Ok, Where Did This Snail Come From?

[crabbylion]

Hi! This morning I woke up and when I was feeding my fish I noticed a very small snail on the back wall at the top. It was out of the water so to make sure what it was I took a cotton swab and push it back into the water. Now I have never purchased snails for this tank and i'm wondering if I should get it out of there. I have NO idea how it got in there. Your opinions are valued. Thank you.

 

[jacko32]

Hi! This morning I woke up and when I was feeding my fish I noticed a very small snail on the back wall at the top. It was out of the water so to make sure what it was I took a cotton swab and push it back into the water. Now I have never purchased snails for this tank and i'm wondering if I should get it out of there. I have NO idea how it got in there. Your opinions are valued. Thank you.

they usually come in on plants

 

[simonfabris]

Hi! This morning I woke up and when I was feeding my fish I noticed a very small snail on the back wall at the top. It was out of the water so to make sure what it was I took a cotton swab and push it back into the water. Now I have never purchased snails for this tank and i'm wondering if I should get it out of there. I have NO idea how it got in there. Your opinions are valued. Thank you.

Hi, Snails can get in your tank from a variety of sources, like plants as the post above says. But they can also come in through 2nd hand filters etc and Fish Flake food in the form of eggs amongst the flakes.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

if they are like the critters i have, get them out! they reproduce very quickly and soon looks like a snail farm.they lay eggs everywhere and they look like a clear gel. i would remove all the ornaments, rocks and wood etc and boil them for a bit.lol if you see a snail on the glass, remove the bug-gers

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Hi! This morning I woke up and when I was feeding my fish I noticed a very small snail on the back wall at the top. It was out of the water so to make sure what it was I took a cotton swab and push it back into the water. Now I have never purchased snails for this tank and i'm wondering if I should get it out of there. I have NO idea how it got in there. Your opinions are valued. Thank you.

Did you recently purchase new plants? The first time I had snails was after buying plants from petco. Ones that had a label on them saying, "no snails." Only three appeared and I took them right out and no more were found.

Later I bought another plant and found a *microscopic* snail on it. I had to search pretty hard to find it. It's now in it's own home (a tiny vase) in my kitchen. lol!

 

[crabbylion]

Hi! This morning I woke up and when I was feeding my fish I noticed a very small snail on the back wall at the top. It was out of the water so to make sure what it was I took a cotton swab and push it back into the water. Now I have never purchased snails for this tank and i'm wondering if I should get it out of there. I have NO idea how it got in there. Your opinions are valued. Thank you.

Hi, Snails can get in your tank from a variety of sources, like plants as the post above says. But they can also come in through 2nd hand filters etc and Fish Flake food in the form of eggs amongst the flakes.

Wow, via fish flake food? You guys are right. I really think they came in on a huge java fern I purchased from Petsupermarket. Now that I think about it even thought their aquatic plants were kept separate from the fish on sale, they housed snails with the plants in there too. I also find it ironic that the same day I noticed snails in our 29 gal our only Pleco went belly up. Coincidence, right?

 

[jacko32]

Hi! This morning I woke up and when I was feeding my fish I noticed a very small snail on the back wall at the top. It was out of the water so to make sure what it was I took a cotton swab and push it back into the water. Now I have never purchased snails for this tank and i'm wondering if I should get it out of there. I have NO idea how it got in there. Your opinions are valued. Thank you.

Hi, Snails can get in your tank from a variety of sources, like plants as the post above says. But they can also come in through 2nd hand filters etc and Fish Flake food in the form of eggs amongst the flakes.

Wow, via fish flake food? You guys are right. I really think they came in on a huge java fern I purchased from Petsupermarket. Now that I think about it even thought their aquatic plants were kept separate from the fish on sale, they housed snails with the plants in there too. I also find it ironic that the same day I noticed snails in our 29 gal our only Pleco went belly up. Coincidence, right?

i have had loads of snails in my tank that have hitched a lift on plants
as for your plec i would think its a coincidence did you notice it getting sick or did it just go quick?

 

[ashemely]

Snails found on plants is common and not surprising. They will breed rapidly, but usually that's a sign of overfeeding your fish. Fish food that gets left uneaten is eaten by the snails, and the more food the snails eat the more healthy they are and therefore the more breeding they do. The snails won't harm your fish, and I definitely don't feel like they're as big of a nuisance as one poster is claiming. Some people like to have a few in their tank, me included, because when the snail population grows they know to cut back on how much they're feeding their fish. The pest snails I have in my tanks don't eat the plants, but do eat the algae on the tank walls, so I figure they earn their keep.