The mysterious appearance of a random Pond Snail

[eco23]

So I flipped on my light the other day and saw this little guy on the tank wall. First, I assume this is just your normal, everyday pond snail?

What's odd is that I haven't added any plants since late May...and there is definitely only this one snail in the tank. Obviously he hitchhiked in at some point...but is it normal for a single snail to appear over 3 months after introduction?

Now to the main question...what to do with him. Currently he is in a Dixie Cup in the window with some plant sprigs...he's also getting normal pwc's, haha! The wife has informed me though that he will not become a permanent fixture of the window sill

Does anyone know for sure what their diet is? I've seen everything from algae to detritus, and everything in between. I know some planted tank guys love them...while other sites claim "...there is however exceptions to this rule, e.g. the Pond snail, which should never be introduced to the aquarium since they can rapidly devour even healthy plants." (from aquaticcommunity.com)

I know some people love em and others despise them. I don't mind having him in the DT...I don't overfeed, and assuming they munch on some algae and other nasties, I'm fine with him making a few babies...as long as there are truly no negative consequences to plants...it's hard to find verifiable evidence online since people have such differing opinions on them.

What is your vote?

(P.S.- He is also a prolific pooper...at least in the Dixie Cup )

 

[JoeBob]

I just read an article about snails in freshwater tanks, it was in a thread posted yesterday I think and it was something like myths that wont go away or something (so helpful right) and the author said snails most prefer the softest nastiest stuff in the tank. They will eat healthy plants if there isn't other stuff in the tank, but since they have such soft mouths that they prefer feces, algae, etc. I do have a fairly heavily planted tank and have been considering adding some, but I imagine my catfish would eat them, so I vote you keep him!

 

[User]

I would keep him, must be fate that you two came together after this long of a time!

 

[eco23]

I'm leaning towards moving him back in (and getting him out of the window so I don't have to hear it from the wife)...I just don't want to be cursing myself in a couple months for doing it.

 

[Homer8]

i just introduced pond snails and ramshorns into my tank. i personally like the ramshorns but snails sometimes can be just as interesting as fish. i want my snails to reproduce like crazy. ill feed them to a puffer, get an assassin snail and watch him hunt, or get a clown loach or something interesting along those lines. id probably go for an assassin snail because in only can it 1 snail every 2 days.

 

[Ozydego]

I found a snail or two on my new plants and didnt take them out.... I have now killed about 10 of them and really dont need them cluttering the tank.... they are tiny tiny, but I could see 100 tinies just driving me nuts... I really dont mind one or two but if I now already have 15-20, about 10 squished now... I could see it being a HUGE problem in the future, if you want a snail, my advice is to get a larger one you can keep an eye on and give that guy back to the LFS... they will prolly just kill it though... they see them as pests...

 

[swimwithme]

My father-in-law ended up with a couple of these when he purchased some plants from the lfs, however, it wasn't too long before he became so over run with them. If they didn't produce like rabbits, I wouldn't mind them, but I can't see myself with any.

 

[eco23]

Has anyone actually seen them eating or destroying healthy plants? That really is my main concern.

I'm not too worried about overpopulation because I believe that's definitely related to overfeeding (which I don't do). I've heard their population is actually a good marker and warning sign of overfeeding.

I'm also curious how the little guy didn't show up until almost 4 months after the last plant was added. Anyone know if their life cycle is that long before they reach the size in the picture and finally show up on the wall?

 

[swimwithme]

Found this:

"Some species of snail are renowned as decorative plant eaters, however, in my opinion, only the pond snail should be regarded with any real suspicion in this regard. Most healthy aquarium plants produce cyanides and other poisons that prevent animals such as snails from making meals of them. The myth that snails can destroy your plants probably originates from observations of snails eating the leaves of plants that are already highly deteriorated or close to dying. At this point, the plant was probably doomed and at least the snails are preventing the plant from decomposing, a process that can potentially unbalance aquarium water chemistry"
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Brown_Snails.html

 

[CatmanDru]

I vote you don't put her in your display tank at this time. Wait and watch.

(I wrote a nice reply, but my computer ate it somehow).

 

[eco23]

Found this:

"Some species of snail are renowned as decorative plant eaters, however, in my opinion, only the pond snail should be regarded with any real suspicion in this regard. Most healthy aquarium plants produce cyanides and other poisons that prevent animals such as snails from making meals of them. The myth that snails can destroy your plants probably originates from observations of snails eating the leaves of plants that are already highly deteriorated or close to dying. At this point, the plant was probably doomed and at least the snails are preventing the plant from decomposing, a process that can potentially unbalance aquarium water chemistry"
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Brown_Snails.html

Thanks. I've seen a lot of write ups like that where it basically says...snails are good, but we're not sure about pond snails, lol.

