Dead Snails at Wal-Mart

[Suzie-Q]

My betta's tank is turning green. I was going to get a snail or
two to eat the algae, since some of you think that an algae eater
fish may not be safe with the betta.

All of Wal-Mart's snails are dead or dying. The fish that are
in the tank with the snails are fine. Could this be a snail
illness, or something wrong with the tank, or what?

Is there *anything* that I could put in with the betta to eat
the algae?

Thanks in advance.
--
8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~
"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
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[Billy]

"Suzie-Q" > wrote in message
...
> My betta's tank is turning green. I was going to get a snail or
> two to eat the algae, since some of you think that an algae eater
> fish may not be safe with the betta.
>
> All of Wal-Mart's snails are dead or dying. The fish that are
> in the tank with the snails are fine. Could this be a snail
> illness, or something wrong with the tank, or what?
>
> Is there *anything* that I could put in with the betta to eat
> the algae?
>


Yes, a snail from another store. Any store, big-box or not, that has
tanks with poorly cared for livestock should be passed by. It is
entirely possible to pass illnesses on to your fish. Grab a phone
book and look under 'aquariums' or 'pets'.

billy

[John D. Goulden]

> My betta's tank is turning green. I was going to get a snail or
> two to eat the algae, since some of you think that an algae eater
> fish may not be safe with the betta.

Be aware that bettas can develop a taste for snail - several of mine were
(or became) snail eaters. Snails are not particularly good algae eaters
anyway.

A problem with algea eaters with bettas is that bettas need a heated tank
with a bit of aquarium salt, and most algae eaters (be they snails or plecos
or whatever) prefer a cooler tank and no salt. Is your tank planted? If not,
a few live plants will help keep the algae down by competing for the
nutrients. However bettas usually get along fine with most of the common
algae eaters (there may be a bit of nipping at first 'till the betta gets
used to it though) so if you don't use any aquarium salt in your betta tank
you might try a pleco or a big snail or something..

--
John Goulden

[Elaine T]

Billy wrote:
> "Suzie-Q" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>My betta's tank is turning green. I was going to get a snail or
>>two to eat the algae, since some of you think that an algae eater
>>fish may not be safe with the betta.
>>
>>All of Wal-Mart's snails are dead or dying. The fish that are
>>in the tank with the snails are fine. Could this be a snail
>>illness, or something wrong with the tank, or what?
>>
>>Is there *anything* that I could put in with the betta to eat
>>the algae?
>>
>
>
>
> Yes, a snail from another store. Any store, big-box or not, that has
> tanks with poorly cared for livestock should be passed by. It is
> entirely possible to pass illnesses on to your fish. Grab a phone
> book and look under 'aquariums' or 'pets'.
>
> billy
>
>
I bet Wal-Mart has copper in its water, either from pipes or
intentionally added to reduce parasites by someone who didn't think of
snails. I agree with Billy. Find somewhere else to get a healthy snail
to live with your betta. I just ran into a tankful of great looking
gold mystery snails at PetSmart.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[NetMax]

"John D. Goulden" > wrote in message
...
>> My betta's tank is turning green. I was going to get a snail or
>> two to eat the algae, since some of you think that an algae eater
>> fish may not be safe with the betta.
>
> Be aware that bettas can develop a taste for snail - several of mine
> were (or became) snail eaters. Snails are not particularly good algae
> eaters anyway.
>
> A problem with algea eaters with bettas is that bettas need a heated
> tank with a bit of aquarium salt, and most algae eaters (be they snails
> or plecos or whatever) prefer a cooler tank and no salt. Is your tank
> planted? If not, a few live plants will help keep the algae down by
> competing for the nutrients. However bettas usually get along fine with
> most of the common algae eaters (there may be a bit of nipping at first
> 'till the betta gets used to it though) so if you don't use any
> aquarium salt in your betta tank you might try a pleco or a big snail
> or something..

I don't know why you would need to add salt to a Betta's water, but if
you had hard water (and maybe salt) and algae, then this is the snail you
want:
http://perso.infonie.be/pomacea/neritina_natalensis_uk.htm
http://members.aol.com/Mkohl2/Neritidae.html
...and as an added benefit, they are very predator-proof, as they stay in
their shell. Also note that like fish, not all snails are great at
eating algae. Neritidae natalensis is a true algae eater. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

> --
> John Goulden
>

[Billy]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
m...
>>
> I bet Wal-Mart has copper in its water, either from pipes or
> intentionally added to reduce parasites by someone who didn't think
> of snails. I agree with Billy. Find somewhere else to get a
> healthy snail to live with your betta. I just ran into a tankful
> of great looking gold mystery snails at PetSmart.


Many people trash the bigbox stores, but I have made some great finds
at some of them. I picked up about a dozen GENUINE SAE's at walmart
once, can't even recall what they called them. They were .99 a pc.
All lived long lives, I still have 3 of them. The others I gave away.