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Another great advantage of snails is that they are less likely to eat the eggs of
fish. While eggs laid by fish in or around the substrate of the aquarium are
vulnerable to attack by Bristlenoses and the like, snails are much less likely to
embark on such raiding excursions. Consequently, if you are keeping egg-laying
fish in a tank with alkaline water specifically for the purpose of breeding then
snails are probably the solution. They will keep maintenance down by cleaning
your glass but will not scoff the eggs at the first opportunity. For instance, I am
currently keeping a breeding pair of Neolamprologus ocellatus in a two foot tank
and rather than keeping Bristlenoses, I have a crew of Red Ramshorns to keep
the tank clean. Interestingly enough, in nature these little cichlids, which
originate from the hard waters of Lake Tanganyika, adopt used snail shells as
their homes. They keep their shells immaculately clean, hide in them when
threatened and eventually lay eggs and raise their young in them. Although they
are brave little fish, the heavily armoured Bristlenoses that I keep tend to be
oblivious to the attacks of the ocellatus, presumably their eggs would be
helpless at night.
Lastly, snails make interesting and hardy pets in themselves. They can be quite
attractive, especially in the case o f the Mystery Snail. They also have interesting
habits and life cycles.
The Disadvantages of Snails
There is no doubt that snails can get out of control. Unfortunately, given the right
conditions of hard alkaline water and without natural predators, snails can multiply very rapidly. I have experienced this first hand in the case of the Malaysian
Trumpet Snail. Several years ago, in a four foot Malawi tank that I was keeping
at about 250 ppm of total carbonate hardness, the floor of the tank almost
seemed alive. The plague of snails was most unsightly and remedial action was
called for.
Golden Mystery snail