OzzyFan

Several weeks ago I noticed a snail in my 25g freshwater tropical live-plant (etc.) aquarium. It has grown to the size of a very large blueberry. A week or two ago, I noticed a few tiny snails with very circular and not elongated shells in the tank. Yesterday I counted 16 of these tiny snails. I don't mind them, but if there will come a point where they're outcompeting my fish for oxygen or food, I'd like to know what to expect.

1. Does anyone know what species they are? (please see photos below; the older snail is the one on the plant; the younger one is in the gravel)

2. What are they known for doing in an aquarium? i.e., do they eat algae, eat other waste material, or just consume oxygen and reproduce exponentially?

Thanks,

-Andrew

EDIT: I also found a patch of eggs(?) stuck to the glass this morning. I assume they're snail eggs, but if anyone would like to clarify, based on picture #3, that would be helpful.

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sirdarksol

Typical pond snail. Some people have problems with them eating plants. I've never had that problem. In my tanks, they just eat extra food and bits of algae off the walls. They're not the most attractive, but I pretty much let them be.
They do serve one purpose for me. Monitoring their population tells me what condition my tank's in. If I have a snail explosion, something's wrong in the tank.

ShaynaB

The small one on the gravel looks like a ramshorn snail. I've found the ramshorns and one pond snail in my aquarium. I've been told that ramshorns don't really bother too much, but that pond snails multiply like crazy.

blue_sable

pond snails bad creatures they are. get them out and flush them if you have any egg laying fish they will eat the eggs and they do multiply by the millions. nasty parasites!

J J Indy

I was at a local pet store and they were having a snail out break in there tanks. they probably came in with your plants. The store was using a large goldfish to eat the snails and he was going to town on them they also said that clown loaches are known to eat them as gold fish arent a good mix with tropical tanks.

OzzyFan

Clown loach, eh? That may be my only option, because my other fish aren't eating them...

Swany

i also found that the spotted randolf (s/p) catfish tend to eat them, they dont eat the shell if there to hard but usually they will, but if they dont they will still eat the snails out of the shells and then the shells come to the top and are easy to remove, just a lil tip i found out thought it might help!
-swany

OzzyFan

Thanks for the advice!

Karma_Sea

If you don’t want to keep your snails, or sell them, you might want to invest in a clown loach. I have a snail problem too and it got to the point where my pleco was not getting enough to eat. So keep an eye on any algae eaters or bottom feeders you have. A snail problem can really do a lot of damage in a tank.

ShaynaB

The problem with that, though, is his aquariums really aren't big enough for clown loaches... They get huge!

Karma_Sea

I have one in my 20g... but I quess it works for me becuase I am always looking for a reason to get a bigger tank!

outthere

I am having a problem with pond snails as well. I bought some plants from petsmart and they came with. I dont like them at all although I know they really dont hurt anything. I want to get rid of them and a fish that will eat them wont help since I have a 20g. I did read that tiger barbs will eat them so I got some and they killed my guppies. I know there is a chemical that will do the job but I dont know alot about it. I can empty the tank of my fish temporarily while I treat it but how does it work? How long does it take to kill them? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

:/

P.S. Why dont I have smilies ?

ShaynaB

I wouldn't use any chemical to get rid of snails. Chemicals are bad news for any aquarium, if you ask me...

I'm about to try the putting a slice of cucumber in a little jar and putting it at the bottom of my tank and leaving it overnight bit. I'll let you know how that goes.

I've resorted to squishing them, but they keep multiplying no matter how many of them I squish. I think getting them to go to a cucumber may work so I can take out larger amounts of them at once.

Snails... ugh.

Butterfly

Usually a snail explosion is an indication of over feeding or a need for more frequent/larger water changes. The snail population grows in proportion to food available to them. Since a fishes stomach is about the size of it's eye it's really easy to over feed(along with how cute the fish are when they eat). Reducing how much food goes into the tank, a thorough gravel vacuum, and a couple of extra water changes should see the snails under control.
The benefit of snails in the aquarium is that they eat any left over food that may fall to the bottom, keep the substrate loose and they keep your plants clean. I always keep some snails in all of my tanks.
Buying a fish to solve a problem isn't a really good reason to buy a new fish. Sooner or later most people decide they don't want it after the problem is solved, or maybe it gets too big for their needs. The clown Loach is one such fish. They are wonderful, funny, long lived and unique fish ... that need to be in groups of three or more(more is better), and get huge. Some of them get as big as 13 or 14 inches and are massive in body. I know someone who has had one for 21 yrs.
so unless you can provide the future needs of a fish and really want it buying it to solve a problem isn't a good idea.
Hope that helps
Carol

ShaynaB

I figured my snail extravaganza was due to overfeeding. The only tank I have them in is my fry tank, and I do overfeed just to get all the fry some food. Silly baby fish, takes them a while to figure it out! I do extra vacuums to the tank, too.

Once my fry have grown and I can sell them to my LFS, I'm sure I'll have an easier time of it...

Butterfly

but don't you love those babies
Carol

Karma_Sea

Please do not use chemicals to get the snails out! it does not work!! The only thing you can do is to bleach and boil everything in the tank...and the tank! And evne then if you have some eges in the water you are keeping your fish it they will come right back.

As to tiger barbs cleaning out your snails...I have five tiger barbs and they haven't helped to get gid of the snailsand they do like to nip fins and will very easily kill guppies and other slow moving or small fish, but my ballon mollies will eat a snail every now and then.

The sad truth to snails is you either you have to pick them out, get a loach or live with them; there is no easy fix for pond snails.

ShaynaB

Very much! They're so cute! (Even if I've completely overstocked my tank and they eat me out of house and fish home! haha, Mollies are pigs!)