Snails?

[eykis9]

I was under the impression that snails were actually good for your tank as they help keep the substrate clean and help clean up algea. However, today I was reading some info at Aquariumfish.net (http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/misc_critters/snails.htm#top2) that says that snails will eat your plants.

For those here that actually have or had snails... Do they do more damage than help? Do you advise putting them in a planted tank or not?

Thank you!

 

[Terry]

plants are usually responsible for the introduction of snails to your aquarium, it is also possible that live foods, fish and even equipment may introduce them. preventing the introduction of snails is very difficult as the eggs are tiny and can be well hidden. when ever i buy new plants i always use a anti-snail treatment and use it as a dip. i make up some in a bucket and the place the plants in the bucket for a while.
Snails are not essential for maintaining a healthy aquarium although some people like to keep them as a feature. however, snails can transmit disease to your fish and they are good hosts for parasites. They consume and ruin plants and in addition they can reproduce at an alarming rate, and in a short time can over run your tank. The snails also produce there own waste, and in large quantities can pollute your tank very quickly, if you see snails in your tank on the glass and in your gravel you can use an anti-snail treatment. I have found in the past this does not always work and like i said earlier i make up a dip instead and i have found this to work better, but that is only me others might find other ways of doing things.
ln very small numbers they pose few problems, but they can breed at an alarming rate and start to pollute your tank very quickly.
if you don't use a snail remedy it can be a very time consuming task removing them by hand. If they are in your gravel you can remove them when syphoning.

HTH

 

[tkos]

I keep snails in all my aquariums. I have had no real problems with them and keep plants in all of my aquariums as well. They do keep my algae down and do very little damage to healthy plants. Generally snails eat plants that are already starting to deacy somewhat as it is easier to digest composting material than fresh cellulose. In fact I have a small 1 gallon snail tank which has plants in it that the snails have never touched. I feed them some veggies once a week.

Snails tend to eat the left over material from fish (uneatedn food, undigested food) and therefore produce much cleaner waste than fish do.

Every so often I kill a few snails and my catfish love them as a treat, but I take no special means to erradicate them. I would also not worry about disease transmission either.

Do not use the snail killer treatments as they contain copper and this is very deadly to many forms of life in your aquarium,including the good bacteria.

 

[Biggen]

I on the other hand, cant stand snails in my FW tanks. That is the main reason I keep clown loaches...

 

[eykis9]

well, that's some opposing points of view... something to think about for sure! actually though, i've been doing a bit more reading and from what i found out it seems that the MTS's(Malaysian Trumpet) are the best to keep. also, i read that if the snails are raised in healthy tank there's no reason for concern of disease and parasites. also, and i could be wrong, i believe most snails will drop their eggs near the water line and you can easily pluck them out. i'm still undecided... but i'm leaning towards getting some MTS's to help keep the substrate clean. however, i'm also wondering how snails compare to the Amano algae eating shrimp and if you have the shrimp will they basically do the same thing the snails would as for keeping the substrate clean and the algae away. i really don't have an algae problem now but my tank has only been up for about 3 weeks now and i bet it's only a matter of time!

 

[Guest]

MTS are live bearing snails. I keep them in all my tanks.

 

[Guest]

MTS are great, keep them in all tanks.

Also have common pond snails and Ramshorn snails, they never eat my plants. The do populate quite quickly, so I remove some every time I'm pruning plants. Everybody, including me, seems happy enough, I don't worry about it. (Well I suppose the ones I throw out don't like it much, but that's just tooo dang bad!)

 

[eykis9]

well alrighty then... thanks for the input! i'll get some snails!

 

[tkos]

If you buy plants then you probably already have some snails. But MTS usually cost a bit more as they seem to be fancier. And they are the best for substrate for sure. Snails and shrimp are really slow algae eaters and only ottos and SAE (etc..) are great for major algae outbreaks. Snails are great for smaller tanks though as they don't hurt the bioload as mich as more fish do.

 

[jratuszn]

I've seen Potassium permanganate recommended as a dip-style anti-snail treatment. You can get 25g for like $5 from Sears (it is sold in the water-conditioner section, for recharging water softeners) From the crystal form, what concentration should I make up to use as a dip treatment, and how long should I expose plants for an effective treatment?

Thanks,

-J

 

[Allivymar]

Oh awesome jratuszn! I was wondering where I could pick up some Potassium Perm!

I believe you need to add enough P.P. to make the water a light pink. Soak for 10-15 mins. I don't know if sensitive plants will deal ok with it; I know they don't with a bleach dip, but plants DO like the manganese in P.P. so it may be diff. The other thing I am not 100% clear on, is I *think* its only good for bacteria, and may not effect snails, snail eggs, etc. Hopefully someone with some experience can tell us for sure.