fishie freddie

well today i was reading my books and going about my daily buisness, when i looked in my tank i saw something in my tank on the glass, after further inspection i found it was a snail, now my tank has been cycling for 3 weeks now and the plants have been in for 3 so tht means it is 3 weeks old (as i have not added anything else)

this isnt really relevant to anything but i think it awsome:P


freddie

David C

I'm glad you're happy about the snail, but be careful. They can breed so fast that they will quickly overrun a tank so you will want to keep an eye on it.

Dozey

Snails certainly are not a bad addition to your tank but as David C suggested they can reproduce at an alarming rate.

Snails are excellent house keepers and will do an amazing job keeping your tank clean. But they are also a large bio load to an aquarium. So there is a fine balance of keeping the tank free of algae and excess food and not over stocking your aquarium.

The good news is that snail populations can be controlled. Excess food = excess snails. Keep feedings small and the snail population should stay in check.

Iron waffle

Congrats! I was also excited today when i found snails in my tank. I counted 4, probably came with a plant.

fishie freddie

ok thankyou, ill take all the advise on board, but what if there becomes to many??

Toxic

Just joking

fishie freddie

rofl

Dozey

There are natural predators for snails. But again snail can be controlled through diet. If you have very little excess food in the tank the snails will be forced to eat only algae from your aquarium surfaces. As your aquarium can only support so much algae the “food chain” will only support X number of snails.

Adding algae eaters will further starve the snails and thereby further help control the snail population.

fishie freddie

ok, thanks dozey been helpful as all ways

David C

Another great way to control the population is to squish the snails and leave the guts in the tank, most fishies love the treat. It sounds kinda gross, but I used this for awhile. I ended up with yoyo loaches because my problem was WAY outta control, but squishing them should work for most people.

X-Men

I would not be excited about finding a snail after adding new plants. Snails are what is keeping me from adding plants now. The small type of snail you get hitch hiking on plants I consider a pest. They over ran my tank, had them everywhere, in the filter, in the hoses, everywhere. The only way I was able to finally get rid of them was adding 3 clown lochs to my tank. The lochs picked them clean, and fast too. I'm sure if it is the same type of snails in short time you will be looking for advice on getting rid of them.

fishie freddie

ok illl try get it out then but it very hard to find

Toxic

I always give my plants a salt water bath before I introduce them to my tank. I fill a bowl with water and add some salt, say 2 table spoons per gallon should do it. I cover the plants in the water for about a 60 seconds, then shake them good in the water. You will find the snails in the bottom of the bowl. Look the plants over good for eggs also. The salt water makes them let go for the moment I guess. just remember to give your plants a rinse in freshwater also.

roy

i remember getting my first snail, like you i was excited, but when they get up in numbers(pretty quickly) its gets annoying, my advice is remove it and get a mystery snail, i am told they do not reproduce.