Hey all! I recently discovered a snail in my tank that I never added in there. I know fresh plants usually have snail eggs on there and suddenly your tank becomes over taken by the snails, thats why I never got fresh plants (plus I have horrible memories when I was a kid of my grandfather having me squash all the snails in his tank then takng them out). So...how the heck did the snail get in here? haha. I have all plastic plants, and no wood or anything that was alive at one time in the tank (except the fish!). I have 1 catfish, algae eater, 4 mollies, and 3 zebra danios in my 20 gallon. Any ideas how I acquired this snail and do they reproduce on their own? Should I get that snail out now?
I Have A Snail
- Thread starter Kellie
- Start date
three-fingers
Fish Connoisseur
You know that not all plants come with snails, it just depends where you get them 
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Dunno how he got there, but there's no risk of the population getting out of control unless you over feed. Still, a description or a picture would be good, so you know weather or not he could be a problem, there's loads of different species of snails out there and not all are 'bad'.
Have you fed your fish any live food? And when was the last time you added fish?
More importantly, do you know what exact type of algae eater and catfish you have? There's so many different species out there, and the most commonly sold ones are not suitable for a 20gallon tank (no matter what they guy at the fish shop said!)
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If you don't know what type, give a description or a picture for an ID .
Though if you do, then its OK lol
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.Dunno how he got there, but there's no risk of the population getting out of control unless you over feed. Still, a description or a picture would be good, so you know weather or not he could be a problem, there's loads of different species of snails out there and not all are 'bad'.
Have you fed your fish any live food? And when was the last time you added fish?
More importantly, do you know what exact type of algae eater and catfish you have? There's so many different species out there, and the most commonly sold ones are not suitable for a 20gallon tank (no matter what they guy at the fish shop said!)
.If you don't know what type, give a description or a picture for an ID
.Though if you do, then its OK lol
.
vancouver
- l l a m a s -
It will most likely reproduce.. there is a good chance it has already done so.
I think i no how it got there! When i got my guppys (a disaster) at petsmart, i thought i just got guppys. When i went home to put the baggy in the water, i noticed a tiny 2 millimeter small snail. Your snail could of came with one of your fish. But i got a mini ramshorn (only grows to a cm) which dont reproduce by themselves. If you got a pond snail then you should watch out.
well i cant take a picture of it now because its in the lil spot that my baby fry hid in so I cant lift it up. But Ill keep a eye out for it. Its about hald then a pinky fingernail and pretty dark, like a dark brown color. Ive only seen one so far...I was going to take it out but my bf thought it was cool and wants to keep it haha.
Yeah I bought guppies at petsmart as well, maybe thats where I got it from. My poor guppies
My mollies killed every single one I had As far as my catfish its a emerald cory and the algae eater,...is um a algae eater? Thats just what it said when I bought it. I attached pics if anyoneknow whats it real name is!!
PufferFishRule
Fish Crazy
i have snails to...but both my puffers make short work of them 
8)
8)
three-fingers
Fish Connoisseur
Well, good luck with the snail, I would have left it in too . In my opinion, even if you do over feed and the snail population explodes, its better to have loads of cool looking snails all over your tank than to have mouldy food lying about polluting your water.
With your fish, your emerald 'cory' (Brochis splendens) is fine in your tank, but you should buy a couple more the same (exactly the same species, not any corydoras) because they should be kept in shoals. Here's a link for more info.
Unfortunately however, your 'algae eater' was just what i suspected. He will grow slightly too large for your tank (some people say 20gals is the minimum, but 20gals is small for a 15" fish), but as he gets older he will start to get very aggressive and stop eating algae. This is probably the most common fish sold as an 'algae eater', good shops will not sell them or will sell them with a warning.
My friend had one that was 3" and it killed two of angel fish, and currently my uncle has one in his aquarium that has killed multiple tetras and constantly harassed his angel fish by sucking on the side of them (later the angels died from another cause). You will have to re-home your algae eater or take him back to the store, here's a link for more info .
