Are Snails Really That Bad?

[Katty]

In the process of adding plants to my tank, I ended up with a few snaily hitchhikers. They seem to be some sort of "pond" snail shape, that's all I can tell as far as species. I really like snails as animals, but I read a lot of things where people want to know how to get rid of snails in their tanks so this has me thinking. Are they really so bad? What do they do? Are they just "icky" or do they actually do something bad?

These snails just seem to cruise up and down the glass and the plants. Can't tell what they could be eating (hopefully the algae). I'd like to keep them provided they aren't harming my tank in some way or taking the whole thing over.

 

[Assaye]

In the process of adding plants to my tank, I ended up with a few snaily hitchhikers. They seem to be some sort of "pond" snail shape, that's all I can tell as far as species. I really like snails as animals, but I read a lot of things where people want to know how to get rid of snails in their tanks so this has me thinking. Are they really so bad? What do they do? Are they just "icky" or do they actually do something bad?

These snails just seem to cruise up and down the glass and the plants. Can't tell what they could be eating (hopefully the algae). I'd like to keep them provided they aren't harming my tank in some way or taking the whole thing over.

I have snails in some tanks. IMO, they're only a problem if you over feed your fish and the snails take advantage of the food and start to take over. They can unbalance the bioload of the tank. Too many snails also = lots of snail poop which looks ugly and needs cleaning up. In general though snails are awesome. Clean algae, eat dying plant matter, keep the substrate clean(ish).

I just maintain my tank as I would for the fish and if a few snails can thrive, more power to them. Never kill/remove snails - they tend to die off naturally in response to the avaliability of food.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

It depends. My boyfriend has snails in his tank (hitch-hikers) and he likes them; I don't. The problem is they are a problem if you don't want them. He now gets any of my hitch-hikers