Snails

[Tenko]

I got some plants the other day from a couple of lfs's, one of them must have had some tiny snails on. I've seen 3 of them so far, crawling around the tank.

Are they good or bad to have in the tank? At the moment they are in the small tank, but I had considered getting some anyway for the large tank. Not for any particular reason other than they look quite funny.

I've heard they multipy very quickly but I'd be prepared to thin their numbers if they got too many.

Also do any fish eat snails?

Any other exciting snail related facts I should know?

 

[handsomeboy]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SAVE THIS UNKNOWING CHILD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHAILS ARE EVIL!!!! EVILLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT GET SNAILS!!

DO NOT GET SNAILS!!!

DO NOT GET SNAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!

i had a few that came with plants. soon they became a few more. then, when spring came, THERES A MILLION!!! they ate my amazon swords

clown loaches and dwarf puffers eat snails.

p.s. DO NOT GET SNAILS!!!!!!!!!

KILL THEM!!!! MAIM THEM!!!! or just have one snail. ONE snail. ONE SNAIL is ALL youll EVER need.










....one.

 

[tstenback]

I am from the other school of thought. Snails can quickly overrun your tank but if you thin them out when they start to multiply then you will have a beneficial addition to your tank. they will eat algae, dead plant matter and fish food that is on the bottom of the tank. If there is enough of the above they will generally leave the plants alone....but if they get the taste for a specific plant then watch out cause they will limb it in a hurry . However if yo are up to the work of keeping them in check then i think they are an interesting addition to the tank. Pakistan loaches also eat them and they are much smaller than the clown loach.

 

[Tenko]

Looks like I have no fish that like to lunch on them.I could move one into the big tank, keep one in the small tank, and remove the other, provided I don't get anymore stowaways.

 

[cometcattle]

My zebra and skunk loaches will eat them and they are also alot smaller that clownloachs.

 

[Speck the Fish]

My Yoyo loaches are lean mean snail eating machines. These guys don't get as big as Clown's they get around 3" or so most sources say. Mine are slightly smaller. I usually only have a few snails wondering around at most and hundreds of thousands of snail shells littering the bottom. Well maybe not that many but lots, but looks cool mixed with the gravel. My snails are stripped

Hey I just typed this up and remembered Yoyo's are Pakistan. Opps

 

[Sky042]

Snails aren't hermaphrodidic right they can't breed asexually so if you purchase one you won't have more than one in a few weeks?

 

[charredkracker]

i dunno man i got a snail one time with a plant didn't throw it out cuz it was just one i thought "ahh what harm could it do" hahah that was my mistake it was a small snail that was shaped like a thanksgiving cornacopia (dunno if i spelt that right) anyways it multiplyed rapidly before i knew it they were everywhere....i plucked em all out then a couple days later i'd see more of them they never got larger then lets say a 1/2 inch but there were alot of them i'd probably say about 100 in a bout a month but on the other hand i have had a regular shaped snail (i'm new to the name thing sorry) for about a year now and it hasn't multiplyed maybe mine is broken or somthing but i think, if mine is ok that is, that you should keep it out of the tank unless you paid for it

well thats my experience with snails do with it what you want

oh yeah and this was all in a 10 gallon tank

 

[Opcn]

The cornicopia snail is a MTS (livebearing hermaphrodite) the small snail is a common pond snail (Prolific underwater Egg layer) the large snail is probably an apple or mystery snail (large Sexual above water egg layer) They are the best for keeping a controlled population because they are big enought top be attractive and lay there eggs right out in the open where you can cull them if you wish.

Good luck

 

[desley]

Hi,

From what I have read on this forum .. you can get rid of your ugly black snails by putting a lettuce leaf in a small bottle and put it on the gravel. They will be attracted to the leaf and when they are all in there eating at it you can remove the bottle and get rid of them. I can't take credit for this as I read it on this forum and not tried it yet but will when they start to be a problem again. I went and handpicked them all out last weekend but will try the lettuce leaf next time. It seems like a good idea.

I do seem to get heaps of those small back snails too and my 2 yellow (i think mystry snails like the above message advises) don't breed as much.

Not sure but I also read to rinse your plant from the lfs as it will wash away any of the pesky black snails before they enter your tank.

Good luck

 

[charredkracker]

The cornicopia snail is a MTS (livebearing hermaphrodite) the small snail is a common pond snail (Prolific underwater Egg layer) the large snail is probably an apple or mystery snail (large Sexual above water egg layer)

thanks man for the real name

this forum is awsome so many people know what i need to know

 

[Tenko]

Thanks alot guys for all the info, it's all helped.

I quickly checked the plants before I put them in, not enough as I've now spotted 4 tiny snails in my small tank.

I haven't got a clue what type they are yet, too small to see really. I'm still not sure what to do about them yet, keep them or dump them.

If I dump them, would you suggest just chucking them away? I doubt any lfs would want them.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I LIKE snails. I introduced hundreds into my tank. I now have god knows how many.

You rarely see them in the day, it's the nighttime they come out. If i flip on the lights at 2AM, i can count 200-300 snails easy. In the daytime, 10-20 in plain sight.

They don't eat my plants at all. They only eat the dead leaves. They really save me the effort of cleaning my tank of plant debris and leftover food and the occasional dead fish. I haven't vaccuumed my tank in months because of them.

I love em. Send all unwanted snails my way!

Actually, i am looking for some different varieties other than pond, ramshorn, mystery and MTS.

 

[Tenko]

Well I've still only got 3, but they are still tiny. Even though their size, I think I spotted 2 blobs of eggs on the side of the tank yesterday. They looked like frogsporn but had white centres.

Do these sound like snail eggs? Can snails who are so young and small breed?

I took them out and chucked them away just in case.

 

[charredkracker]

yeah those are def snail eggs and yes they can reproduce at such a small size they don't really get much bigger then a dime....i made the mistake of not taking out the eggs cuz i wasn't sure if it was a fish egg or snail but sadly enough i found out the hard way that they were snail eggs after they took over the tank....smart move on your part to take out the eggs and chuck em tho