Snail ID please

[neilanh]

Can someone ID this? This is one of many rogues snails that I've found, that must've come in on my seed material I got from the LFS. Most are mystery snails I think, gold and black, but I don't know what this one is.

 

[SparKy697]

Pond snail.

And soon you will have exactly one butt load of them too.

 

[neilanh]

Thank you!

well, they can stay for now... when the cycles done, they're gone.

Or, should I start removing them as I find them to keep them from spreading? How young can they reproduce? They can't be more than 2 weeks old.

Anyone near Ashburn want some snails?

 

[SparKy697]

I don't really think they are a bad thing. I kind of like them.

If you are not a fan, you may want to remove the ones you see before they get laying eggs, if they have not already.

 

[neilanh]

it's not that I mind a few of them, but it sounds like I'll have a million of them. Don't think I want that.

Can I take them and get the neutered or something?

There's a lot of bloom in my tank (see my log thread for pics) - I think that's what they're eating maybe? I don't know how they've survived this Fishless cycle so far honestly.

 

[Toirtis]

Physa sp. They eat plants and reproduced like roaches...with a little food, you will have thousands by spring, and likely already have a few dozen eggs....squarsh 'em!

 

[7Enigma]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, pond snails like any other species of snail will not become problematic if you keep the tank in good health. That means proper water changes, gravel vacs, and not overfeeding. New tanks are the LEAST likely to get overrun by snails because a large amount of detrius has not been built up yet. And pond snails are also at a disadvantage compared to MTS and ramshorn because pond snails are EGG LAYERS. That means they must lay eggs that are kept safe for a couple days until they hatch. During the egg stage, they are vulnerable. Once you get some fish in there caviar is a very nice snack and you might not see the numbers people state.

 

[squawkbert]

I've only caught pond snails (maybe) eating grass a couple of times. I just dislodge egg cases as I find them, that keeps the numbers reasonable. They're generally good cleaning crew and they move enough to be fun to watch.

 

[neilanh]

I think I may have lost them. At one point several days ago I was able to see 7 snails (of different kinds) at one time. Since then, I haven't seen any, and found 1 dead last night.

 

[7Enigma]

I think I may have lost them. At one point several days ago I was able to see 7 snails (of different kinds) at one time. Since then, I haven't seen any, and found 1 dead last night.

I would bet you're wrong. How high is your ammonia level?

 

[neilanh]

I could be, they were there for quite a while before I realized it, but now I go looking for them.

My ammonia level, when they were introduced, was at 5ppm. It stayed there while the cycle was kicking off, and began deteriorating naturally. Since then, I dose in 2ppm every day, and my nitrites are currently spiked (more like stalled) at around 4ppm in addition to the daily ammonia.

They survived it so far, no reason to believe they all of a sudden kicked it, I just haven't seen them when searching, and did find a floating shell during a PWC last night.

 

[7Enigma]

Have you looked at the top of the tank near/above the water line? They will generally go there when water quality is poor.

 

[locorosa]

How much is "one buttload" exactly? Is it in the same ballpark as "pantload"? I can even use that in a sentence...lol
If I lived closer I'd take all those snail eggs you will have. The golds love them!

 

[neilanh]

Have you looked at the top of the tank near/above the water line? They will generally go there when water quality is poor.

Yeah, we used to have mystery's in my other tank, and they frequented there. The only place that I was able to consistently find 1 or 2 before was either right by or on the heater, but now they're not there either. I haven't found any more shells, so they're probably in there somewhere.

 

[7Enigma]

They do also LOVE the filter. I can always find a bunch even in my main tank where very few are ever seen (I have a hunch my fish are picking at them, and certainly any of the eggs).

 

[Toirtis]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, pond snails like any other species of snail will not become problematic if you keep the tank in good health. That means proper water changes, gravel vacs, and not overfeeding.

If that is so, I must be the exception...I have a 15 gallon tank that is overrun with tiny Planorbis sp snails, despite being filtered by dual AC50s (that is 400gph, with both filters stacked with sponges), getting a 75% water-change every 4 days, and being vacuumed (within reason, as it is fairly heavily planted). The loaches in the tank seem to keep 99% of the snails from reaching maturity, however, as mature specimens are rare at best.

 

[7Enigma]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, pond snails like any other species of snail will not become problematic if you keep the tank in good health. That means proper water changes, gravel vacs, and not overfeeding.

If that is so, I must be the exception...I have a 15 gallon tank that is overrun with tiny Planorbis sp snails, despite being filtered by dual AC50s (that is 400gph, with both filters stacked with sponges), getting a 75% water-change every 4 days, and being vacuumed (within reason, as it is fairly heavily planted). The loaches in the tank seem to keep 99% of the snails from reaching maturity, however, as mature specimens are rare at best.

Heavily planted is probably the exception. It is impossible to get in around the tank, I know mine is pretty heavily planted. I thought I was doing a great job of gravel vac'ing, even had a diatom filter I used to kick up gunk. I started getting really high nitrAte levels even with all the plants. I wanted to rearrange the tank and decided to move and trim my large anubias that was dead center in the tank. When I lifted it out, there was a TON of detrius that had built up and never been touched even with all the cleaning. So I'm sure in most planted setups it is rather difficult to eliminate a snail outbreak. So you got me!