCaps Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 As I set up a tank to take another, hopefully more successful, stab at pupfish, I am considering what snail I want in the tank with them. I'd considered using my rabbit snails as all of the information on the net suggest they like the warm (27C) and hard, high pH water they will be in. Part of the appeal of rabbit snails is I have found them woefully unhelpful at controlling hair algae - which I have learned I need in this tank to get breeding success with this species. However, I seem to recall @Tihshho (pardon though if my memory has failed me here) mentioning that by experience they breed better in cooler water. And I have gotten my first baby rabbit snail in an unheated tub in my tank space - further supporting that information. This has me reconsidering using the rabbit snails in this tank. Are there any other snails that don't breed to excess, which can handle the conditions I'm about to throw at them, and are both poor algae eaters as well as gentle on plants? @Guppysnail, and ideas? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 What are you looking for in a snail for this tank? I think Mystery snails would be fine with 27 degrees and would like high Ph and hardness. I’ve never seen them eat hair algae but they will eat other types of algae. Nerites will eat hair algae (God bless them) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) Mystery snails are perfect for this. They are lousy at hair algae and well most algae. I have kept them at 79 ph 7.8-8.2 hard water with no issues. Reproduction is sacs above water easily removed. The key in keeping them healthy at higher temps is food. Lots of food and veggies. Their metabolism goes through the roof. This big boy is 9 months in the hand and lid pic and that was last year. He still thrives though is now at 75 degrees the past 6 months. They grow bigger at higher temps. Yes he is a standard mystery not an invasive. I have his offspring still at over a year old sporting an algae hair do. At those temp if they run out of food especially magnesium containing food they pass because their metabolism is so high. My olive nerite Nemo will not touch hair algae ever or BBA. The other 5 olives I bought recently hold true to no hair. The zebra nerites and tiger ones are hair and BBA algae machines though. I have kept them in 79 with zero noticeable affect. My olive Nemo is approaching 2 years. The other snails I have experience with are considered pests to most and will overpopulate. I hope that helps. when I say big I mean over 3 inches at high temps. CARAMEL LAST YEAR ARAMEL LAST WEEK AND TODAY. FLUVAL INTAKE AND BAMBOO FOR SIZE top back center His daughter also at 79 Edited July 11, 2022 by Guppysnail 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 I’ll admit to liking regular old pond or bladder snails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) Oh I should mention using green veggies also creates in tank infusoria. And snail digestion is so poor micro fauna flourish. My egg laying fry survival all but doubles in tanks with mystery snails and veggies. @Torrey recently tried my veggie method and tested diligently to prove it’s no different if the critters eat the veggies then the bio filter eats the waste or if the tank eats the decaying veggie. No ammonia spikes etc. Josh’s Frogs also has a quick article on in tank infusoria using veggies left in tanks for excess time. I do pull them at 24 hours if any are left. This may assist your pupfish. Edited July 11, 2022 by Guppysnail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share Posted July 12, 2022 Thanks, @_Eric_ and @Guppysnail for the suggestions! On 7/11/2022 at 2:10 PM, Patrick_G said: I’ll admit to liking regular old pond or bladder snails. 😝 No way, sir! I generally don't like those species, and related to that, I ended up with ramshorn snails last time and they might have been the source of the parasite that killed off all my fish in the tank and then swept into other tanks. So, I am particularly paranoid in this instance. On 7/11/2022 at 2:21 PM, Guppysnail said: Oh I should mention using green veggies also creates in tank infusoria. And snail digestion is so poor micro fauna flourish. My egg laying fry survival all but doubles in tanks with mystery snails and veggies. Now that's interesting! I'll admit that in my mind snails should generally be better at taking care of themselves, so your description of the feeding that was necessary was not making mystery snails sound so great (despite my general interest in trying them overall - so many morphs!). But the infusoria thing is interesting, although perhaps worth doing in another tank and then adding it like green water when I have fry... I'll admit, I am still considering rabbit snails... They are so aweful at eating algae, but they seem really good at scrounging for food on their own, to the point they slowly breed that way. Hmm... Conundrums. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 I'll be honest - I've never really fed mystery snails individually. I usually have some algae eaters around so I do drop an algae wafer or Repashy in there to keep those guys fed and the snails seems to enjoy the leftovers. Between that, dead plant leaves, and leftover pellets/flakes, they have seemed like happy long living snails. I like the idea of creating some microfauna so I may have to look the green vegetables - did not know about that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 On 7/12/2022 at 9:47 AM, _Eric_ said: I'll be honest - I've never really fed mystery snails individually. I usually have some algae eaters around so I do drop an algae wafer or Repashy in there to keep those guys fed and the snails seems to enjoy the leftovers. Between that, dead plant leaves, and leftover pellets/flakes, they have seemed like happy long living snails. I like the idea of creating some microfauna so I may have to look the green vegetables - did not know about that. At lower temps mine do not eat/need near as much. At the Higher temps they did not thrive and withered without supplemental feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 It may just be evidence that I'm an overfeeder. