What snails will live well with my Koi?

I have a 55 gallon tank with 6 fish in it. 2 of the fish are 8 inch Koi and I wan wondering what snails, plants, and food I should use to provide optimum cleanliness, livelihood, and color of my fish.

What snails will live well with my Koi?
I totally disagree with the previous poster about not getting snails.



You can buy some Ivory or Black Mystery Snails that will be a lovely addition to your tank. I have three Ivory Mystery snails in my community tank (28 gallon) with platies, catfish and zebra danios and they are thriving. I recently moved my dwarf puffers to their own 10 gallon and they do not like mystery snails.



Those snails will not multiply like crazy like the previous posters wrote. That's bullocks. The ramshorn snails are those tiny black or brown snails that will multiply like crazy and take over your tank. Rarely do the mystery snails which are assexual, reproduce in captivity. I've had my 3 mystery snails for nearly two months and there are still only 3 snails. They help clean the tank walls b/c they love algae and they eat that with fervor. But they are very docile and no fish is bothered by them ever.



So buy some Mystery Snails from Petsmart. They are fun to have. You can buy a feeder clip with a suction cup at Petsmart for your Mystery Snails too. They love to eat lettuce, cabbage, cucumber (boiled) or zucchini. You can attach one piece to the clip and watch the snail snack away.



You should know that the shock of going into your tank may cause your snail to be dormant for a few days while it adjusts to its new environment. Not to worry. My snails were dormant for three days and hid inside their shells but eventually came out and I feed them each 1 piece of lettuce and 1 slice of boiled cucumber every day and they are pigs. Don't leave their food in the tank for more than 2 days because it will break down and pollute the water for the other fish.



Great aquatic plants for the tank:



Frill

Java Fern

Hornwort

cypress mat

moss on natural wood



Petsmart sells live aquatic plants for a good price. And they also sell aquatic plant kits which you can grow in your own tank.



The food to feed the plants is a liquid fertilizer called "Flourish." Do NOT buy tablet plant fertilizer as its weaker than the liquid. One capful each week helps your plants grow in addition to buying a flourescent bulb at Petsmart designed specifically to encourage plant growth b/c it has uv rays that mimick the suns rays. And it won't harm your fish it is less harsh than regular tank lighting of most tank hoods.



The BEST food to feed your fish is:



Pellets if they are large freshwater

Bloodworm - frozen in a packet

Daphnia - frozen in a packet

Brine Shrimp cubes - frozen cubes in a packet



The more natural foods like the Bloodworm, Brineshrimp and Daphnia will really enhance your fish's colors and they will be healthier than just living off of pellets or flakes.
Reply:Put the Koi in a pond and I wouldn't reccomend snails in a tank with them.
Reply:why do would anyone ever want snails to go with there fish...
Reply:Do not get snails. Ever. Check out one of the other questions that was posted about snails. They tend to overtake your tank, and are nearly impossible to get rid of.
Reply:wow 2 8" koi in a 55g tank? just end their misery and kill them.
Reply:DO NOT GET SNAILS!!! They multiply like crazy! The fish guy accidently put a couple in with my fish and before I knew it I had not joking thousands!!! It tooks me almost a full year to get rid of the snails in my fish tank!!! DON'T GET THEM!!!