Should I get a nerite snail?

[Fishies4Ever]

I have a 10 gallon tank that is a bit overstocked. I have 4 neons, 6 black neons, 3 red and yellow von rio tetras, and 4 serpae tetras. I have two Amazon sword plants and a substrate of white sand and fluval plant substrate. I have been noticing a brown algae that grows on the glass and is in the sand, so I have been thinking about getting a nerite snail to help clean it up. Is it a good idea or not? Could I get two or would one just be better?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Nerites don't eat brown algae (which is actually diatoms, not algae)

I would be much more concerned about that stocking level in a 10G tank...especially only 4 serpae tetras...tank is much too small, and they are one of the most aggressive, fin-nipping fish in the hobby...particularly when kept in less than adequate numbers, in confined spaces

See "Behavior & Compatibility" here: https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/hyphessobrycon-eques/

Use a razor scraper to remove the diatoms from the glass

 

[Fishies4Ever]

Thank you!

 

[Slaphppy7]

More than welcome...do the rest of your fish a favor (and probably save their lives) by returning or rehoming the serpaes...

 

[sharkweek178]

You should address the root cause of the algae, which is excess light and/or nutrients. No animal can do that for you.

 

[Slaphppy7]

You should address the root cause of the algae, which is excess light and/or nutrients. No animal can do that for you.

More likely silicates from that white sand...once they are depleted (after many weekly WCs), they'll dissipate, and the brown "algae" will abate...

 

[Essjay]

Besides the issue of the serpaes being nippy fish, all your fish are shoaling species which need at least 10 of each species. A 10 gallon tank is way too small for 40+ fish.
And none of the fish are suitable for a 10 gallon tank which is 20 inches long x 10 inches wide.

Minimum tank sizes -
Neon tetras - at least 24 inches long and 12 inches wide
Black neon tetras - 30 x 12 inches
Von rio tetra (aka flame tetra) - 24 x 12 inches
Serpae tetra - 30 x 12 inches.

 

[Fishies4Ever]

More than welcome...do the rest of your fish a favor (and probably save their lives) by returning or rehoming the serpaes...

I have had these fish together for almost a year and they have all been doing great together. I am thinking about getting a second tank in the future that maybe I can just do serpae in there. For now I am going to get more plants soon so they can have more hiding places.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I have had these fish together for almost a year and they have all been doing great together. I am thinking about getting a second tank in the future that maybe I can just do serpae in there. For now I am going to get more plants soon so they can have more hiding places.

See post from @Essjay above; you need a bigger tank sooner rather than later, and I would still not keep serpae tetras with the other fish

The present setup may seem like they "are doing great together", but none of us can keep an eye on our tanks and fish behavior 24/7; lots of aggression can happen at nights, when lights out and the fish aggression is masked

 

[Fishies4Ever]

I just researched how to help get rid of diatoms and it says a nerite snail would help. The amount of fish I have is going to have to stay for the moment. I have a small room and not enough room for another tank. I am going to get more plants to help the other fish hide but for now the serpae are pretty calm and not harming the other fish.

 

[Essjay]

Fish don't just harm other fish by biting chunks out of them. They secrete hormones into the water which are read by other fish. If these hormones are aggression hormones, they impact the other fish in the tank and we can't see this happening.

All your fish will be stressed by being in small numbers. Studies have shown that shoaling fish need at least 10 members of the same species or they will show signs of stress.
Fish kept in a tank which is too small will be stressed.
Fish sharing a tank with other fish releasing aggression hormones will be stressed.

You can't see stress. But it does mean the fish will become sick more easily and will live shorter lives than they should.

 

[Fishies4Ever]

Wow that is fascinating that fish can do that I hadn’t realized. At the moment I can’t get another tank because I don’t have enough space sadly otherwise I would have a separate tank for each kind of fish. I guess my original question though was would a nerite snail do good in my tank to help clean the diatoms?

 

[Boundava]

As stated above, I believe it was the very first response to your question, the diatoms eat silica so once they are done eating the silica in your tank they will dissipate on their own. They are not an algae so the nerite snails would not eat them. You were going to be hard-pressed to find anything that will eat diatoms that will also fit in a 10 gallon with the stocking you currently have. The best advice given to you was to wait it out. If you want to you can use a algae scraper to scrape it off the glass and then clean it out with a water change but it's going to be hard to get it off your sand.

 

[BettaFishGirl]

I have a 10 gallon tank that is a bit overstocked. I have 4 neons, 6 black neons, 3 red and yellow von rio tetras, and 4 serpae tetras. I have two Amazon sword plants and a substrate of white sand and fluval plant substrate. I have been noticing a brown algae that grows on the glass and is in the sand, so I have been thinking about getting a nerite snail to help clean it up. Is it a good idea or not? Could I get two or would one just be better?

Yes you can probably get 1 or 2 nerite snails, but they don't eat brown algae, but try to re-home the serpea tetras since they are super aggressive and probably will/are nipping the fins of the other fish. If you have a LFS they will probably take them.

 

[sharkweek178]

I just researched how to help get rid of diatoms and it says a nerite snail would help. The amount of fish I have is going to have to stay for the moment. I have a small room and not enough room for another tank. I am going to get more plants to help the other fish hide but for now the serpae are pretty calm and not harming the other fish.

Algae is caused by an excess of light and/or nutrients. Which could be caused other factors than the sand.
One way to combat algae is to cut back on the duration and/or intensity of your tank's lighting.
Overfeeding can create excess nutrients in the water. In your case, with the stock you have it doesn't take much. You only need to feed once a day and only as much as the fish eat in 2-3 minutes. And fast them at least one day a week. Having that many fish in that space is going to create a lot of fish waste especially if they eat too much. Which leads to excess nutrients in the water which leads to algae. Us fishkeepers can often overestimate how much fish need to be fed. They're cold blooded so they don't need the calories to regulate their body temperature. They're always going to act hungry but they'll be fine.
And with that many fish, you should be doing frequent large water changes. That will improve the water quality which will improve the quality of life for your fish in general and also help combat the algae.
You don't want to add any more to your tank's current bio load. And when people buy an animal to do a task for them, they're often disappointed at the result.