Do Apple Snails Eat Brown Algae?

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

DO they???

[Hidr]

Don't recall mine ever doing that. But it turned green at some point and they made trails in the green stuff. lol

Ok just something to pass along to all of you that seem to have issues with algea. When you keep water in a box your going to have it. You either

A get over it,

B keep kiling yourself fighting a losing battle or

C. Dont keep fish.

I dont care for option B or C so have learned that to have fish I just have to live with it. The tanks I have the least problem with it are super loaded with plants.

My other tanks have it green and brown all the time. Sometimes more of one then the other. I keep it off the front (but must admit tend to only do this before a photo shoot) and just learn to live with the rest of it. I don't even notice it anymore but at picture time.

So take a deep breath and let it be.

Come on gang enjoy the fish as long as they are happy and healthy don't worry about the brown/green stuff.

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

the brown turns green? maybe then I shouldn't take it off?

[Hidr]

MIne did. Takes a while but it does. Not sure if the brown really turns green or if the green finally out grows the brown. But if I keep taking it off the green never gets a chance and it stays brown.

[johann_pond]

I have both brown and green in mine. The snails don't seem to touch the brown. So on the front and sides once a week just before water changes I scrape it off. The Mag-Float gets some not all, so I bought special plastic paint scrapers to get the rest.

[nicoleauryn]

My snail does eat the brown, but I think it does prefer the green.

[Lupin]

Diatoms don't turn green. The green simply outgrows the diatoms since the diatoms thrive more on presence of silicates before it is used up and eventually taken over by the green.

Apple snails don't eat diatoms. That's not their primary diet. And depending on the species, a majority prefer plants especially healthy ones. Pomacea diffusa do eat green algae but at a lesser extent in comparison to the alternatives available preferably leftover foods and rotting vegetation.

[Vahlla]

I know this is an older post but was looking into this same question. My apple snails(as labeled as the lfs) do graze on the brown algae in my tank. Well did till I had to move them to salt the goldie tank. They go all over the glass and make lines through the brown algae on the side of the tank, its only in one spot that I can't get to with the algae pad. Like a square in the top left side of my tank. They also eat the brown algae in the bottom of the tank. Maybe mine are not apple snails then but they look just like the pictures of apple snails. Maybe there are other things they are eating there and just making trails through the brown algae as they go across it? Could there actually be a mix of different algae on there I wonder?