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 @Guppysnail I've seen it said that at higher temps mysteries also grow a thinner shell. Has this been your experience? Or is it not thinner enough to cause issues? My takeaway was anything over 76 and the shells get thin enough to be a health risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 On 7/12/2022 at 12:50 PM, Katherine said: @Guppysnail I've seen it said that at higher temps mysteries also grow a thinner shell. Has this been your experience? Or is it not thinner enough to cause issues? My takeaway was anything over 76 and the shells get thin enough to be a health risk. Not my experience. My big guy is an armored tank. He came out to visit me one time and missed his grip on the intake hump and fell to the floor and bounced. No damage I picked him up and he cruised my hand as normal. It may be because I was aware of the ramped up metabolism and need for excess supplementation of food, magnesiu And calcium though. His daughters shell is rock solid as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 On 7/12/2022 at 11:53 AM, Guppysnail said: It may be because I was aware of the ramped up metabolism and need for excess supplementation of food, magnesiu And calcium though. That is a definite possibility. It's also possible that I misunderstood or misremembered. Thanks for sharing your experience! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 On 7/11/2022 at 3:21 PM, Guppysnail said: Oh I should mention using green veggies also creates in tank infusoria. And snail digestion is so poor micro fauna flourish. My egg laying fry survival all but doubles in tanks with mystery snails and veggies. @Torrey recently tried my veggie method and tested diligently to prove it’s no different if the critters eat the veggies then the bio filter eats the waste or if the tank eats the decaying veggie. No ammonia spikes etc. Josh’s Frogs also has a quick article on in tank infusoria using veggies left in tanks for excess time. I do pull them at 24 hours if any are left. This may assist your pupfish. I usually pull at 24 hours but I took a small trip and I was gone for 36 hrs and the snails had eaten the green bean completely and had a huge headstart on a second one that I convinced my husband to drop in there. I’m now wondering if I should just let them consume the green beans in their entirety, even if I takes a day and a half, or no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 @Chick-In-Of-TheSea I’ll DM you I don’t want to keep sidetrack ping this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 On 7/12/2022 at 6:25 PM, Guppysnail said: I don’t want to keep sidetrack ping this thread You are doing no such thing. It's been in interesting and informative discussion. As far as I am concerned, you, @Chick-In-Of-TheSea, @Katherine, and anyone else, should feel free to keep right on chatting here. Thanks for the generous input you are always willing to provide to everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) Ok well then I will share the answer 😁 For my snails I leave the veggies in the tank until they are gone or get fuzzy sometimes after 48 hours a missed piece that floated off the food dish will grow fuzz. Snails and shrimp love them the mushier they get. The more they “rot”. The more my microfauna thrives. My water under a microscope it teaming with yummy things. I even put a new free swimming eyelash size CPD fry in a tank. I didn’t see it the next day so never fed it only wafers and veggies in the tank. I seen it at 3 weeks and she was a FAT little bug. This is different in new tanks. The veggies grow massive biofilm and fuzz much quicker. Edited July 13, 2022 by Guppysnail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 @OnlyGenusCaps check out these guys. I ran across them looking for info on mine. Best suited for high 70s low 80s temps. Taia naticoides. Piano snail. Live bearer slow reproducer. I did not go down the hole to see how they do with leaving hair algae be though. Just seen the preferred temps. Plus I’m stuck on unique snails ATM 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 Ok. I’m back on my snail lady kick this happens every few years 🤷♀️ white wizard snails.Filopaludina martensi A guy at my local club posted them. I contacted to get them…working on it I want these! These are awesome up to 82 degrees lousy at algae eating. Scavenge like mystery snails but can tolerate higher temps with just a wafer here and there maybe occasional veg. They also filter feed! 😍 VERY slow reproduction, livebearer. Must have male and female to reproduce image from the net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 On 7/13/2022 at 3:56 PM, Guppysnail said: Taia naticoides Those are stripy and amazing! I love it. Plus the description sounds pretty useful: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/taia_naticoides_en/ On 7/13/2022 at 7:03 PM, Guppysnail said: Filopaludina martensi I could be convinced of these too, especially if they are easier to come by. https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/filopaludina-siamopaludina-martensi-cambodjensis/ I love all of these snail options you are coming up with, @Guppysnail. Very impressive! Thanks! I also enjoy the livebearing snails, so this is pretty cool. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 @OnlyGenusCaps Filopaludina martensi The guy from my local club that posted these owns his own fish store about 2 hours from me. He said he usually has these in stock 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 On 7/14/2022 at 4:10 AM, Guppysnail said: He said he usually has these in stock Interesting... Indeed, tempting. Hmm.... 🤔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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