Algae In Tank

[speedymichael]

I put 100 snails in my 72 gal bow front and noticed that probably 40 or so have died over a span of four months and are at the bottom of the tank. I am starting to get some algae in my tank and I am wondering if this is because of the die off from the snails? Should I get more snails or just let it work its cycle? Should I take the shells out?

 

[Krish]

Hmmm...First off, how old is the setup? If the tank is newly setup and still going through the cycling process then I would just let things run it's course. Where the snails are concerned, the thing with them or any cleanup crew is the numbers will be always be affected by the available food supply. You could add as many snails as you wanted time and time again, but the fact of the matter is, the numbers will always be limited to the amount of food availble to them. Let us know a bit more about your setup though and in all cases, if you see a dead snail in your tank, remove it as soon as possible so as to not have it break down, begin to rott and degrade water quality.

 

[millepora]

Algae is not cut back just based upon your clean up crew. Good husbandry is the base of stunted algae growth, and a clean up crew just tops it off.

Whats are you nitrates and phosphate levels at to start?