Apple Snails?

[LondonguyJ]

I have noticed that whenever I clean my aquarium glass (weekly during water change) I get a faint algae bloom that usually lasts about 30-1hour and have been reading up on snails as a means to combat this.

I have been offered two juvenile apple snails. One pink/purple and the other golden. My question is should I quarantine them for the standard two weeks or can I introduce them right away?

J

 

[Winterlily]

The kind of apple snails you're likely talking about, given the colors, are usually called "mystery snails" (p. bridgesii/diffusa) and they aren't gonna help you much with algae. Only the very young ones really eat much algae - the adults don't very much. They mostly help as a clean-up crew for uneaten food on the bottom - not with algae. Be better off with some nerites - they do an amazing job of algae-cleaning.

 

[fishyfeet]

i agree, or a bristlenose plec.

 

[LondonguyJ]

i agree, or a bristlenose plec.

Cheers guys

I went ahead and got a gold, ivory, and pink/purple (similar pattern to the pattern to the one in your avi winterlilly) and they were added after a week of quarantine. The smallest of the three thinks he's a fish and likes to hang onto frog bit and be pushed around the surface courtesy of the spray bar but thats a whole other thread.