Snails for 1g tank??

I'm setting up a 1g shrimp tank for a friend tomorrow, and they want snails. I know mystery and nirite snails are too big, I was thinking pest snails but they are beginners so I wouldn't want them to deal with a snail explosion. Any ideas? Should I get a pest snail and an assassin snail??

any snail is going to explode in population in any tank. also, snails and shrimps basically eats the same categories of food - algae and detritus. that's usually not an issue for normal sized tanks but for such a tiny tank, they will compete for food. ask your friend to upgrade to a larger tank and/or heavily plant the tank so there are more surfaces like plant leaves for shrimps and snails to graze on. when you get plants, chances are, you will get a few bladder snail or malaysian trumpet hitchhikers for free.

MouldyMilk said:

any snail is going to explode in population in any tank. also, snails and shrimps basically eats the same categories of food - algae and detritus. that's usually not an issue for normal sized tanks but for such a tiny tank, they will compete for food. ask your friend to upgrade to a larger tank and/or heavily plant the tank so there are more surfaces like plant leaves for shrimps and snails to graze on. when you get plants, chances are, you will get a few bladder snail or malaysian trumpet hitchhikers for free.

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I wish they could get a bigger tank but they originally had a very very abused Betta with pink gravel, didn't have a filter and I only did a water change when I pets at there dog, which was every 3 months so when I tested the ammonia the level of ammonia was of the chart. The sickest Betta I've ever seen. They want another Betta for that tank but I won't let that happen so I told them shrimp would be better. We are getting lots of live plants and hardscape for it. I have lots of pest snails in my tanks, could I pet some of those in there then get an assassin snail? If not that's fine.

BettaFishGirl said:

I wish they could get a bigger tank but they originally had a very very abused Betta with pink gravel, didn't have a filter and I only did a water change when I pets at there dog, which was every 3 months so when I tested the ammonia the level of ammonia was of the chart. The sickest Betta I've ever seen. They want another Betta for that tank but I won't let that happen so I told them shrimp would be better. We are getting lots of live plants and hardscape for it. I have lots of pest snails in my tanks, could I pet some of those in there then get an assassin snail? If not that's fine.

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make sure they properly cycle their tank and wait for plants to grow in before adding anything. and use that time to convince them not to add any more live stock and move the betta to a bigger tank.

MouldyMilk said:

make sure they properly cycle their tank and wait for plants to grow in before adding anything. and use that time to convince them not to add any more live stock and move the betta to a bigger tank.

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We are (unfortunately) doing a fish in cycle because they ( their kids ) want the shrimp now, so I will add lots of tetra safe start, so hopefully it will be cycled immediately. I will also be adding some of my mature filter media. Sadly you better has already passed due to being abused and sick for 5 years, and only having a water change every 3 months.

I will probably call me use the snails that will probably come on the plants.

Any common pond snail will do or Ramshorn snails . If they get a big population boom then compliment them on their superior snail husbandry skills .

Back in the fold said:

Any common pond snail will do or Ramshorn snails . If they get a big population boom then compliment them on their superior snail husbandry skills .

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Then I will just do that. One more question: do shrimp eat snails eggs? I know my ghost shrimp do but idk about cherry shrimp.

I do not know anything about shrimp but I think I’ve heard they are good little bottom scavengers . Snail eggs being mostly on vertically oriented glass and plant surfaces might be safe but I would leave a definitive answer to that to someone who knows for sure .

Honestly, I'll be surprised if they keep the shrimp alive for long. Shrimp can be really sensitive little critters. I'm glad you were able to talk them out of putting another betta in there. I would be angry with them except that at least they were amenable to being somewhat educated about their terrible husbandry. People don't usually like to think that they've been cruel and will often stick their fingers in their ears when you tell them that the way they've been their fish or other animals is terrible, regardless of how diplomatically you put it. Although the fact that they put the instant gratification of their kids above the welfare of live animals . . . well, that's not the most admirable thing. Nothing wrong with kids learning that animals are not toys. Doing it right requires research and set up time. Sorry, I know I'm preaching to the choir here. I am really glad you were able to talk at least some sense into them.

