Good or bad snail?

[cmhassinger]

So even though I tried hard to keep snails out of my tank.. I see that two have made it in. I have been keeping them out because I just don’t know if they are bad or good. But now that I see two I figured I would learn more about it before making my decision to remove them. They are very tiny and must have been in a plant I bought. This is the best picture I can get of one of them. Does anyone know what type it is and if it’s bad? I’ve read some you can’t ever remove because they multiply like crazy!

 

[Bub]

Bladder snail. They will breed like crazy if they have lots of food, but if you don't overfeed then their populations can be controlled. Personally I like them, but many consider them pests.

 

[Essjay]

Snails are an important part of a tank's ecosystem, I have several snail species in my tanks including 2 that are usually regarded as pests. Feeding too much fish food and not cleaning the tank are the main causes of snail population explosions.

 

[Byron]

Agree, safe for the tank/plants, very helpful. Snails are a healthy plus to an aquarium when they are these.

 

[Retired Viking]

I found a mass of jelly covered eggs on one of my new plants and isolated it. I am going to let them hatch. I already have 6 nerite snails in my 55 gallon tank but may add them to my 30 shrimp tank.

 

[CryptFan]

I personally love snails! Specifically mts, you can never over feed! I purposely feed the mts and now I have a couple hundred in my tank. I also have bladder snails and rams horn snails, at night the mts come out and scaveng but during the day they stay underground.

 

[Retired Viking]

I personally love snails! Specifically mts, you can never over feed! I purposely feed the mts and now I have a couple hundred in my tank. I also have bladder snails and rams horn snails, at night the mts come out and scaveng but during the day they stay underground.

How are your ramshorn sails compared to the others? Are they very active and do they do a good job cleaning? I have nerite snails and I am happy with them but they move around slowly compared to the mystery snails I use to have, was thinking of adding some ramshorn.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I have pond snails, ramshorn, and MTS. The rams horn don’t survive as well. Salt definitely kills them where it doesn’t affect my others.

 

[CryptFan]

How are your ramshorn sails compared to the others? Are they very active and do they do a good job cleaning? I have nerite snails and I am happy with them but they move around slowly compared to the mystery snails I use to have, was thinking of adding some ramshorn.

Too be honest the rams horn snails just blend in and I don’t really notice them much, I also don’t think there are that many(like maybe 20?) whereas I have hundreds of other snails, so that says too me that they don’t thrive and breed as well.

 

[Retired Viking]

With hundreds of snails you could become our forum's snail expert with just a little studying and spending hours watching your different snails behaviors

 

[cmhassinger]

Thank you! I think I might remove them. I don’t mind snails but would prefer one that didn’t multiply as fast lol

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree. I throw a net full of MTS in my pond a couple of times a week. I bet there are at least 50 each time. I can’t keep up with them. They seem to breed in my tank with sand much more than my gravel tanks. Drive me nuts!

 

[JxsPxxle]

Thank you! I think I might remove them. I don’t mind snails but would prefer one that didn’t multiply as fast lol

Whenever I am in my lfs I ask for him all the pest snails they have, I let them breed in a separate tank and then feed them to my dwarf puffers! It’s a great way to not have to cash out on live food like blood worms.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I have both MTS and blue rams horn snails in my 10g and 5g betta tanks. They really help the tank out, eating algae, cleaning up, etc.
@JxsPxxle, that is a good idea. So, OP, if you have any dwarf puffers let the snails breed in a separate tank; then feed them to your DP. I'm pretty sure all freshwater snails reproduce fast, except for the nerite snail.

 

[JxsPxxle]

I have both MTS and blue rams horn snails in my 10g and 5g betta tanks. They really help the tank out, eating algae, cleaning up, etc.
@JxsPxxle, that is a good idea. So, OP, if you have any dwarf puffers let the snails breed in a separate tank; then feed them to your DP. I'm pretty sure all freshwater snails reproduce fast, except for the nerite snail.

It works great and if you get particularly big snails put them in the main tank and they may reproduce without the puffers finding the eggs so you never have to feed them, other then the occasional bag of blood worms.