# Snail in a 5 gallon guppy fry tank?



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I read shrimp will eat my fry so I can't stick my 3 ghost shrimp in there without worrying about the newer ones that could easily be eaten. So I thought to suck up my fear of snails and think about getting one for the guppy fry as an extra clean up crew. It would just make me feel better knowing there is a little helper cleaning up in case I miss anything. 

Nerites apparently don't breed in fresh water so I thought maybe that or smaller Mystery snail. Depending on what my petsmart has. As for what to feed the snail. It would be feeding off of any extra food and I have those sinking algae pellets if that would help make sure it has enough food since the tank only really has a bit of algae on a plant thats come from my other tank.


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Nerite snails need a constant supply of real fresh algae. They won't touch algae pellets and leftover food is not enough. 

Mystery snails WILL eat algae pellets and vegetables. 

Any snail you get will add bioload so you'll need to up your water changes.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Already planned to. So Mystery would be a better choice? Soon I will be lowering the number of guppy fry thats in there cause I need to split the males from females. In a few days 5 of them should be ready. Hopefully I can tell. I might need a magnify glass to see XD then its like every two weeks for the others but I'll end up with more by then lol


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

You can grow algae if you want: just put a couple rocks in a jar of tank water and set it in a sunny spot or under a desk lamp. within a week or two you'll have algae and you can just plop the rocks in your tank! That's what I do for my Nerite. Your guppy fry will also appreciate the extra "grazing." So if you want a nerite you can still have one


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

You know I have rocks in my other tank which has lots of algae for unknown reason still but the rocks I have do not seem to get algae on them. Only my plants, gravel, filter and tank walls.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

(Sorry about this long post) So I was some what forced to babysit for my brother while they went to go shop and they thankfully stopped at petsmart. However they had no mystery snails. Only nerites which they got me three black ones. I mentioned to my sister in law about how not to get ones that were upside down or with cracked shells. So she got three that were sticking to the walls of the tank because apparently alot of the others all looked dead, sick or empty. However I dunno if thats true because frankly my brother and his wife are cheapskates. 

So I now have three black nerites which are acclimating to my guppy fry tank. I'm to exhausted to decide if I should put 1 or two in my guppy fry tank. Theres only a little real fresh algae in there. Theres more in my adult guppy tank which is already at a pretty limit of the ammount of fish that are supposed to be in there. I'll try my best to try grow more in my guppy fry tank. I might have to stick some plants from my adult tank to the guppy fry tank maybe that would help increase the ammount of algae. Especially my pink plant which unlike all the others has more green than brown. Which is strange considering alot of the algae is brown. 

I really need to figure out what is going on with the algae. I would rather have green than brown. To much light? Or is it possible maybe its a sign of my tank is actually cycling and the brown will turn to green (doubtful) lol I dunno guess I really need to dig deep into my googling ability and find out whats causing all the brown algae and how I can get some green. Or does it not matter which color it is? And I'm frankly on low energy so I'm going to suck it up and actually use my hand to take the snails out of the bag since adding their water might be bad since all the other snails had looked bad. I really hope these guys survive. My sister in law tried naming them after the three stooges x.x


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Ugh that was so freaking creepy feeling. I tried to pick one up out of the bag but then I felt the actual slimey snail and panicked and dropped it back into the bag. I ended up using the net. Two are sticking together I tried making sure the snails weren't upside down but two are sticking to each other so I dunno if they'll be able to unattach themselves without the one on top falling. I'll just have to keep my eye one them. But one that wasn't sticking to other two started moving right after I put them in there so I know that ones alive.


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Brown algae? Perhaps diatoms? That's common before your tank has cycled and the parameters are still in the process of stabilizing.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

That would explain the algae in my guppy fry tank but the adult tank hasn't had a fully tank clean since September 15th when the brown algae was way to bad on the tank walls. I knew it would crash my cycle but I couldn't stand it being on the walls. Maybe Every two weeks I should just switch plants out and add the algae covered ones to the guppy fry tank where the snails are. That should work right?