 

[eco23]

I vote you don't put her in your display tank at this time. Wait and watch.

(I wrote a nice reply, but my computer ate it somehow).

Thanks. What am I waiting and watching for? Haha.

I saw in your profile you have pond snails...have you ever seen one chewin through a healthy plant?

One thing I'm considering...just yesterday I replaced my entire substrate with PFS...so as of right now my tank is immaculately clean. If it's true they'll dine on plants if other food sources aren't available...it might be worth waiting to potentially introduce him (or her) until there is some degree of organics in the tank as another food source.

 

[Coleallensmom]

I have both pond and ramshorns in my 50 gallon..all introduced by live plants. I've never seen them eat my plants and their numbers are very few. IME, if you have a snail population problem, you're overfeeding.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I have a 6.5g shrimp tank full of pond snails and I've never seen them eat a plant only rotting leaves and algae. They do take over really fast though even without over feeding.

 

[siva]

So I flipped on my light the other day and saw this little guy on the tank wall. First, I assume this is just your normal, everyday pond snail?

What's odd is that I haven't added any plants since late May...and there is definitely only this one snail in the tank. Obviously he hitchhiked in at some point...but is it normal for a single snail to appear over 3 months after introduction?

Now to the main question...what to do with him. Currently he is in a Dixie Cup in the window with some plant sprigs...he's also getting normal pwc's, haha! The wife has informed me though that he will not become a permanent fixture of the window sill

Does anyone know for sure what their diet is? I've seen everything from algae to detritus, and everything in between. I know some planted tank guys love them...while other sites claim "...there is however exceptions to this rule, e.g. the Pond snail, which should never be introduced to the aquarium since they can rapidly devour even healthy plants." (from aquaticcommunity.com)

I know some people love em and others despise them. I don't mind having him in the DT...I don't overfeed, and assuming they munch on some algae and other nasties, I'm fine with him making a few babies...as long as there are truly no negative consequences to plants...it's hard to find verifiable evidence online since people have such differing opinions on them.

What is your vote?

(P.S.- He is also a prolific pooper...at least in the Dixie Cup )

It is a common pond snail, and it isn't a new hatch...at that size he's been growing for a couple months, just managed to stay out of sight.

They will eat just about anything. They definitely love algae and detritus, but will also devour shrimp pellets, flake, and even dead fish.

Both pond snails and ramshorns will eat healthy plants if hungry enough. My pond snails reproduce much faster than ramshorns, so because the population can grow so fast, I consider them a larger risk for possibly destroying healthy plants. Personally, I can't stand these guys. I've heard many say that without overfeeding, their reproduction shouldn't be a problem, and while I do find this to be true with ramshorns, the pond snails seem to get out of control regardless, atleast IME. If I didn't have a crayfish and turtle to feed them to, I'd be crushing a lot of snails.

At that size, it has already laid eggs. Not only would I not add him back to the tank, I would scan the tank walls and plants leaves for little wads of eggs in clear jelly and remove those as well.

 

[eco23]

Hahaha! This is definitely a divided issue

I'm thinking maybe he'll go in the 5 gallon Chi with the Betta for a while. Problem there is he'll probably succumb to the gravel vac sooner or later...and that thing is a pooping fool. I can't believe the amount of snail poo that shows up in the bottom of his little cup within a few days.

Then again...my neighbor does have a pond. (I'm not a fan of squishing things unless they have 8 legs).

 

[librarygirl]

I think you should keep it. If he was tearing up your plants I'd assume you would have noticed by now. Keep an eye on your plants and if you start noticing any damage then place him in a pond outside maybe, but I wouldn't kick him out without reason lol. I'm not sure how you didn't notice it until now though; the baby one I had in my tank showed up a day later on the tank wall; he would disappear for a few days or so but then end up on the wall again and it was smaller than my pinky fingernail. Maybe yours is just good at hiding.

 

[jetajockey]

They don't eat plants, not live, thriving ones anyway. My shrimp tank is loaded with pond snails, ramshorns, assassin snails, nerites, as well as an elimia sp. and none of them eat plants. I've never been overrun with any of these snail species in tanks with fish in them, with the exception of fry tanks which tend to have a good bit of uneaten food.

 

[Ozydego]

I'm pretty sure mine have reproduced somehow, maybe eggs were in the plants already, but I have not stocked my tank yet... Ammonia only, so they have to be eating something.... Not overfeeding... Not feeding... Interesting. All I have are a few melting leaves and live plants...

 

[librarygirl]

So what did you do with it?