Platies eating ALL the snail food

[CA Archer]

I am new to having Platies and snails. I have a 20g planted tank with 3 Nerites, a few bladder snails and currently 4 Platies. My tank has very little algae so I have been trying to provide my snails with algae wafers to make sure they get enough to eat. But no matter how much I feed the Platies first they will gobble up all the food I put out for the snails. The other day they ate so much that they all had big, bloated bellies, they quite literally looked like they were going to burst. What can I do to keep the Platies from eating the snail food? I am a bit concerned the snails will end up dying due to not having enough food

 

[outofwater]

I'd assume that if you use a feeding ring of sorts and put flakes for the platties they might get distracted enough to let the wafers sink and your snails clamp to them. Have you tried something like that? Or maybe blanch a couple slices of cucumbers and toss those in close enough for the snails to "claim" them.

 

[Colin_T]

I wouldn't bother feeding snails but if you have to, try dropping an algae wafer in a few hours after the lights are turned off. The fish should be asleep and the snails can eat.
Remove uneaten food asap so it doesn't cause ammonia spikes.

 

[Slaphppy7]

There is absolutely no need to feed any kind of FW aquarium snail it's own food

They are scavengers...and, they aren't picky...if you have fish in the tank, and you feed fish food, the snails will have all they need

They'll feed on all sorts of things in the tank...algae, infusoria, plant detritus, etc....no matter your feeding schedule for your fish

Aquarium snails never starve for food...and many times, they get so much food that they breed prolifically

 

[CA Archer]

There is absolutely no need to feed any kind of FW aquarium snail it's own food

They are scavengers...and, they aren't picky...if you have fish in the tank, and you feed fish food, the snails will have all they need

They'll feed on all sorts of things in the tank...algae, infusoria, plant detritus, etc....no matter your feeding schedule for your fish

Aquarium snails never starve for food...and many times, they get so much food that they breed prolifically

Thank you for your reply! I had no idea that they would eat other things in the tank besides the algae. Seems like everything I have read said that Nerites would only eat algae, not plant detritus or fish food. Certainly makes life a whole lot easier not worrying that they will starve, they have done a wonderful job of keeping my tank and plants clean.

 

[CA Archer]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Good to know I don't have to worry about them. I was wondering why they never seemed interested in anything I put in there for them, guess now I know why, they are not hungry

 

[Slaphppy7]

Thank you for your reply! I had no idea that they would eat other things in the tank besides the algae. Seems like everything I have read said that Nerites would only eat algae, not plant detritus or fish food. Certainly makes life a whole lot easier not worrying that they will starve, they have done a wonderful job of keeping my tank and plants clean.

More than welcome...