Snails

[Ridgerunner]

What type of snail is the best (non-propagating, non-destructive, and a communal asset)? I've read several discussions online about varieties of snails and their habits.
I'd like some recommendations on what snails you'd like and how to care for them. Thanks in advance.

 

[Sunnyspots]

I'm getting some nerite snails. They eat algae, look pretty and aren't going to overrun my tank. However they do drop eggs everywhere

 

[Heather7465]

What type of snail is the best (non-propagating, non-destructive, and a communal asset)? I've read several discussions online about varieties of snails and their habits.
I'd like some recommendations on what snails you'd like and how to care for them. Thanks in advance.

Ridgerunner,
Water- What's your pH? If your aquarium has high alkaline (over 7 pH at least), then think about a Red Racer Nerite. They are beautiful snails!! I love my little girl. If I had the space then I'd have a tank full of them!
Food- She is a scavenger constantly moving eating either algae, biofilm, or decaying plant matter. (There are dry foods available at pet stores). I've never seen her eat any of my healthy plants nor can I get her to eat blanched veggies. So hopefully you have an established tank with yummy algae available!
Breeding- They will not proliferate your tank (not in freshwater). My girl lays tiny white eggs on my coconut shell only. Its easy to scratch them off.
How many-They add to your bioload, so take that into consideration when stocking your tank.
Temperament- Non aggressive. Peaceful. Also, none of my fish bother her.
Good luck on choosing!

 

[Essjay]

What type of snail is the best (non-propagating, non-destructive, and a communal asset)?

The only non-propagating type of freshwater snail in the hobby is nerites. All others will breed in a fish tank. (I said freshwater as marine snails might be different)

But as Sunnyspots says, females do lay eggs which look like sesame seeds on the tank walls, decor, filter etc. These eggs do not hatch.
There are several species of nerite - red racer (like Heather4765's snail) zebra, red onion, the smaller yellow and black striped snails, military helmet snails, batman snails etc. To avoid eggs, have only one snail, or several snails of different species.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Probably the nerite snail.

 

[ArmchairAquariest]

First: are you talking freshwater or saltwater (...or brackish)? There are vastly different answers for each.

I am only familiar with freshwater but in freshwater while larger snails can be interesting pets and there are more options that won't get out of control, they do less "heavy lifting" as far as clean-up goes and tend to be more of a load than an asset on your tank's environment. The issue with the small snails is that while they do the heavy lifting on cleaning and environmental support while adding minimal load to the tank is that they are the ones that have population explosions and are generally considered "pests."

Now that said one slight exception to the aforementioned trend that I would strongly recommend are the Nerites. While they can lay eggs in fresh water (which some people find really ugly and gross), they can't actually reproduce successfully in fresh water so there are never more nerites in any fresh water tank then you put in there, no out-of-control population explosion is possible with them in fresh water. Also, personally I have enough of a clean-up crew and work to minimize all feeding in all my tanks to the point where something (not always sure what) is actually eating all the Nerite eggs in any given tank so I don't even see them. Nerites tend to come in pretty attractive colors, patterns, and designs so they are often visually appealing (IMHO obviously). Nerites want one thing: to eat as much algae as they can possibly cram in their gullet. There are many different types of algae (some of which aren't even actually algae at all, like brown "algae" which are actually diatoms, and the blue or green slime "algae" which are actually cyanobacteria, etc...) so they don't eat all possible types of the vast variety of "algae" out there but they sure do eat a lot of algae as well as a lot of different types of it. These attractive little guys spend all their waking hours "roomba"-ing along various surfaces to hoover-up unsightly algae and seem to love removing it from the tank's glass, vastly reducing the algae clean-up work I need to do. I can't recommend Nerites enough for most freshwater set-ups and I have never encountered a situation where they have ever been "out of control" or a bother.

I actually also like some of the snails that others consider to be serious "pest" snails. Generally the gross population explosions of pest snails means you are either overfeeding, or there is some other broken aspect of your tank environment that they are mopping up for you. Their gross population explosions are usually self remediating too: one day you have 10 snails, then 100, then 1000! ... then two weeks later you only have 20 because after creating an army large enough to deal with whatever the imbalance was, they have now rectified whatever it was and they are gone back down to reasonable numbers (be sure you are changing the water during this) and they are now waiting patiently for the next tank environmental catastrophe to explode into vast numbers and then solve that for you as well. It can be gross, sure, but they are actually saving your butt from something and then retreat when done, so I don't personally see what the issue is.

