Snail surprise in my tank

[sid014]

I recently set up a tank. It has amazon sword, java fern and a plant that looks like cryptocotyne species.
But now i started seeing snail's in my tank. I didn't put them in the tank. They just appeared. First there was one but now i see five.
Since I have live plants in my tank so I am afraid that will they eat my plants or not.
They seem to love the algae on the plants and driftwood and on the glass and seem to enjoy the gravel bottom. They also cleaned my tank by eating algae but I don't want them to eat my plants.
Any advice and help is appreciated.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

So snails will eat biofilms and algae on leave, glass and anything else you will have in the tank. They tend not to eat living plant matter. So you don't need to be too worried about having them in the tank.

If you don't want them there for aesthetic reasons then just picking them out when you see them will help keep the population low. Similarly getting assassin snails ( which eat other snails) will reduce the population. But avoid chemicals to get rid of them.

IMO Snails are great addition to have in the aquarium, they eat detritus and algae out of the tank and can help cleaning in those hard to reach areas. I especially like MTS's as they turn over the substrate.

As for the snail in the picture, It just looks like a pond snail, not the most attractive snail and has probably come in on your plants. It's up to you if you want to keep them, but they wont go after your living plants.

 

[Essjay]

I have those snails in my tanks (and those tiny ramshorns, Malaysian trumpet snails and nerites). They are a species of physid snail, see the entry in this thread https://www.fishforums.net/threads/freshwater-snail-species-in-the-hobby.424364/

I agree with The Lumpfish Guy, snails are an important part of the tank ecosystem. I would leave them there and control their numbers by not over feeding the fish.

 

[sid014]

So snails will eat biofilms and algae on leave, glass and anything else you will have in the tank. They tend not to eat living plant matter. So you don't need to be too worried about having them in the tank.

If you don't want them there for aesthetic reasons then just picking them out when you see them will help keep the population low. Similarly getting assassin snails ( which eat other snails) will reduce the population. But avoid chemicals to get rid of them.

IMO Snails are great addition to have in the aquarium, they eat detritus and algae out of the tank and can help cleaning in those hard to reach areas. I especially like MTS's as they turn over the substrate.

As for the snail in the picture, It just looks like a pond snail, not the most attractive snail and has probably come in on your plants. It's up to you if you want to keep them, but they wont go after your living plants.

Thnx for the help and I do want to keep the snails as they help control algae. They also add natural element to the tank and although they don't look as glamorous as my cardinals but they do amaze me. I have a total of five snails but I do want more.

 

[seangee]

Agree with what the others say. If you find you are being over-run it is usually a sign that you are over feeding. I usually pick out the bigger ones once they start getting obvious (i.e. ugly) and just leave the little ones to do the work.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

I have a total of five snails but I do want more.

Well if you want more, maybe go to your LFS and see if they have any better looking ones.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree with all above. Believe me, with pond snails, you will have all you want and more before long! I have ramshorn, pond, and Malaysian Trumpet Snails in mine. The MTS are also good at turning your sand if you have that as a substrate.