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I have some smallish Ramshorns in my tank, But I haven't noticed them eating any of the algea on my plants.
I went to my LFS yesterday to pick up an apple snail, all they had were LARGE ramshorns and mystery snails... the lady said she thought they were Apple Snails... but it just didn't seem right to me, it's a good thing I had her ask someone, and decided to not get THEM.

Anyone wanna send me a big apple snaily? =p

Yup i knew it was a bacteria, i just need to know what is the dosage, i can't get myracin here, so i got human pills, 500mg erythromicin, so maybe if you have the med you can see what are the mg and the dosage.

Last edited by Falstaf at 27-Dec-2004 10:49

Maracyn is the med with erythromycin. It is an antibacterial, so, logically, it kills cyanobacteria, which is a bacteria.

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Maybe he means Chemi clean. That's what I have for mine. I just got it today, and haven't tested it out yet though.

This wasn't about BGA but since you mention it, what's the comercial name of the medicine you used? i can get it here for humans, but never seen it in a LFS

BGA is "Blue Green Algae", a hybrid organism that is part bacteria and part plant. I know of nothing that eats BGA. If left in place it will smother plants and poison your tank.

Although many people do not like to use meds in their tanks, I wiped out BGA using erythromycin. Prior to using the med, I siphoned most of the BGA from the tank after scrubbing it from plants and other surfaces. I then followed the directions on the container. This was very important so I will repeat it - "I then followed the directions on the container". Too much is too much, twice the dose is never twice as effective.

Good Luck!

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Well, unfortunetly i don't know much about them, never kept them before, i went to my fav. LFS a serious buisness and they really are honest and know what they are doing, i got ottos and they were not working that good with the bba, and the thread algae, so the guy recomended me the snails, i'm not to fond of snails perse, but at this point i was willing to give anything a try.

I got two, one for each tank, both really infected with hair algae, i need to say i had a bad expirience before with snails, i once got a ramhorn and he ate everything in a matter of days, every plant there was at his reach he devoure it. It's been a week since the apple sanils are in their respective tanks, and i'm amazed, no and i mean NO hair algae in the tanks anymore, they are good workers, they even clean the small leaves of cabombas without damageing the plant, even java moss and i have to admit the really bright yellow color lights up the tank, they are also very active. Two days ago i noticed them eating the bba from my lillaeopsis which was bba favourite dishin those tanks. they clean every leaf without any damage. One tried to burry itself near them, and up rooted a bunch, but nothing serious, after all they've done they are more than forgiven for that

I don't know about mystery snails, never heard or seen one, so i wouldn't know, but if you say they damage plants, these guys are not for sure.

Muh! BBA is my pet hate.

I've tried everything except stripping down the tank. I've tried cutting the affected areas, works for a while but spreads wherever it can, and you're back to square 1.

I've tried SAE's and they eat the new stuff but leave all the existsing bba.

I've tried a Scatophagus (just cos they're cool, and they do eat algae) but they also eat everything else, Including my lillaeopsis, by the roots, anything red, and my cories fins!

He's going back to the fish shop, even tho I love him to death he's a pain in the tailfin.

Apple snails you say? SOme more specs please falstaf!

HermeLZ - for brown algae go the oto route i added a single oto to my 10 gallon which basically had wall-to-wall brown algae and within 3 or 4 days it was COMPLETELY gone, like not a speck. now if it would just clean my swordplant... everything else is in check in the algae department since i added the oto.

As some of you may remember I was having a lot of algae problems with some of my tanks, well I discovered the cause, a way to rich substrate and too much light. Anyhow, the problem was there already, and wasn't giving up even with a total break down of the affected tanks and the change of substrate. Hair algae and black brush algae, kept coming back since most of the plants and wood had it.

Well till 2 apple snails came my way!!! WOW!!! those guys are awesome, they don't touch the plants and they only eat the algae, and I mean they EAT it, next day there was no algae to be found anywhere!!!

So if anyone is having the problem, give it a try, I know this is not new, but it's a good method on stopping it, without adding any chemicals.

And a question too: I have one tank that was also affected by BBA, and I was thinking on transferring these 2 guys to it, but I have loaches in there, clown, yoyo and zebra and I know this guys love snails, will they go after the apple snails even if they are really big?

Be careful when getting snails. Mystery snails are sometimes labeled as apple snails ... and mystery snails will eat everything in the tank.

Ive twice bought snails labeled as apple snails from different places ... and both times the snails have decimated my plants.

Ive had one of the large snails in a tank with 5 yo yo loaches for a week at a time with out the loaches killing it ... in the mean time the snail took care of a hair algae problem.

Bdadawg

For brown algae ottos are the best, and yes snails will eat the hair algae, that's the one they got totally rid of in both tanks, now i'm worried what are they are going to eat!

Will Apple snails take care of Brown Algae? I'm starting to have hair algae, among other algaes. But I'm most affected by the Brown Algae...

Hmmm I might have to try this.

I have some Dark Green Brush/Beard/Hair type algae, no matter what I try THAT Algae just will not go away.

Thanks Frank, I thought that would be case, I was only making sure because of the size of the snails.

Neon Man, yes they eat everything everywhere without touching the plant, at first I thought I would have to kiss my java moss good bye since it was the one most affected by hair algae, but the snails cleaned it without damaging it. then they cleaned the anubias, and a small crypt wentii, last night I saw one of them trying to climb a cabomba cutting, the stem didn't resist the weight though and it bent but he still cleaned it good, the stem is now recovering and returning to it's vertical state.

Falstaf,

Do you mean the Apple Snails leave the plants totally alone, or will they also consume algae off plant leaves?

My algae problem only occurs on my slow-growing plants, and thought that Ottos or Bristlenose catfish were the answer to this.

All best, Joe

Hi,
The simple, and short answer is YES, your snails will
be considered by them to be a delicacy and they will
go after them especially when the soft parts are exposed.
It may take several attacks, but in the end they, not
the snail, will win.

Frank


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