Just a suggestion . . . if the shrimp don't work out, maybe they would be willing to try triops. Those things are super cool. Even my husband who is mostly uninterested in aquatic creatures, would stand around just watching them. Also, they grow really fast, which is also cool to watch. They do need sand to bury eggs in, so it might require a different setup, but it's possibly something to consider.

Or sea monkeys. They are less cool than triops but as far as being okay in 1g of water, I think they're mostly fine and still fairly interesting for a kid to watch.

I was beyond angry when I saw the betta... He had none if his fins left and brown fungi was covering him, and a patch of scales were torn off, you could almost see the bone. The ammonia reading was crazy (I took a pic of it). When the Betta (the MALE Betta was named Minnie) passed, they were away and told me that they will have to get a "replacement Betta" for their daughter. I kindly told them the care requirements of bettas.

The triops are really cool! I just looked them up. Are they fresh or saltwater? I raised sea monkeys once and they are cool, so those or the triops would be great plan B. But right now they are sold on the shrimp.

FW Nerites are good for really small tanks. They're tiny, don't breed in fw except with a lot of deliberate care for it, and frequently kept as snails in shrimp tanks. All Nerites require high KH and pH though and you have to be a bit cautious with species since sometimes there are more strictly brackish to saltwater species sold in fw and they will jump ship and risk dying repeatedly until you put them in the right water. I've kept Theodoxus species in tiny tanks with shrimp in the 1gal range (might have been more like 1.5; I don't recall eactly as it was many years ago, but it was a quite small desktop tank with java fern and minimal water flow). I've kept Theodoxus by themselves in 0.5gal.

MouldyMilk said:

any snail is going to explode in population in any tank.

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Absolutely not true. Many species don't reproduce in smaller aquariums without a lot of special care. Some can't reproduce in normal aquariums at all.
EDIT: will add even some "pest" species won't explode in population if the conditions are off from what they need. Some Planorbis are actually pretty finicky to maintain. The main culprits for population booms are Physa, Helisoma anceps, and MTS when there is serious detritus issue (otherwise they can often exist in the substrate totally unnotcied and you never have to worry about them if the food is in balance)

Donya said:

FW Nerites are good for really small tanks. They're tiny, don't breed in fw except with a lot of deliberate care for it, and frequently kept as snails in shrimp tanks. All Nerites require high KH and pH though and you have to be a bit cautious with species since sometimes there are more strictly brackish to saltwater species sold in fw and they will jump ship and risk dying repeatedly until you put them in the right water. I've kept Theodoxus species in tiny tanks with shrimp in the 1gal range (might have been more like 1.5; I don't recall eactly as it was many years ago, but it was a quite small desktop tank with java fern and minimal water flow). I've kept Theodoxus by themselves in 0.5gal.


Absolutely not true. Many species don't reproduce in smaller aquariums without a lot of special care. Some can't reproduce in normal aquariums at all.
EDIT: will add even some "pest" species won't explode in population if the conditions are off from what they need. Some Planorbis are actually pretty finicky to maintain. The main culprits for population booms are Physa, Helisoma anceps, and MTS when there is serious detritus issue (otherwise they can often exist in the substrate totally unnotcied and you never have to worry about them if the food is in balance)

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Would the nerites create too big of a bioload for the 1 gallon? I read that they need at least 3 gallons but I'm sure they would like the patterns.

I have bladder and ramshorn snail who are breeding regularly in my planted tanks who are breeding regularly, but they would not breed as much or at all of they are in a smaller tank with less food?

BettaFishGirl said:

I have bladder and ramshorn snail who are breeding regularly in my planted tanks who are breeding regularly, but they would not breed as much or at all of they are in a smaller tank with less food?

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If the bladder snails are Physa acuta, they easily get out of control unless there is a predator. They are pretty riddiculous in their capacity to become a pest. For ramshorns, it depends on the species. Helisoma anceps typically reproduces readily, but I have kept them both as cleaners in small tanks and bred them at riddiculous rates in other tanks as a food source. They will pretty much always lay eggs, but the offspring will be subject to more attrition in a food-controlled environment. This of course assumes any plants have pretty tough leaves and are in tip top shape - if there is any mushy vegetation to get a hold of they will suddenly have a great food source. Planorbis and Planorbella species IME are less likely to have population booms although again not impossible if there's suddenly vegetation rot.