General Invertebrate Questions

[Ethernopian]

Fellow fish folks.

I have recently run into a couple minor issues/questions with invertebrates. First of all apparently one of the plants i picked up from a LFS apparently came pre infested with snails which are now taking over my tank. I have already picked up a clown loach, but since i'm trying to grow out my juvie discus i think that i'm feeding too often for him to really mow down on the pesky snails. So my question is should i just leave him be, or take a different route to eliminate the snail problem?
This brings me to my second question, i have been doing some reading on the benefits of invertebrates as tank cleaners/algae eaters, mostly nerite snails and fiddler crabs. I know the clown loaches eat snails (being the only reason i have one in my tank right now), but i've also heard that certain types of snails are trapdoor snails that can't be eaten by loaches. I can't seem to locate much information on whether or not my loach will attempt to eat any Nerites i buy or not. Also i was wondering how effective the nerite snail is at cleaning algae, and can they live in Discus temperatures? If I decide to remove the pesky snails through some sort of chemical treatment or something i could remove the clown loach and add the Nerites if they are very useful for cleaning.
With the Fiddle crab it's a much simpler question. I know they need above water area to hang out in, which usually involves some sort of under water crabbie house, which is not a real problem, but will the crabs bother either my discus or my cory's?

Sorry for the novella of a question. Looking forward to your responses.

[mnemenoi]

MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snail) is what I am assuming you have an infestation of? Or perhaps Ramshorns?

Either way, I would use assassin snails. They prey on them, breed very slowly and can be manually removed if they get dense.

Nerites do well as algae control as they require brackish water to breed. i would not trust a clown loach in any tank with snails you did not expect to lose. Fiddler crabs are far more trouble then they are worth. Try Amano shrimp, they get larger and actually eat many types of algae. Nerites should be fine at Discus temps. Don't use chemical treatment, once you use copper you will never get it out of the tank and you will have killed your biofiltration. It kills all sorts of invertebrates and is bad for your fish, they are just larger and not effected as badly. they will have it in their systems for the rest of their lives though. Fiddler crabs require brackish conditions, they can survive in fresh for awhile, but molting and general health are comprimised and will eventually take its toll. They can be aggressive and I'd be very wary with Corydoras. If you do go with them watch they have a high Ph, low Ph will erode and destroy their shell.

[Ethernopian]

Fantastic, well now i just have to wrangle the loach, find some assassin snails, and a couple shrimp.

[mnemenoi]

There are a variety of folks that sell assassin snails here on the box (armthehomeless) for far cheaper then most stores would charge. Don't know anyone out on the West side, but we are North siders, lol. Just post up a wanted add and see if anyone is closer...

[armthehomeless]

Re: General Invertebrate Questions

I've got assassins and shrimp.:)