Snails And Shrimp

[Rorie]

360L planted tank. Its my first planted tank, so i have got some rotting plants already. Obviously i take them out when they start rotting. However, i have grass like plants, so its not so easy! I have also experienced an algae boom!

Next week i will be adding 10 Ottos - the wee algae eaters. But i am thinking about shrimp and maybe snails.

I have shrimp in my other tank, and they are so cool! So going to get some for this tank. Do they eat dead plants?

I was wondering about snails....i dont think the trumpet type are any use if they burry themselves as i have a grass type base on my substrate! But what about other types?

Will snails get on ok with shrimp and ottos? Maybe having 3 types of algae eaters is to much? If the shrimp eat dead plants, i guess i dont need snails...but what do you think?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

360L planted tank. Its my first planted tank, so i have got some rotting plants already. Obviously i take them out when they start rotting. However, i have grass like plants, so its not so easy! I have also experienced an algae boom!

Next week i will be adding 10 Ottos - the wee algae eaters. But i am thinking about shrimp and maybe snails.

I have shrimp in my other tank, and they are so cool! So going to get some for this tank. Do they eat dead plants?

I was wondering about snails....i dont think the trumpet type are any use if they burry themselves as i have a grass type base on my substrate! But what about other types?

Will snails get on ok with shrimp and ottos? Maybe having 3 types of algae eaters is to much? If the shrimp eat dead plants, i guess i dont need snails...but what do you think?

Using shrimp or snails to control algae is a bad idea IMO, Although both will eat algae it is not their main food sourse and of course depends on what snails and shrimp were talking about.

 

[saltynay]

Mainly depends on budget the only detrivores (rotten/decaying matter eaters) that I can think of are Malaysian trumpet snails and Dominican trumpet snails they won't disturb your grass. The OTO's however will disturb your grass if its not properly rooted yet.

I would do:
12 x Amano's
30 x Crystal Black Shrimp or King kong shrimp
10 x kuhli loaches
30 x male endlers

 

[Rorie]

Really? I thought trumpet snails turned over the substrate....which would lift my grass?!
Also Kuhli loaches dig in gravel too, so they will surly uplift my grass?

I was thinking cherry shrimp or bumblebee shrimp.....would they be fine enough?

Budget is not a big issue as i can spread out the cost by buying a week apart

 

[saltynay]

They churn the gravel at around 0.5cm+ depth thus avoiding the root structures of most plants why would they risk getting tangled? The snail is also less then a centimetre long its not like they make mole hills in your aquascape.

Kuhlis don't dig in gravel they may cover themselves in sand to hide but given vegetation and perhaps small caves e.g. drill some holes in a piece of driftwood, chuck in some shot glasses etc. they will not disturb the grass.

Cherry shrimp are fine just a little standard, I prefer the more exotic personally.

 

[Rorie]

They churn the gravel at around 0.5cm+ depth thus avoiding the root structures of most plants why would they risk getting tangled? The snail is also less then a centimetre long its not like they make mole hills in your aquascape.

Kuhlis don't dig in gravel they may cover themselves in sand to hide but given vegetation and perhaps small caves e.g. drill some holes in a piece of driftwood, chuck in some shot glasses etc. they will not disturb the grass.

Cherry shrimp are fine just a little standard, I prefer the more exotic personally.

Hmm, i am still not convinced about the fact they will play with my substrate - i have specialist ADA substrate.....and while it no doubt does wonders for my plant life, i am finding it to be a pain in the backside for making a mess of my aquarium....when i was playing about with it that is! Now that i have put everything in my aquarium and left it alone, the substrate has settled down and all is well. But, if i put in Kuhli loaches (i have always throught they were cool!) and trumpet shrimp, i may be back to square one, but on a more perminant basis....

But i will look into that.

My current stock is as follows:

50 Cardinal tetras
4 corys (will be increasing that soon)
10 ottos

On top this i will be adding in my plec.

Do you still think that khuli loaches, snails and shrimp are a good combo? Too many bottom feeders?

If so, and i settle for shrimp and snails, how many of each would you suggest?

Thanks

 

[saltynay]

That is very bottom heavy tank with all those added in shall do some thinking and get back to you

That is very bottom heavy tank with all those added in shall do some thinking and get back to you

 

[wodesorel]

I've had kuhlis for six years now, and they don't do much damage to the tank design on either sand or gravel. (They can't even move standard sized aquarium gravel.) I doubt that they would be able to do anything to rooted plants as they have very little leverage being so small. Haven't tried them with living greens yet, but they've done much less damage to plastic and wood than apple snails have in the past.

They will however filter feed from fine sand, and they can create some large pits when the group finds hidden food treasure to go sifting for. They can also create divots in fine sand in the corners and along the edges of the tank since they have a tendency to do vertical loop-de-loops along the glass. Think of them as a a mini water current - they can only move what will be displaced by a somewhat strong filter. I've never seen them dig themselves into sand or gravel, though they will make room under object like driftwood so every kuhli in the tank can be in one place at the same time. (While they will stay buried at the fish shop, I have NEVER had a kuhli do that once home.) If you plan for that it's easy to give them a good hiding place where you want them to be.