Snails in Planted Tank

[Dreamroper]

Hello Everyone,

Which snails will you tolerate in your planted tank?

I recently bought 2 Mystery Snails, but have discovered that I have trumpets and now I'm seeing tiny pond snails. I've been removing the pond snails as I see them and leaving the trumpets.

Am I on the right track here?

The trumpets and pond snails obviously were on plants that I bought. So I assume that this is a common occurrence.

Thanks-D

 

[Fresh2o]

I have a lot of trumpet snails and the do not bother the plants. Their borrowing activity may actually be a good thing. The are very prolific. When I was planting the more delicate plants the MTS would uproot them.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I leave them all.. they don't bother me or my plants. Just don't over feed and their population won't explode.

 

[molly100a]

I leave all but the rams horn snails. You could always get some assassin snails.

 

[wildroseofky]

I find the snails really help keep my tank clean. Just watch how much you feed and they will not get out of hand. I have mystery snails, ramshorns, and Malaysian trumpet snails. So far no pond snails. I do quarantine my plants in a bucket for a couple of weeks. That way I can see if anything hitch hiked on them. I actually wanted the ramshorn snails and was glad when I got them in a shipment of plants. The trumpet snails help keep gas pockets from building up in the sand and keep the sand aireated.

 

[Dreamroper]

Thanks everyone. I am conservative with my feeing, so I'm not having any kind of problems. It's fairly easy to identify the snails using pictures from the internet, so even though I'm still relatively new to this, I can tell what's in my tank. I cannot believe how big the Mystery Snails have gotten! Do they have a point where they stop growing?

I've read so many stories where snails have taken over people's tanks that I freak out when I see something in my tank that I didn't put there.

Good idea wildrose about quarantining the plants. I was wondering how to make sure that they were safe to add to my tank, and some people suggest dipping the in a bleach solution. Doesn't sound good to me.
D

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

If in the future you want to prevent adding something to your tank that you didn't intend on putting in there, a safer option than bleach is hydrogen peroxide (3% solution). You create a 1 part h2o2 to 3 parts water solution. Dip the plants in it for about15 minutes, and then give everything a good rinse under running tap.

 

[wildroseofky]

Mystery snails get about golf ball size. I used to wash my plants in chlorinated water and go over every inch looking for pest. I got tired of that real quick because I buy a lot of plants. Holding them in a bucket for a couple of weeks lets any eggs hatch before they get into the tank. I am afraid the dips would kill my plants. I have heard horror stories of peoples plants melting from bleach and peroxide dips. I have used peroxide in my tanks for algae problems though.

 

[BBradbury]

Snails

Hello Everyone,

Which snails will you tolerate in your planted tank?

I recently bought 2 Mystery Snails, but have discovered that I have trumpets and now I'm seeing tiny pond snails. I've been removing the pond snails as I see them and leaving the trumpets.

Am I on the right track here?

The trumpets and pond snails obviously were on plants that I bought. So I assume that this is a common occurrence.

Thanks-D

Hello Dream...

I have several larger tanks and I wouldn't be without a good number of Ramshorn snails. They're the best cleaning crew I've ever had.

B

 

[flitabout]

I lost all of my ramshorn to my assassins. I got the assassins to get rid of the pond snails and then I got the ramshorns to help clean up the tank the. Now the only thing I have is Assassins that are now breeding in my tank! and on top of that I had to buy them food!

 

[wildroseofky]

Assassin snails are the only ones I do not want. Yes, snails usually come on plants. That is why I usually quarantine my plants in a bucket for a couple of weeks. That way I know if any hitch hikers are present. I was planning on buying ramshorns but was lucky enough to get them with a plant order.

 

[Dreamroper]

I don't have any ramshorns. Just the trumpets and pond snails (in addition to my 2 mystery snails). I keep picking the pond snails out, but maybe I should just leave them?