Phishies Inn

Well it's been 2 weeks or so and I haven't seen any snails and my tank.

Until today :|

The other night I was so happy, I managed to catch an MTS on the side of the tank! Well, it was either an MTS or something closely related, so I was happy...but today I was looking at the sides of my tank and on plant leaves and I'm noticing lots of new very TINY baby snails...I haven't seen any trace for the past two weeks so I wonder if there were eggs on some of the plants that I missed.

In any case, the more I look, the more I find :/ Can anyone ID these? I'll leave them alone if they won't eat my plants but otherwise I'll have to find some way to get rid of them.

Keep in mind I'm using the super macro (aka very very closeup) feature on my camera so these guys are very small. To give you an idea of scale, the bubbles coming from the background are the smallest of the bubbles from my powerhead. Trust me, the picture may be big but these guys are teeny tinny, about -- <-- that size, maybe.






There isn't much feeding them right now except for dead plants :| I had a few of my green hedge plants die off on me - they're all out of the tank now but I wonder how much of a feast those guys had before I got around to gardening :P

Shawnie

I cant help with the identity but its something cute for sure

Phishies Inn

Yeah I thought they were cute too :P That's why I don't really *want* to kill them if they won't eat my plants. And I'm getting loaches so they'll have a feast if we have a population explosion :P

Drea

I believe what you've got are pond snails. MTS (malaysian trumpet snails) are shaped like a cone, with a pointy end of the shell. Be sure to read the info here on loaches before you go get some. They are sensitive to tank paramenters, and some loaches get large. I don't think all loaches eat snails, so research first.

joy613

They are rams horn snail, they lay eggs and usually don't bother live healthy plants.

Phishies Inn

Yes thanks Drea I know, I've been planning out this tank for months I'm getting Botia almorhae (yoyo) and Pangio kuhlii (kuhli), which don't get too large for my tank. I wasn't getting loaches for the snails I just know that they happen to eat them so it was a bonus.

And yeah I know what MTS are, I've seen them in my tank...in fact there's one hanging out on a leaf right now, which is strange because they usually don't come out until it's dark. There were a few others out when I turned the lights on this morning though.

Anyway, joy613 you say ramshorn don't eat plants? I thought I read somewhere they did :S for my plants sake I hope you're right...and yeah I found eggs this morning during a water change...scooped 'em all out. I'm sure there's more I didn't find of course.

joy613

I read in another post where your betta was constipated, it might be just he over ate the snails and snail eggs. I have ummm 15 bettas right now. I have very few snails in any of their tanks. MTS are the only ones that have a chance in my tanks since they hide out in the sand during the day.

Phishies Inn

Heh, well the tank the betta is in doesn't have snails The 10 gallon is snail free, the 55 is the one with snails.

Butterfly

Yep definitely a ramshorn They don't usually eat plants but sure will chomp down on a dead or dieing leaf.
carol

joy613

oops ...well there went that thought!!

Phishies Inn

Ah well that's just fine then, less pruning for me to do Thanks!