# apple or 'mystery' snails vs pest snails



## jilly (Feb 16, 2008)

I've seen a lot of negative press on snails in aquariums - however we have 3 apple snails in a small 10 gall tank - they don't reproduce, and they don't eat the plants, they just seem to eat the algae and the extra food off the bottom. Does anyone else use apple snails as algae eaters? i tend to like how they look and how active they are..
however my current tank is only lightly planted.. maybe they are worse for a heavily planted tank?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

As long as the apple or mystery snail is actually Pomacea bridgesii, they are good for planted tanks. As they will become large (golfball or even bigger), they need enough room and enough food to stay healthy. There are other snails that are similar to the P bridgesii, but they eat plants and are sometimes found at pet stores being sold as mystery snails, so be careful. http://www.applesnail.net has a lot of great info on the different types of snails and their care requirements.


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