FishPerson

I want to add an apple snail to my 10 gal. tank, and was wondering if this was a good idea. I also heard that they come in various colors, and was wondering if these were rare as i would like to add a fancy snail to my tank if I can. Thanx!

Wolfgang8810

sure why not they arent rare but some are pretty colorful another one you might check out is a mystery snail. apple snails and mystery snails are heterosexual so you wont have an over population at all

0morrokh

Big no-no, Apple snails get HUGE (think baseball size). You could get a snail that stays smaller such as a Mystery Snail. Just be aware that they produce a lot of waste so should be counted as a few inches of bioload for the tank.

Drea

I had an apple snail named Butch for about a year. He was very messy. I was finding slime=ewwwwe everywhere. I had to do more cleaning on the tank, he never did clean all the algae, just what he felt like. He was about the size of a golf ball.

COBettaCouple

We thought about an apple snail for our 1st 10g tank, until we saw one at the store and was he BIG! This one was softball sized and I figure more at home in a 55g tank.

FishPerson

so what would be a good thing for waste control in my 10 gal. tank?

Barbrella

What kind of waste are you talking about? If it's leftover fish food, poop, etc, a gravel vacuum is your best choice.

FishPerson

right now, i have one of those vacuums that you have to go up and down with first, until the flow is going. is this okay, or should i get a more electric one?

MasterShake2003

yes, from my experience, a siphon vacuum is fine, especially for a 10 gal. When you do your water changes, suck up as much of the crud from the gravel as you can until 20-30% or so of the water has been taken out of the tank. Then replace the water with fresh, dechlorinated water.

Hope I didn't just tell you a lot of stuff you already know

King_Snuggles

I have found that ghost shrimp eat all of my leftover food.

Kiwwi

If you get any snails I would suggest a Mystery Snail. They look nice and do a good job cleaning my gravel, glass, and driftwood. It's true about the waste they produce I see em pooping a lot.

lovemyfroggies

Ghost shrimp do a great job picking up messes on the bottom and they are cheap.

FishPerson

do the shrimp count as any space taken from my tank, or are they pretty much like having 0"?

FishPerson

but then again, i think im gunna get some kuhli loaches, so i think problem solved?

0morrokh

What other fish do you have in the tank? Kuhlis get pretty big, and you don't want the tank to be overstocked.

Yeah a couple shrimp have a negligible bioload.

FishPerson

one dwarf gourami.

FishPerson

so could i have a couple of kuhli loaches, a dwarf gourami, and one or two ghost shrimp, or would that be taking away from the food at the bottom for the kuhlis?

King_Snuggles

there is alwayse algy waffers if you are thinking that your bottom feeders are not getting enough to eat.