If you are willing to take the above advise to heart, then I do actually recommend Malaysian Trumpet Snails even though they are widely despised on this forum (and elsewhere). Yes once in your tank they will probably never leave; there are even amusing stories of people having taken down freshwater tanks, thought they sterilized them, then set up a salt water tank only to see Malaysian Trumpet Snails slowly appear emerging from the reused substrate in the salt water tank (they won't reproduce there, but apparently some of them can happily live out their lives now doing their same job as before but in salt water as if switching over suddenly just wasn't a thing for them.) So, yes, addition of Malaysian Trumpet Snails to a tank should not be taken lightly, because they are effectively forever once there. But the reality is there are attractive Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and there usually is only enough of an environmental niche for one established population of "pest" snails in a tank, so if you fill it with some attractive ones you won't ever have to look at a massive explosion of the ugly brown varieties of various species of "pest" snail even if a few ride in later on say a plant or something (as they often are want to do given enough time and when you least expect it.) I.e. if you get ahead of the curve you can plug the "pest" snail niche that exists in basically every tank with some more pleasant ones of your preference thus denying all other ones the ability to establish later.

"AHHHH NO! Now they are everywhere and there are so many of them I hate it!!!" Then that means they are saving your butt from something like: you are overfeeding so they are processing the extra food before it turns into a fatal algae/bacteria/fungus/etc... bloom; or their is too much unprocessed fish (and other critter) poop in and around your substrate due to insufficient vacuuming and they are helping break it down by eating it all and thus converting it into a smaller amount of less-toxic poop with the missing mass balance rendered into small chemicals that plants can use as food or that you can remove via water change instead of the toxic poop piles that they found laying around; etc... . In all such cases if you just do regular water changes and wait long enough their population will drop down to a reasonable number on its own a little after they have fixed your mistake(s) for you. Unlike other pest snails Malaysian Trumpet Snails also tend to spend a lot of the day-time sleeping buried in the substrate, so however bad and gross their population explosions are they tend to be less visibly bad then with other "pest" snails.

 

[Essjay]

Besides nerites I also have Malaysian trumpet snails in both my tanks - black ones. And those tiny ramshorn and tadpole/bladder (physid) pest snails. I am careful not to over feed the fish, and the snail numbers are not a problem.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

This is a very useful post for me, especially the response from Armchair Aquariest.
I've been away from the hobby for some 13 years and snails were always deemed to be a pest, especially in a planted tank. For sure, they'd eat algae, but they'd also munch on plants, add to the general poop load and have lots and lots of babies. Assassin snails were one growing method of control, other than copper-based chemical treatments and some fish.

I suppose the plecs have fallen out of favour, due to their size and habit of digging up (and chomping down on) plants and I'd struggle to see those tiny shrimp making much of a dent in algae control, but I'm ready to be re-educated.

So it looks like the nerite snails are the way to go.
Are these sold as such in reputable fish shops, or do they tend to go by the names given above?
Are there are specific water parameters that are harmful, other than the obvious? (I'm currently cycling for a South American community).

 

[Essjay]

Nerites are available at many shops, though some sell only zebra and red onion. Nerites also travel well in the post so buying on-line is an option.

The website Pro Shrimp sells snails, though most species are currently out of stock - but they have photos of several different species.

Aquarium Snails - Pro Shrimp

www.pro-shrimp.co.uk

Ebay usually has several sellers, though many items are for multiple numbers of the same species.

 

[Sunnyspots]

Nerites are available at many shops, though some sell only zebra and red onion. Nerites also travel well in the post so buying on-line is an option.

The website Pro Shrimp sells snails, though most species are currently out of stock - but they have photos of several different species.

Aquarium Snails - Pro Shrimp

www.pro-shrimp.co.uk

Ebay usually has several sellers, though many items are for multiple numbers of the same species.

I've just bought some zebra nerite snails from pro shrimp. One is very plain with a single stripe - hardly 'zebra' - so don't expect too much of them at present. I suspect they might be scraping the bottom of the snail barrel now. Why is it so hard to get fancy snails and shrimp at the moment?!

 

[ArmchairAquariest]

For sure, they'd eat algae, but they'd also munch on plants, add to the general poop load and have lots and lots of babies.

The little rapidly proliferating "pest" snails actually rarely eat living plants, and can sometimes even reduce total poop load if there is lots of it around.

