Snails - Where do they come from?

[hforney]

Snails, where do they come from? I noticed one snail in my 55g a few days ago. This morning I counted three. I purchased some plants online and at my LFS. Did they hitchhike a ride on the plants? Will they multiply? Should I take them out and deep 6 them, or just let them be?

 

[Fluff]

Yes, they most certainly came along with your plants. They will mulitply depending on their food source.
I don't mind a few snails. Rather you keep them or not is up to you. They shouldn't hurt anything.

 

[Menagerie]

It depends on the snail, as to how fast they multiply. Some species need one of each sex and some self fertilize. If you don't enjoy the snails, then you should get rid of them now, before there are too many.

 

[hforney]

I really don't mind the snails but I just don't want to get to a point that they overtake the tank. They are actually kind of cute. I watched them this morning and believe it or not they can move pretty fast when they want to. It seems they like to be on the plants with some algae. Right now I don't have a problem with algae so maybe they will help to keep it this way. My major concern is if I will wake up one morning to find a 100 snails and won't know what to do to get rid of them.

 

[Menagerie]

If 100 snails show up, we can help you reduce the population. Continue with PWCs and don't over fed. The simplest way to keep the snail population down is to keep the nutrients down BTW~I like my snails

 

[Guppyman]

Snails

Hi. I let my snails grow until there are a few dozen and then I just smush them against the side of the glass. Free food. My guppies love trying to tear the meat apart - and tear it apart they do. The Corys love them, also. - Frank/Guppyman®

 

[hforney]

Re: Snails

I just smush them against the side of the glass. Free food.

Oh that is so cruel, but funny. I guess I could do that. Same thing as nature, but just a helping finger.

 

[Guppyman]

Hi. Exactly. It's not really cruel. They're snails. Although we strive to respect even the simplest forms of life there has to be logical thought involved. Sometimes people will write and berate me because I cull my guppies and feed them to other fish. These same people just got done loosening their aligator belt after slipping out of their leather loafers and eating a steak. Makes me laugh. I'm glad you could handle the comment without going off the deep end. Some people really do get upset at a post like that. - Frank/Guppyman®

 

[hforney]

Guuppyman, I really don't have a problem with smushing them. It is part of life. Like you said, it was cold here today and I put on a leather jacket, plus I ate shrimp for dinner. Tomorrow might be a burger at the fast food joint. It was just funny to me how you said "smush them". Smush them I will do!

Thanks for your honest input..........

 

[mitche8359]

I didn't have snails in my 55g for over 8 years. Then BLAMMO by ACME. I swear the original infiltration of the snails was from a fish. That's the only new thing I added within a month or two of seeing the first snail. Maybe snail eggs were on the fish cause you'd think I'd see a snail tailgating. I don't add the water from the lfs to my tank so it couldn't have been the water.

Recently I lost a large number of fish. The snail population got out of hand. I'd guess 100 at any given time could be seen. Adding yoyo loaches to the tank made them disappear within two days.