advice for beginner

[LisaLQ]

Hi folks,

We've got 3 aquariums running at the moment, one 6ft tank (oscar, vieja intermedium, silver dollars, clown loaches - not suitable for snails), a Vision 180 with smaller fish (neons, glowlights, cories - but also housing my two juvenile plecs temporarily until they find new homes/go back to the fish shop *sob*), and one 4ft which is going to be our planted tank (others have fake plants in them).

What we were thinking of doing was adding a couple of snails to our planted tank - but obviously not ones who'll ravage the plants - the trustworthy kind (according to seller on Ebay those are nerites and trumpets).

Obviously we need more info and advice about suitable snails. Once my plecs have found new homes, my Vision 180 will also be snail safe - and with no plants in there, veggie snails could go in there.

But for the planted tank - are there really any snails safe to keep in there? I liked the idea of the nerite snails, because they dont tend to breed much apparently, but the sites I've seen about them all say they're marine?

So basically, aquatic snail wise, we dont know a thing about them, but would like to - what do you recommend?

Ta muchly,

Lisa
xx

[Darren Willis]

Hi Lisa

well now where do I begin lol , okay lets address the Nerites first.

Depending on the Nerite depends on whether they are Marine or Freshwater in a sense , to be honest I haven't seen many Marine only Nerites. A lot of nerites will live happily in freshwater , now it does seem that they will only breed in brackish water .... from what i understand they are very hard to breed. We have a few nerites and we only have freshwater tanks , obviously they haven't bred but what they do is lay little tiny eggs all over the place , on the glass , other snails backs , rocks , filters , ornaments LOL ... they can be a pain to get off the glass too ... like little sesame seeds stuck fast ... that is the only downside to them in my opinion. They are peaceful and ours has never eaten a plant.

I may be able to get hold of some for you if you like , let me know and I'll find out a price etc. (might take a week or two to get the info as the woman who I deal with is extremely busy and snails are only a hobby to her , I don't deal with the person that you are probably refering to.)

Now other none plant eating snails .... to my knowledge common ramshorns don't really eat plants .. well in my experience anyway , they'll climb all over them but I have never personally seen one eating a plant. You can get these in red (moderately rare) , brown (ultra common) and blue (ultra rare) ... these are not the big columbian ramshorns (Marisa , these ones do eat plants for sure). Janet (Snail Trail) or Caroline (Luvfishies) will be able to give more detail on these as I think they both currently have these as I don't.

Another option is the lovely Bridgesii , available in a multitude of colours and if fed regular they won't hurt your plants ... they'll climb over them and jump off them but as a rule won't eat them. I think Janet may well have some for sale actually , we're currently out of stock and I'd buy off Janet every time over anyone else on ebay .... I'm sure she'll be happy to provide a list of what she has available.

Now as for the unplanted tank , I would definately go for Canaliculata's as they really are fabulous .. not much colour choice but they are huge and great to watch ... only thing is you will need to keep on top of eggs as a good Cana clutch could see you with hundreds of babies and a Vision 180 aint gonna house em all LOL.

Another plant eater which I consider a beauty is the Asolene Spixi , very very cute and very nosy ... always getting into everyones business lol. They don't grow very big and are just adorable.

I can supply you with Cana's and Spixi should you decide on those for the Vision 180 at a later date.

I should think there will be more advice from the others when they see this thread , hope I've been able to answer some Q's for you.

Cheers

Daz

[SnailTrail]

Hi Lisa,

As Daz mentioned I have some ramshorns but they are so small i'm not able to tell if they are browns, reds or blues yet. I'm hoping they are blues as I bought them as blue clutches from the states.

I have some bridgesii for sale (thanks for the compliment Daz....i've bought off Linda and Daz several times now and they really are the business ;D). I usually have various colours...striped purple, striped pinkish, striped gold, striped brown, blue and ivory. If you PM me letting me know what colours you're after i'll check what I have.

Janet

[LisaLQ]

Thanks so much for both of your advice - I'll pop back later on to read it properly (sorry - in the middle of bathtime/bedtime and I'm not supposed to be online!)...but thank you so much - is much appreciated

[LisaLQ]

Right, thanks so much for all the advice - sorry it took me so long to reply but have been trying to sort out who's going where tank wise.

Hubby's not keen on the idea of snails in the planted tank now - and as the tanks are technically his, I'm not going to push it *lol*

But when the Vision 180 is plec free, I'd definitely be interested in a Cana and/or Spixi - I dont know which would be best, or whether one or a pair is better - but as we've still got the plecs at the moment, there's no rush.

I'll have to go and have a look at some piccies on here now ;D

Thanks again for all the help, advice and things - it's much appreciated