. In my opinion, even if you do over feed and the snail population explodes, its better to have loads of cool looking snails all over your tank than to have mouldy food lying about polluting your water.With your fish, your emerald 'cory' (Brochis splendens) is fine in your tank, but you should buy a couple more the same (exactly the same species, not any corydoras) because they should be kept in shoals. Here's a link for more info.
Unfortunately however, your 'algae eater' was just what i suspected. He will grow slightly too large for your tank (some people say 20gals is the minimum, but 20gals is small for a 15" fish), but as he gets older he will start to get very aggressive and stop eating algae. This is probably the most common fish sold as an 'algae eater', good shops will not sell them or will sell them with a warning.
My friend had one that was 3" and it killed two of angel fish, and currently my uncle has one in his aquarium that has killed multiple tetras and constantly harassed his angel fish by sucking on the side of them (later the angels died from another cause). You will have to re-home your algae eater or take him back to the store, here's a link for more info
.yikesWell, good luck with the snail, I would have left it in too
With your fish, your emerald 'cory' (Brochis splendens) is fine in your tank, but you should buy a couple more the same (exactly the same species, not any corydoras) because they should be kept in shoals. Here's a link for more info.
Unfortunately however, your 'algae eater' was just what i suspected. He will grow slightly too large for your tank (some people say 20gals is the minimum, but 20gals is small for a 15" fish), but as he gets older he will start to get very aggressive and stop eating algae. This is probably the most common fish sold as an 'algae eater', good shops will not sell them or will sell them with a warning.
My friend had one that was 3" and it killed two of angel fish, and currently my uncle has one in his aquarium that has killed multiple tetras and constantly harassed his angel fish by sucking on the side of them (later the angels died from another cause). You will have to re-home your algae eater or take him back to the store, here's a link for more info
Im sad bout my algae eater, which is a good type of fish to get for that then? When they get bigger what do they eat then? Well Im planning to get a bigger tank soon so maybe Ill just move him in there if I cant find a home for him
three-fingers
Fish Connoisseur
When they get bigger I don't know what they eat in the wild, but in an aquarium you can feed them things like bloodworm and krill pellets, an of coarse the slime coat of their tank mates (if kept with the wrong fish).
Good algae eating fish for a 20gal are things like bristle nose plecs. Make sure you get a bristlenose though, some plecs can get up to 3 feet and people at the store like to tell you they stay small (happened to me, my plec is small now but will eventually reach 3 feet).
False Siamese algae eaters are similar to what you have but stay smaller and much more peacful, as are Siamese algae eaters and flying foxes.
You could also go for a group of otos.
Good algae eating fish for a 20gal are things like bristle nose plecs. Make sure you get a bristlenose though, some plecs can get up to 3 feet and people at the store like to tell you they stay small (happened to me, my plec is small now but will eventually reach 3 feet).
False Siamese algae eaters are similar to what you have but stay smaller and much more peacful, as are Siamese algae eaters and flying foxes.
You could also go for a group of otos
.
fishboy619
Fish Addict
get atleast another 2 cories, replace the algea eater with ottos i would, they stay small, eat algea, arent aggressive and usally cheap, only problem is they need good quality water. so no new tanks, mature tanks only.
either keep the snail, or get rid, neither choice matters, if kept, it will probally breed, just remove excess snails, if taken, maybe buy a fancy snail that doesnt self breed, like a ramshore or apple snail.
either keep the snail, or get rid, neither choice matters, if kept, it will probally breed, just remove excess snails, if taken, maybe buy a fancy snail that doesnt self breed, like a ramshore or apple snail.
three-fingers
Fish Connoisseur
It's worth noting however that ramshorn snails can store sperm so their not really an alternative.
I personally think that snails do more good than bad to an aquarium unless you are way over feeding.
And they don't multiply lots unless there is a corresponding amount of food.
I personally think that snails do more good than bad to an aquarium unless you are way over feeding.
And they don't multiply lots unless there is a corresponding amount of food
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