ID snail

[Laird-and-Dad]

Hi! I just noticed a snail in my tank. I think he must have been accidentally scooped up when I got fish one time. I don't know what type he is, so if anyone could ID him that'd be great. Thanks!

 

[jetajockey]

Ramshorn.

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

Ok thank you!

 

[tomtom14]

If it is a ramshorn then it will eat your plants so be careful.



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[Laird-and-Dad]

Oh. Ok. Thank you for the warning. I mostly have fake plants, but I will watch to see if it eats my one anubias.

 

[Mattyfelts]

They wont eat live plants, if the plant is dieing theyll eat the decaying leaves.

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

Oh ok. I will keep an eye out nonetheless. I have heard that they are prolific breeders, but since I don't know if there are any more in the tank, I will be watching its behavior.

 

[Linwood]

Oh ok. I will keep an eye out nonetheless. I have heard that they are prolific breeders, but since I don't know if there are any more in the tank, I will be watching its behavior.

There's never just one Ramshorn.

I like them, frankly - good cleaners. But you need to control their population. I found that ghost shrimp will eat their eggs, and keep them manageable. There are fish that will eat them also, as well as assassin snails which will track them down and, well... that's why they are called assassin (but then they breed and you have lots of them).

But I'm a fan, generally -- they even crawl blades of Jungle Val all the way to the top cleaning.

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

Yeah. I know of at least one other one now, which, from what I've read, means I'm in for a lot of ramshorns. I would like some, but I need to control their population, so will the ghost shrimp eat all the eggs?

 

[tomtom14]

The only problem with ghost shrimp eating ramshorn eggs is that ramshorn snails eat the ghost shrimp food.

If you can keep the ghost shrimp alive bearing in mind their food will probably get eaten by the ramshorn snails all the time, the shrimp will control the ramshorns population in the tank.


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[Linwood]

Yeah. I know of at least one other one now, which, from what I've read, means I'm in for a lot of ramshorns. I would like some, but I need to control their population, so will the ghost shrimp eat all the eggs?

Let's say they help. I've had a couple manage to mature. But any biologic control that doesn't eat the snails themselves as adults is going to be a continual fight for balance.

I also have a couple of angel fish, and I've seen them at least once eat a baby snail, so I'm getting some benefit from them (they are late arrivals, the ghost shrimp were doing their thing).

But a lot will depend on the tank -- how many hiding places are there for snail eggs, can the snails get to them and shrimp cannot, can baby snails hide from the fish predators. The more planted and packed the more hiding places, the less likely that an egg eater is going to be sufficient alone.

Caveat: I'm very new to this, read a lot, much of it is what I'm telling you not from direct experience, so take it with a suitable grain of salt. Google "aquarium snails" and you'll get more advice than can be reviewed in one lifetime.