Although a month and a half isn't enough time to create a full cycle is it? Accidents always happen right before the tank cycles. So i'ts never gotten to more than two months without a full tank clean.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I'm gonna make it this time to a full tank cycle though XD I have that feeling. I won't let myself do a 100% tank clean.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Question now that I got a good look at the snails I noticed one has a white area on its shell where theres no color. And another which will not unattach itself from the other snail has a area like it but also has like a hole in the shell. I heard that could be from soft water so I asked my parents and they said we have water thats not hard nor soft. So that should be good right? I'm worried about the snail not coming off the other one. Its a bit bigger than the one its attached to so its flipped that one over twice. Since I got them yesterday its safe to say that the shells condition is from the store right? Or can those appear over night?


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

The snail with the hole. And my guppy fry are very interested in the snails lol


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I don't know much about snails, but I'm guessing the holes were from prior water. I've read that you can get those white calcium bird chew things and put a piece in the tank water to make it more suitable for their shells. I wonder if the one snail is eating pieces of shell from the other to repair the hole in its own shell.

I have some fish that eat only brown algae, so I have a tank with rocks and plants by the window. When everything is covered in brown, I put it in the other tank, and they clean it over night. I also use the turkey baster to siphon some of the brown algae from the tank walls and squirt it into their tank. Whether it goes onto the prefilter sponge or into the rocks or sticks to a plant, they find it!

Bad news is that the tanks might be too small to feed 3 nerites if they all manage to survive. I would take back the two with holes in their shells and get a refund if they left the receipt for you.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I have another tank I can put 1 in. And their doing fine so far. The two finally separated a few hours after I posted my last post on here. Two right now are on the walls of the tank and one is in my green plant that has brown algae. I added a pink plant that has green algae in there but they haven't touched it. I wonder if maybe its to tall.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

And no I dont have the receipt. And I can't get a ride to petsmart for a while. No one I know goes that way.


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I thought nerites ate brown algae.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I read that they eat all kinds. And one of my females just gave birth again x.x so far four. Would have been more if my betta found them.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Five.


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> I've read that you can get those white calcium bird chew things and put a piece in the tank water to make it more suitable for their shells


Yes cuttlefish bone.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

So if they don't heal withing a certain time should I look into that?


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

More babies!


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

My females keep doubling their fry births! XD theres atleast 20 in this one which means my fry count has to be late 50's early sixties and thank the heavens that my brothers girlfriends mothers boyfriend is letting me borrow his 10 gallon tank


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

But I have discovered who has birthed what and what day they were birthed.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Still have more to count but so far the total of all guppy fry is 46. I had 27 before she started popping them out. Got the 10 gallon but it needs cleaned has algae build up on the walls. Plan to do that tomorrow. To exhausted from catching guppy fry all day XD.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Final count is 87.....


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> Final count is 87.....


You now have about 30 days before it all happens again.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Actually two weeks probably. I have two females. And thats about how far apart their birthing's are. It's really difficult to tell the genders x.x Out of the first five I ever got I think theirs 2 females and 3 males.


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

You should leave the algae on the tank. The babies might snack on the microorganisms in it and on some of the smaller bits.

I thought they were supposed to give birth every 28 days or so! Every 2 weeks is a lot!


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

October 3rd- 5 fry- Diamond
October 18th- 10 fry- Zora
October 26th- 12 fry- Diamond
November 10th- 60 fry- Zora

Thats like every two weeks XD


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Theres still algae in the tank. Specially the pink plant. And I have 3 moss balls in there to.


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Awesome! I'm glad someone lent you a tank to help grow out the fry.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Yeah she wants some of the guppies. Its her mother boyfriends tank but until I the fry are old enough to have colors and be able to for sure tell the gender then I really cant do much. I really don't want to give them away or sell them before I can see the colors they come out to be.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Water looks horrible. I'm gonna give it a few hours and wipe the inside of the tank with paper towel then do a water change hopefully it looks better


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Oh, yuck! I didn't realize they kept the tank so yucky.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I think its from stuff built up on the walls. There was a good amount of green algae that was a pain to wipe off before adding water. I won't be using a filter because of lack of plugs so its gonna be a bit harder to keep clean. I think after a couple water changes and wiping the walls down some more it should clear up more. I'm glad it has lights though. My room is pretty dark.


----------

