Should I Get A Snail?

[Holiday At The Sea]

So I have a ten gallon aquarium with 3 black skirt tetras and a Pictus catfish that are living very happily together. They get a long great and everything is going dandy, but I have started to notice more algae growth lately. I did a little research and i turned my light down to run about 10 hours, i had been running it 14 without really realizing that was too much. I was wondering if I could get a mystery snail to put in the tank to eat some of the algae and also, just because I would really like one! Could a snail thrive in my tank or would it be just as bad as adding another fish and crowding the tank since I am at my maximum capacity of all 10 gallons taken up by potential fish inches when they are full grown. So, can I get a snail or should i just pick up an algae scrub brush?

Thanks!

 

[community begginer]

either snail.... or siamese algea eater... they all do a good job...

 

[CaraC]

HI!!!
Welcome!
How long have you been doing the 10 hours a day lighting? Do you have real or fake plants? If fake plants you could probably cut the lighting down another couple hours and keep tank on 8 hours a day. There will be plenty of natural daylight in the room for the fish. This will help a little more in keeping alage down. Is the tank near a window? Getting direct sunlight? Placing some cardboard or a black garbage back in the back of fish tank will reduce sunlight to tank also.

As far as getting a snail. Go for it. Probably get 2. But they are not great alage removers. A Otto or 2 would be better. They stay fairly small too.

Snails need calcium to keep their shells in tip-top condition and also need variety of foods. Just thinking they will only eat alage is not correct. That goes for any bottom feeder. Kents Calcium is a great calcium suppliment if you apply several drop to your tank every couple days. Also feed snails cucumber, lettece, spinach and zucchini. Just drop it in with a sinker and watch the fun. Without the calcium in these foods the snail will eventually lose the hardness of its shell and will cause snail to fall out and die, of course it can take months but he will be in bad shape.

The pictus cat is really not a good choice for the 10g. They should be with more aggressive fish. They are carnivorous and can get quite large. Its up to you to do the best thing and get him a bigger tank and read up more on his species.

The tetras do best in groups of 6 or more. Its hard to work with a 10g cause of limitations in stocking. But adding anymore will really overstock since the swimmming area isnt sufficent for a decent school. Hopefully MTS will set in and you can get a bigger tank..say 55g. Then all the above fish could happily live provided that decent hiding and shelter is given, Hope this helped.

 

[Gremily]

Is your tank big enough for the pictus catfish? I thought they could grow up to 60cm? Or are you planning on rehoming it later?

 

[FoamLess]

Doesnt pictus tops at pretty much 6"?
I kept one in a 3' tank, and it pretty much stays at that length.

-Foameh