Snails introduced with plants

[Essjay]

I divide snails into two groups, those we pay good money for and those which find their own way into a tank. The first group includes nerites, rabbit/elephant/Sulawesi snails, apple/mystery snails, large ramshorns and such; the second I call pest snails and they include those tiny ramshorns, physids, and limnaeids. MTS fall between the two groups as they often arrive with plants but shops and eBay sell them for money.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I've read here on this forum countless times that "if you don't overfeed, the pest snails won't get out of control".

I have a 10G heavily planted tank, established for years, with ember tetras, Neo shrimps, and WCMMs. This tank is fed a very small amount, every other day or every third day, with an amount of food the fish consume within a few minutes. I don't consider this overfeeding.

The Malaysian Trumpet snail population in this tank has grown from a handful, to at least one hundred, in the last six months....I'll take the "don't overfeed, and pest snail populations won't explode" theory with a block of salt, thank you very much....

 

[Byron]

I've read here on this forum countless times that "if you don't overfeed, the pest snails won't get out of control".

I have a 10G heavily planted tank, established for years, with ember tetras, Neo shrimps, and WCMMs. This tank is fed a very small amount, every other day or every third day, with an amount of food the fish consume within a few minutes. I don't consider this overfeeding.

The Malaysian Trumpet snail population in this tank has grown from a handful, to at least one hundred, in the last six months....I'll take the "don't overfeed, and pest snail populations won't explode" theory with a block of salt, thank you very much....

You need to remember that the large number of snails you have is still dependent on the food they have available. This just shows you how much organics occur in your aquarium; we are all the same, one fish being properly fed will obviously produce waste (organic matter) which the snails will eat, and this alone may well support several of them going forward. The more fish, the more waste, and thus the more snails. Feeding fish more than they reasonably require will obviously increase the snails further because more food is going in and more waste is coming out.

So, if pest snails are deemed by the aquarist to be "out of control" it is the simple fact of the aquarist feeding the fish that is causing it, and it is to be expected because any food in means food for snails. If the fish are actually being "overfed" with excess fish food reaching the bottom uneaten, that is yet more food for the snails.

 

[Boundava]

I like the ramshorn snails, but death to bladder snails. I had an infestation in my 6 gallon, and was able to "rent" a puffer from my local fish store (I know the manager) and the little guy cleaned the tank up before I put in the actual inhabitants. I always have it in my mind to clean the plants before I put them in my tank (at least a look over and rinse in tap water to get any snails or eggs off) but I am always so excited to plant it and just forget

@Slaphppy7, Mat you have to remember-heavily planted tank also adds to the food available to the MTS, that's why my heavily planted (and overstocked) 75 gallon had such an issue before the assassins grew enough to keep them in check.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

You need to remember that the large number of snails you have is still dependent on the food they have available. This just shows you how much organics occur in your aquarium; we are all the same, one fish being properly fed will obviously produce waste (organic matter) which the snails will eat, and this alone may well support several of them going forward. The more fish, the more waste, and thus the more snails. Feeding fish more than they reasonably require will obviously increase the snails further because more food is going in and more waste is coming out.

So, if pest snails are deemed by the aquarist to be "out of control" it is the simple fact of the aquarist feeding the fish that is causing it, and it is to be expected because any food in means food for snails. If the fish are actually being "overfed" with excess fish food reaching the bottom uneaten, that is yet more food for the snails.

Occam's Razor...it isn't overfeeding the fish, or some other apparent travesty of fish care, it's the actual existence of fish in the tank that causes the snail population boom.
Fish make waste, even if they are properly and sensibly fed.
Snails eat waste and will breed.

"So, if pest snails are deemed by the aquarist to be "out of control" it is the simple fact of the aquarist feeding the fish that is causing it".

So your solution would be to stop feeding the fish? Starve them to death and, eventually, when the snails have finished feasting on the fishy corpses, the snail population might, (just 'might', mind you), decrease.
I'm also aware that, contrary to the beliefs of some aquarists and Pets@Home staff, snails produce waste just as effectively as any other living creature in the tank, which other snails may, or may not, happily munch on.
More waste = More food = More snails and we have a perpetual motion (pardon the pun) machine, resulting in more and more molluscs, chalIenging our attempts at ecosystem management. I'm beginning to think that for some reasons obscure, some snails are getting a higher priority than fish and that the very concept of 'pest snails' seems to be a total anathema to some.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Occam's Razor...it isn't overfeeding the fish, or some other apparent travesty of fish care, it's the actual existence of fish in the tank that causes the snail population boom.
Fish make waste, even if they are properly and sensibly fed.
Snails eat waste and will breed.

"So, if pest snails are deemed by the aquarist to be "out of control" it is the simple fact of the aquarist feeding the fish that is causing it".

So your solution would be to stop feeding the fish? Starve them to death and, eventually, when the snails have finished feasting on the fishy corpses, the snail population might, (just 'might', mind you), decrease.
I'm also aware that, contrary to the beliefs of some aquarists and Pets@Home staff, snails produce waste just as effectively as any other living creature in the tank, which other snails may, or may not, happily munch on.
More waste = More food = More snails and we have a perpetual motion (pardon the pun) machine, resulting in more and more molluscs, chalIenging our attempts at ecosystem management. I'm beginning to think that for some reasons obscure, some snails are getting a higher priority than fish and that the very concept of 'pest snails' seems to be a total anathema to some.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.....

 

[Byron]

So your solution would be to stop feeding the fish? Starve them to death and, eventually, when the snails have finished feasting on the fishy corpses, the snail population might, (just 'might', mind you), decrease.

Are you serious? I was pointing out to Slaphappy7 that having fish being normally fed will result in snails reproducing according to the amount of waste those fish produce. It cannot be avoided.

I'm also aware that, contrary to the beliefs of some aquarists and Pets@Home staff, snails produce waste just as effectively as any other living creature in the tank, which other snails may, or may not, happily munch on.

The waste these small snails produce is no more than the waste already in the tank from the fish. The snails processing it breaks it down faster for the bacteria. I will check with Neale Monks when I have time, as I have never read anyone suggesting otherwise.

 

[Byron]

I discussed this topic with Neale Monks yesterday. What I thought was a simple question, resulted in a seven or eight paragraph explanation from Neale and he has no objection to my repeating any of it here, so I will start a new thread on the topic of snails and away we go.