Mystery Snail

[sciencegirl]

I just purchased some live plants from lfs, and there's a wee snail in my tank now. Is this a problem? I've got 5 neon tetras and 4 glolight tetras in my 10 gal. I know very little about snails.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Those would be pond snails. I have them in my 10 and 5 gal tanks. They didn't appear in mine until about 3 weeks after I put the plants in the tank. You can manually take them out. Fish that would eat them would be too big to put in a 10 gal tank.

 

[koffee]

If there is a problem, it is not with that snail but with the ones you have not discovered yet. I have one snail in my tank, but that was intentional. You can remove the snail by hand and then just watch for more, if any show up.

Many fish (loaches, etc.) that will take eat snails will get pretty big. I think Dwarf Puffers will take care of some snails and stay small. However, I haven't researched compatibility of puffers with other fish.

There are probably additives, but I stay away from most of those regardless the problem I am trying to fix is. Some of them actually are not worth the money you spend on them, or could cause other problems.

You can also do a little research about how to treat plants you bring home from the LFS to help avoid snails. One tip I've seen is to feed them with an algae wafer or a bit of raw vegetable. This may cause them to "swarm" the food so you can more easily grab them and take them out.

I currently have a high-light heavily planted tank and have been lucky to just have the one intentional snail.

Good luck!

 

[koffee]

p.s. A Mystery Snail is actually a specifc snail, and not a mystery at all.

 

[Toirtis]

This is why giving your plants a quick soak in a potassium permanganate solution prior to putting them in your tank is a good idea.

 

[downtheroad]

Wait, why are snails a bad thing? Am I just failing to see the negativeness of them...?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I don't mind Apple/Mystery snails. The pond snails like you have can eat your plants. They multiply very quickly. I didn't see ANY snails in my 10 gal tank until after I removed the plants. And now, on any given day I can find 10 in the tank. I'll scoop them out and toss them. The next day there are 10 more.

 

[EMTtony]

They multiply quicker than rabbits. I have a dwarf puffer on my 10 gal that munches on them 24 hours a day. So far no issues with him bothering the other fish in my tank, or vice versa.

 

[downtheroad]

Ah ha... I'll have to keep an eye out for them in that case, once I plant my own tank :0)

 

[sciencegirl]

Will they eat algae and other detritus as well as the plants? I guess as long as my plants don't get decimated, a few snails should be ok? I actually haven't been able to find him since I posted...it's like he knew that I was asking about him and he's making himself scarce.

Also, I had no idea that there is an actual mystery snail out there...cool.

 

[Toirtis]

Will they eat algae and other detritus as well as the plants? I guess as long as my plants don't get decimated, a few snails should be ok?

If they are pond snails or ramshorns, even a few will chew your plants up something awful....and often ignore any algae in the process.