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snails in planted tanks



What species of snails are good in planted tanks? I have heard that Malaysian Trumpet Snails tend to leave healthy plants alone, but dig in the substrate, aerating it. I would also like an apple snail or two, although I know that you need the right species or they will attack healthy plants. My biggest obstacle would be the softness of my tap water and the preferred acidity of the species I have decided to put in my future tank (tetras, danios, barbs etc.). Is it possible to keep snails in an acidic tank, and if not, why don't people with infested tanks just lower their pH until the snails are dead? Would adding small amounts of Ca2+ and Mg2+ supplements help, to avoid increasing carbonate hardness?
I might keep some clown loaches and zebra loaches to keep the Malaysian snail population down, although I imagine some would survive, but I would think that a fully grown Apple snail would be too big for the loaches to eat it?
Also, would Malaysian Trumpet snails prevent any breeding by eating any eggs, or would it possible to make a snail and egg-eating-fish proof trap for scattered eggs (as most of the small fish I would like to keep eat their eggs and are egg scatterers.