Found a snail...

Well, I just received a shipment of plants, and planted them without even thinking of giving them a bleach dip. So today I find this little snail. I am not going to kill him and I don't think I can get any snail eating fish. So my question is basically could anything bad happen from leaving him in there? I will do a search and i.d. the snail...

 

no, we had lots of snails and they grew quite big, the do mate a lot so you do get over-run with them. unfortunately we put clown loaches in our tank and didnt realise they were snail eaters, don't need to say anymore :'(

 

I think they must just be Pond Snails. (or rather he, soon to be they...) Those don't eat plants, right?

 

I have them in Misty's tank and I am glad to have them. No they don't eat the plants. They eat diatoms from the brown algae if you have any or keep the algae off of the glass. It is nice to have them I think and I wouldn't dream of getting rid of them. I started with 2 about 5 months ago when it was a plant tank and now have 4 so they don't multiply that fast. It doesn't get to be a problem as they never get any bigger than this ----O Have fun. Enjoy your plants.

Rose

 

I've gotten attached to the snail already! He's so cute and tiny! I'm trying to decide what to do with him though. The 20 gallon is my "display" tank and I don't want it overrun with snails. On the other hand they add a nice extra component in smaller quantities. I might just set up a snail/shrimp tank, with various non-fish including any snails I pull out of the 20g. That is, if my parents will let me. ;D
I'm thinking maybe the reason yours aren't multiplying that fast is because Misty is making a snack out of them or their eggs. I have heard of Bettas eating snails. If that is the case I suppose my girls would keep the population in check.
My main concern is that when I leave for college I will have to shut down the tank and end up killing a bunch of snails. If I moved them to a separate tank at least I would know where they are. What to do, what to do... ???

 

I have 6 in one of my 5 gallons and I had just 1 last week. Some of them are miniscule (pinhead sized), though.

 

Well, from what I read, snails multiply very fast. So I guess it depends on what kind of a snail you have. If it's not going to eat your plants, etc ... perhaps a smaller population of it would be OK. I don't know which kinds of snails but I know that many are beneficial in that they eat dead plant matter (not live plants). So in this respect they're beneficial. However, I wonder how one can control a snail population without killing them. Because if you let them multiply without an end, your tank may become packed with them. And since they're live creatures just like fish, they probably produce a lot of waste too when their population is large.

 

I am a firm believer in snails. In fact I just got a new couple today (Ivory snails) and they are beautiful. They clean up the waste products in the tank and the algae as well. And these little beauties stir up the gravel as they go. It is fascinating to watch them. The Bettas are spellbound. The Otos were just not getting all of the areas cleaned and the snails can go where they won't go. I think they Otos got a little lazy when I began to feed them the Omega One Veggie Rounds. ;D

Rose

 

Snails are pretty awesome. I might get a bigger kind for my tank (like Mystery Snails)

 

could buy a lobster (one of the blue ones) and they eat the snails I want one lol

 

I already decided what fish I'm getting and no room for a lobster...I believe the one you are thinking of reaches 5 inches.

 

The snails will usually grow in proportion to the food in the tank.
carol

 

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 isn't really relevant to anything but I think it awsome


freddie

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

but what if there becomes to many??

Just joking

 

Just joking

rofl

 

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.

 

ok, thanks dozey been helpful as all ways

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

2 weeks ago I put two guppies in my tank with 2 real plants. I have just noticed a snail on my tank. How would it get there? What should I do with it?

 

HI welcome to FishLore!!
It probably hitched a ride on the plants. I'd suggest you remove it asap and I hate to say, destroy it. Unless you have an extra tank you'd like to devote to these snails Pest snails can be really hard to get rid of. They don't need a mate to breed.

 

I had a LFS accidentally scoop up a snail when I got fish once.

 

Happened to me, too. Normally, I suggest to just leave the snail alone (read my signature, lol). IF you have a sudden population explosion, it's a nice reminder to stop overfeeding. I have pond snails in my tank and barely notice them.

He probably hitched a ride on a live plant, or, as Mosin said, with the fish. Happened tons of times at Petsmart where I used to go.

 

What type of snail is it? Is it a ramshorn (they have a flat circle shaped shell with a spiral) or a MTS snail (cone shaped)? they are both algae eaters and eat extra food. their population is limited to the amount of extra food in the tank, so if you do good gravel vacuums and don't overfeed, you can have their benifits without getting over run with snails.

personally, I keep ramshorn snails on purpose, and I plan to get some MTS

 

I like snails as I have 3 black mystery snails (the larger species), and an apple snail. They are great tank cleaners. I can't wait to see how big that apple snail gets I have never had one before.

I have never had mystery snails breed in any of my tanks though and I have tried to get them to breed. I love the little under water vacuum cleaners.

 

it looks like a mts snail but they are so small at the moment I can't really tell. Is it best to get rid of them or keep an eye on how many I get? I have got rid of one all ready and just seen a new one today.

 

Noticed that my lilies were looking poorly lately, thought it was because I had cut down on the excel. But this am I saw this on the glass, it is big enough I that I saw it while walking by in a mostly dark house! It's white and about the size of my pinky. How could I have missed this? Nothing has been added to the tank in months.

Can pond snails be white? Will get a better look after work with the lights on.


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I'm not sure if pond snails in particular can be white but I know mts can be in many different shades. Does look like a pond snail to me, a big one though! I'm assuming you meant your pinky nail not your whole pinky.

 

Yes, but it is actually a little bigger than my nail! I haven't had much luck on google but also at work so not much time...

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Okay I only really know my basic snails. Among the different types I house, I do have pond snails.... and mine, in particular don't look like that! Yes, they can come in many colors..... some uglier than others ...... but the shell shape of that picture is what is throwing me for a loop. It looks, kinda of pointed at the shell curl? Not as pointy as a MTS, for example..... but it almost reminds me of a Japanese Trapdoor Snail. I can't tell by your picture very well..... but how big is it? If you did mean, pinky nail.... then I guess that's not that big. But if it's your whole pinky...... man, I've got some big pond snails, but not that big!!!

 

looks like some type of bladder snail. do you have anything in the tank that would react badly to loaches, assasin snails, or copper (only if you want to get rid of the snails)

 

from my googling this am I was guessing bladder snail too. Maybe white because of no calcuI'm in the water? I would say it's just under 1/2 an inch long. I was getting ready for work so I took the pic with my phone, came back about 3 min later and he was at the top, so whatever it is it's fast too.

Had a pond snail infestation in my old betta tank, the shell seems a little longer than those. I'm just flabbergasted that as much as I look at the tank everyday I haven't seen it until now. The last thing added was a rainbow shark months ago!

 

It may be that it looks different because "pond snail" is a blanket term used for a lot of different snails, one of which is bladder snails.