in my 5 gallon, i have 2 banana plants and some cuttings from them,so fish. i also got a co2 bottle yeast thing creating co2 bubbles in the tank. now there is a crazy problem with algae in the tank. theyr'e EVERYWHERE!! so, im planning to get a snail. what kind of snails that eats algae but dont hurm my banana plants??
i think my lfs is selling mystery snails for $4.00 each. i only need them as a algae guards. will mystery snail complete their algae fighting mission?? or do i need to find some thing else?

Hi, mystery snail's or what is normally called Pomacea bridgesii,
(Apple Snails) will often choose algae as its last choice.They prefer to eat all sorts of fresh cooked veggies,and most kinds of fish foods,They also need to live in a maintained ph enviroment of at least 7.4 to keep a proper shell. They are also massive poo producers,so it's really not a good choice,especially if the 5 gallon tank allready contains fish.What kind of fish/how many ,are in this tank?
I'm afraid that with you having a five gallon tank,your only option may be an algae scraper and some elbow grease.

Not to be rude but, I must disagree with Apple Snails going for algae as a last choice. My apple snails go for veggies and algae wafers as a last choice. Mine LOVE thread algae, brown algae, and green algae. I'm unsure if they will eat other types. If its there then they will eat it. My apple snail in my planted tank has never touched a plant. She has climbed on them though, which scared me because I thought she would fall and hurt herself. They are a lot stronger than I thought and they seem to like to glide off the plants.

If I'm right, then you have no fishies so 5 gallons should be fine. I think the rule is 2.5 gallons per snail, but I wouldn't get more than one. Might end up with eggs like me.

Since you have co2 running you should find a calcium supplement for your snail. In a co2 tank(like mine) its best to find something they can eat that is rich in calcium.

About Apple Snails.

Article Found Here
Pomacea bridgesi: Shells of the P. bridgesi snail may be found in a number of patterns and colors, including black, gold, and ivory. The gold variety is often sold as the "Golden Mystery Snail." The shell of P. bridgesi has square "shoulders," when viewing it from the side. P. bridgesi generally reaches a size of 2 inches in an aquarium setting. Since this snail mainly eats algae, P. bridgesi is a good choice for a planted aquarium. In general, it will only eat plants if other food is not available. This snail will eat algae, vegetables, flake food, frozen foods, and live foods.

Mine on the other hand, were useless at eating algae. They would eat romaine lettuce, algae wafers, peas.

nope, no fish. i guess i made a mistake, when putting a 'n' for no, i put a 's'

in my teacher's classroom, she keep some commons and 3 snails. i dont know waht kind of snails though, but i never saw her had any problem with algae. her ten gallons is wayyyyyyy overstock, but she already hates me so i didnt really tell her

so is there any kind of snail that will eat algae because now im confuse i did try using elbow grease but one day its clean, the other day it is back. along with lots of school work to do, i cant beat the algaes!! it's going MAD!

I can only go by what I've experienced myself,and what I've heard from other people.I have owned hundreds and hundreds of Apple Snails for the last 3 years,and they could have given a crap about algae.
I don't know why,but they preferred the veggies and such,and I'll tell you that their tank always had some sort of algae in it,and they pretty much ignored it..
As for plants,I never said that they eat them.Normally,they'll only do that when plants are rotting,or there's no other food for them.
How many Apple Snails do you own?And how often have you tried the veggies?Do you cook them as Brigs prefer it on the soft side.Maybe your snail has never known anything else--who knows? I have gotten adult snails that didn't eat veggies at first,but finally figured out how good they were.

In my experience, and from what other breeders have reported, brigs love algae as juveniles and will eat as much as they can get a hold of. They will also eat plants as juveniles though, the babies don't need it softened in order to be able to eat it. The adults will graze a little on algae, but prefer flakes and snail cookies. Even when a person who was taking care of my tanks for a week and a half didn't see one that had a couple of snails in it, they barely touched the algae that sprung up in copious amounts all over the tank.