Hey all,

I have an empty ten gallon that is begging to be filled, and now that it's finished cycling I want to put in a few snails to start it off. How many mystery snails would be good if I just wanted enough to help clean up, and not too many that would create too much waste?

Is two or three a good number?

Thanks for your advice!

EDIT: This tank will probably be a small tropical community tank, or a betta tank. Leaning towards tropical community because of the PH requirements.

Snails like warmer temps so a tropical set up will be good they also need a high ph as they need the calcium for there shells so really the same ph as your goldie tank is fine. Generally due to the amount of waste snails produce you need about 3gals per apple snail more for some of the lager species. Snails make more waste than they clean up and need a proper diet consisting of vegies and bottom dweller pellets. If you want something for a tropical tank that will clean up left over waste and you don't need to worry about too much go with some Shrimp. Red Cherry or Ghost Shrimp all shrimp are fascinating little critters. You just need to make sure there are enough hiding spots if you get shrimp.

Dan is right about the waste. Snails are very messy creatures. I have 4 apples in a 10g tank, and I do 2-3 water changes each week, minimum. I would also agree on the shrimp. I have 4 varieties in my trop tank, and they are so much fun to watch! But that is just MO.

No fair!!!! I WANT SHRIMP!!!! I'll have to look around to find out where I can buy some... what type of shrimp do you think would be best? You said Cherry or Ghost Shrimp? Do they go by any other names?

There are lots of types Cherry and ghost shrimp are most common. Ghost shrimp can sometimes been labeled glass shrimp but there is also a species called glass shrimp