While many people claim they have seen pest snails like bladder snails, pond snails, and Malaysian Trumpet snails eat living plants I have only ever seen them eat dead plant matter or the "melting" part of living plants -- i.e. they are actually helping you. Often one can get thrown off when an otherwise perfectly healthy plant starts melting a few leaves and the pest snails descend upon said leaves and consume them outright as their myriad numbers writhe all over them. The pest snails have ways of figuring out those plant leaves are either dying or melting long before its visibly obvious, but I assure you if you were to clear them away from the leaves they are consuming you will find that leaf dead, melted, or otherwise visibly ill for other reasons before too long. The only living, healthy, vascular plant material I have ever seen pest snails eat is water meal, which is so small they might be mistaking it for algae. Meanwhile *BIG* (non-"pest") snails however can go after living plants. I think mystery snails are about the cut-off, once you get a snail bigger than a mystery snail you have something that *WILL* eat plants albeit sometimes only very specific types of plants. Even mystery snails if left to starve may start eating some plants.

As for the poo, yes if they are eating leftovers (or dying plant matter) that no one else is they will add to the poo-load, but increasing the poo-load in such situations is usually less bad then leaving rotting food-stuffs around so that is still a net-positive (though not the ideal solution to the problem in any way, but it buys you a little time for a better solution.) At the same time pest snails happily eat other critters poo and produce less solid poo in the process (again, mass-balance for the lost poo-mass in said process is the conversion of some of the original poo into CO2, NH4, water born minerals, etc...)

So it looks like the nerite snails are the way to go.
Are these sold as such in reputable fish shops, or do they tend to go by the names given above?

I have always seen reputable suppliers refer to nerites as "nerites" though usually with a qualifier like "red racer nerite" or "zebra nerite" depending on their exact species and patterning. Just be sure you are buying freshwater nerites, as brackish and saltwater nerites are also a thing that are popularly offered in many pet stores.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

The little rapidly proliferating "pest" snails actually rarely eat living plants, and can sometimes even reduce total poop load if there is lots of it around.

While many people claim they have seen pest snails like bladder snails, pond snails, and Malaysian Trumpet snails eat living plants I have only ever seen them eat dead plant matter or the "melting" part of living plants -- i.e. they are actually helping you. Often one can get thrown off when an otherwise perfectly healthy plant starts melting a few leaves and the pest snails descend upon said leaves and consume them outright as their myriad numbers writhe all over them. The pest snails have ways of figuring out those plant leaves are either dying or melting long before its visibly obvious, but I assure you if you were to clear them away from the leaves they are consuming you will find that leaf dead, melted, or otherwise visibly ill for other reasons before too long. The only living, healthy, vascular plant material I have ever seen pest snails eat is water meal, which is so small they might be mistaking it for algae. Meanwhile *BIG* (non-"pest") snails however can go after living plants. I think mystery snails are about the cut-off, once you get a snail bigger than a mystery snail you have something that *WILL* eat plants albeit sometimes only very specific types of plants. Even mystery snails if left to starve may start eating some plants.

As for the poo, yes if they are eating leftovers (or dying plant matter) that no one else is they will add to the poo-load, but increasing the poo-load in such situations is usually less bad then leaving rotting food-stuffs around so that is still a net-positive (though not the ideal solution to the problem in any way, but it buys you a little time for a better solution.) At the same time pest snails happily eat other critters poo and produce less solid poo in the process (again, mass-balance for the lost poo-mass in said process is the conversion of some of the original poo into CO2, NH4, water born minerals, etc...)



I have always seen reputable suppliers refer to nerites as "nerites" though usually with a qualifier like "red racer nerite" or "zebra nerite" depending on their exact species and patterning. Just be sure you are buying freshwater nerites, as brackish and saltwater nerites are also a thing that are popularly offered in many pet stores.

Every day's a new school day.
Ta muchly.
I'm now aware of just how indoctrinated I have been with ideas lingering from the 1970s.

 

[Smilecentaur]

What type of snail is the best (non-propagating, non-destructive, and a communal asset)? I've read several discussions online about varieties of snails and their habits.
I'd like some recommendations on what snails you'd like and how to care for them. Thanks in advance.

Contrary to others here, I'd recommend mystery snails they can get around an inch or so but I have a planted tank and they seem to be doing well. The only way they can breed is if you don't have the water level all the way to the top. I've accidentally gotten some by doing that but I only really got one or two new snails and the nests are easy enough to see if you don't want it there. They don't leave the hard-to-remove eggs on the glass or plant life that the nerite tend to leave.

I had them in my community tank and they didn't have any issues.