help a noob

[currier555]

Well I have a couple of tanks that have an algae problem, I can control it with cleaning and water changes. But I was thinking of a more natural way and a excuse to try some thing new

I was thinking of apple snails, nerite snails and shrimps. That’s where my knowledge stops. I have no clue how to look after inverts.

I’ve been reading the sticky on red crystal shrimps, but is there any thing else I need to know?

If there is a breeder of snails, shrimps in Nottingham that I could buy some stock from. I prefer local breeders than lfs

My lfs is expensive and some of the stock looks very very shoddy

thanks for any and all help

 

[spyder]

Well I have a couple of tanks that have an algae problem, I can control it with cleaning and water changes. But I was thinking of a more natural way and a excuse to try some thing new

Certain critters will only deal with certain types of algae, for some algae you may not find a suitable critter to munch on it.

However, a more natural way of dealing with algae blooms is fixing the underlying cause of it. If you would care to post some photo's of this algae and details of the tank, size, lighting, filtration etc then it helps us to help you in that area.

There's a good algae guide on James planted tank site. Google is your friend here.

 

[frothhelmet]

ramshorn snails are the best snail to rid you of all sorts of algae. MTS will eat algae that ramshorns will except BBA. Nerites are the best snail to clean hard surfaces, but they wont eat anything but algae and can easily die of starvation and will leave eggs everywhere that cant hatch. Other than that, shrimps help, but are not as good as snails in my opinion. Fish are good too, but pound for pound get yourself some ramshorns.