are snails good for a tank?

Question

freshwater

OR WHAT FISHwill eat the food stuck at the bottom

i have 2 loach
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/photos/b/botia_histronica_03.JPG/image_preview

2 small clown plecos
http://www.aquarticles.com/images/Fish%20Stores%20Canada/Aquarium%20Services/p-54%20Clown%20pleco%20wild.jpg

but they dont eat the food at the bottom
i also have one sword tail
4platty


also might as well get two questions out

can i get a black ghost knife fish
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=857

its a 30gal tank
or an eel

Answer 1

The Loach you have is probably a Yo-yo Loach, they will eat the snails. The Yo-yos do actually eat the food that falls to the gravel, but no fish or snail eats poop. For that, you have to do a gravel vacuuming. Snails will eat the algae and any extra food, but will be eaten by the Loaches. If you want a good shrimp to eat algae and any other excess food, try the Red Cherry Shrimp. Ghost Shrimp don't eat algae, just extra food.

For the Knife, absolutely not. They can get up to 2 feet long and will eat your other fish. This site helps a lot http://fishlesscycling.com/forum/index.php.

Nosoop4u

If you do get snails, the Loaches will keep them in check and you won't have any issues. Algae Eaters only eat algae when they are young. As they mature, they attack slow moving fish and eat their slime coats, leading to infections and death.

No matter what, you are going to end up with babies (unless you have a Mystery Snail). Ramshorn Snails will multiply, but provide a food source for your Loaches. The snails multiply a little faster than the Yo-yos can eat them, but you will not have issues with too many snails.

Answer 2

Snails have there ups and downs like everything, the downside is they do multiply very quickly and they will crowd the tank quick, also if you have any real plants in the aquarium they will eat the plants if they arent getting enough food else where, but the upside is its good when they multiply because some fish will eat them as a tasty snack, and not all snails will eat plants.

Answer 3

You already got answers for the other questions about the Ghost Knife the answer is NO

it will get up to 20" and even more and will need a big tank, they are very hard to feed also. But the answer is no.

Answer 4

Agreed. Snails do so little actual cleaning that they are not worth the eventual mess they cause by asexual reproduction and before you know it, you have hundreds of them everywhere. Additionally, plecos, loaches, snails and all other bottom feeders do not eat poop at all and they only really eat some algae and very little of the leftover food that collects on the substrate. The two best remedies to alleve the collection of detritus on the substrate is to (1) remove all uneaten food after 5 minutes; and (2) do regular, weekly cleanings of the substrate by siphoning out the detritus.

No, you can't get any more fish, especially the fish that you've mentioned, as long as you only have the 30 gallon. Those are clown loach that you have and they will grow up to 12 inches as adults and need 50 gallons of water for one fish. Your plecos are not "dwarf clowns." There is no such thing. Your plecos look like tiger plecos, but there are several striped plecos, but regardless, plecos require 30 gallons of water each. They may be small now, but they will grow and be laying all over each other as full-grown adults.

Answer 5

NO. DO NOT GET SNAILS.
I don't care how many people tell you they clean the tank, they do not. All they do is constitute a nuisance. I got a real plant for my tank and there were a few snails on it that I didn't know where there, and they multiplied like crazy. Eventually the clogged our filter. They are very very very hard to get rid of. Get an algae eater!

Answer 6

you can get mystery snails they clean algae and eat left over food u dont have to worry about having hundreds because there seprate sexes heres a site on them http://www.applesnail.net/ they also come in a wide variety of colors

Answer 7

You don't want to over crowd the fish...I think you are only supposed to have 5-6 small to medium sized fish for a 30 gal. tank...and yes, snails are good for cleaning the tank...

Answer 8

I would go with the snails because they will clean the bottom of the tank. For a 30 gallon i would recommend 4 snails.

Answer 9

I have always heard that snails are good for cleaning a freshwater tank. I think they are supposed to eat the algae

Answer 10

most say yes some say no you have to decide if you get snails have will you get rid of them so may a loach isnt bad after all...

good luck