Guppy eating snails’ food

Hello! My girlfriend has a 5 gallon tank which she has kept some Ramshorn snails in for several months. She feeds them sinking pellets. A couple weeks ago, she got a single guppy to add something a bit more fun into the tank. She feeds the guppy floating flakes. Recently, the guppy found out the he could eat the flakes and then also go down and eat the snail food too. So he’s been eating the majority of the snail food along with his flakes. She’s noticed a few dead baby snails and thinks that it is due to the guppy taking their food, starving them. Has anyone ever dealt with this before? How could she feed the snails without the guppy eating the food? Thanks

 

How is your tank set up? Do you have a lot of live plants and algae in your tank?

 

What kind of pellets? Ramshorn snails would like something like zucchini or other vegetables rather than pellets. And the other fish shouldn’t want to eat a slice of zucchini

 

Ramshorn snails will also eat plant debris and decaying matter in your tank. If it is heavily planted with live plants, you may not have to feed the pellets and opt for veggies instead as AggressiveAquatics said.

 

How is your tank set up? Do you have a lot of live plants and algae in your tank?

No plants as they tend to bite little holes in the leaves. Not much algae at the moment because it’s a fairly new setup. I have them in my 50gal and they seem to like the algae so I was thinking that this might be part of the problem. It’s just a 5 gallon tank with the basic hood leds, heater, and hob filter

What kind of pellets? Ramshorn snails would like something like zucchini or other vegetables rather than pellets. And the other fish shouldn’t want to eat a slice of zucchini

I believe they’re api bottom feeder pellets if I’m not mistaken.

 

Recently, the guppy found out the he could eat the flakes and then also go down and eat the snail food too. So he’s been eating the majority of the snail food along with his flakes. She’s noticed a few dead baby snails and thinks that it is due to the guppy taking their food, starving them.

Guppies are gluttons and will eat anything that can fit in their mouths and they will snails I have guppies so I can say this from personal experience.

 

What kind of pellets? Ramshorn snails would like something like zucchini or other vegetables rather than pellets. And the other fish shouldn’t want to eat a slice of zucchini

Wellllll

:lol:

My Endlers love veggies. Cooked and mushy or sliced thin and raw. Whatever we eat on any given day, they likely get a bite. They love dragonfruit. Oddly enough, the seeds sprout in my substrate. In a brackish tank at 1.018 ppt, which the large females then eat too.