The Right Snail For Me?

[thelastbetta]

I've got a new 20 gallon which means I'm going to need something to clean up uneaten food along the gravel, algae and waste(?). The water is a coldwater goldfish tank which means the current is rather strong and the water is unheated.

I don't need anything fancy, preferably nothing too expensive either. I only need one or two. What kind of snail would be perfect for this?

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Malaysian trumpet snails are quite good for cleaning the substrate as they dig down... though maybe they would be best suited for sand and not gravel. I'll leave it for someone else to comment on that point, though I would have thought they'd do OK with gravel as their shells are extremely hard.
Ramshorn snails are good to have with goldfish... they don't get too big (maybe an inch or so maximum, usually under this), they'll eat algae to an extent, they will cruise across the substrate looking for goodies and in my experience they don't actually tend to bother eating live plants too much provided I leave enough algae for them. I have one or two in with my goldfish tank... even when I had soft-leaved plants like hygrophila they only cleaned the algae off the leaves and never ate the plants. What I tend to do is leave the back pane of glass and the sides completely untouched to allow algae to grow there for the snails to munch freely and only scrape the front pane. You can keep apple snails in cooler water, but only if it doesn't get below 23C. Otherwise their metabolism slows right down and they are hardly ever active.

 

[Donya]

Apple snails and coldwater tanks are a bad way to go in general. I would say a Viviparid is you best choice, they are excellent coldwater snails and traditionally kept iwth goldies in Asia. Only problem is they can't handle temperatures over 75F, 24C. They are also harder to keep, since the water has to be pristine (0 nitrite/ammonia and low nitrates). Other options for coldwater tanks:

- Malaysian trumpet snails, MTS (trial and error, some may do better than others)
- Planorbid ramshorns, "european ramshorns" usually. They are the small red/brown guys. Just have to be careful that they don't overpopulate.
- Lymnaeid snails if you can find them, all over Europe, but they need REALLY cold water


Things to avoid snail variety-wise in a coldwater tank: all apple snails. Don't go for Pomacea bridgesii, canaliculata, or Marisa cornaurietis (giant columbian ramshorn). They can overwinter at cooler temperatures but it has to be carefully done--I don't recommend it if you're going to plop them right into cool/cold water. Viviparids and others are better for that, with Vivs being the best bet probably.

EDIT: forgot to add, Vivs are usually sold as "Chinese/Japanese mystery snails" or "trapdoor snails" or "live bearing mystery snails".