Pond Snails

[Lsmithers]

I am receiving some plants today that the seller stated may have pond snails. I am planning on putting them in my tank at the beginning of a fishless cycle. Should I treat the plants to get rid of the snails or will the fishless cycle take care of them?

 

[Fresh2o]

I am receiving some plants today that the seller stated may have pond snails. I am planning on putting them in my tank at the beginning of a fishless cycle. Should I treat the plants to get rid of the snails or will the fishless cycle take care of them?

Treat the plants. Some inverts will survive the fishless cycle. I believe a dip/soak in hydrogen peroxide should work on snails and other hitch hikers.

 

[Mebbid]

I would research which plants they are. I know some of them are sensitive to hydrogen peroxide. You might try a potassium permegranate, bleach, or salt dips if they are some of the plants that the hydrogen peroxide will kill. I'm not sure on the dillutions for those dips though.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Are the snails bad to have in your tank?

 

[Lsmithers]

Are the snails bad to have in your tank?

I didn't see any on the plants I got, but I went ahead and did a potassium permegranate dip. So far no snails. If I do get a few, I will have to get an assassin. This tank is only a 5.5 gal, so a snail eating fish would be too big.

 

[Visionist]

I didn't see any on the plants I got, but I went ahead and did a potassium permegranate dip. So far no snails. If I do get a few, I will have to get an assassin. This tank is only a 5.5 gal, so a snail eating fish would be too big.

Assassin snails would work really well as a preventative measure. You could probably get away with just getting 1 in a 5.5 gallon tank. They are not asexual so they won't populate unless you get more than 1 and you give them a lot of snails to eat.

 

[Lsmithers]

I'm going to wait and see if there were any than came on the plants and if they survived the dip. I'm still pretty early in the fishless cycle, so I have a little while to start thinking about how to populate.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

I got plants 3 weeks ago for my new tank I picked off o thought all the snails but I missed 2 I see them from time to rime are you guys saying that there bad should I get rid of them

 

[Lsmithers]

I got plants 3 weeks ago for my new tank I picked off o thought all the snails but I missed 2 I see them from time to rime are you guys saying that there bad should I get rid of them

From what I've read, they aren't bad and will keep your tank clean. Pond snails have a tendency to multiply if over fed and can become a nuisance if the numbers aren't kept in check. Check to see what kind of snails you have though. Each type has different benefits and drawbacks.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Do you have a suggestion on where I can look to identify them there very small no bigger than a Q-Tip there shells maybe hint of brown but almost clear like

 

[Fresh2o]

Do you have a suggestion on where I can look to identify them there very small no bigger than a Q-Tip there shells maybe hint of brown but almost clear like

Do a goggle image search on pond snail and I am sure you will have plenty of examples to compare to what you are seeing in the tank.

No they are not bad but can reproduce and their numbers can get out of hand. I found ONE in a plant order a few month ago and placed the snail in an algae filled vase that has been the home of a peace lily for the last ten years. In a matter of weeks the snail cleared it up.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Thanks I'll search around maybe I'll keep 1 of them and get rid of the other

 

[Mebbid]

I got plants 3 weeks ago for my new tank I picked off o thought all the snails but I missed 2 I see them from time to rime are you guys saying that there bad should I get rid of them

It is all personal preference. When I was new I got a pond snail infestation and through my overfeeding I had a population explosion. There were hundreds of them but everything they ate would have turned into nitrates instead of being eaten. Controlled feedings and assassin snails keep their numbers in check.

When I upgraded to my 55g I purposely gave myself both a pond snail and MTS infestation, the MTS to keep my sand turned and the pond snails to keep my assassins from eating my MTS. It is all personal preference, if you don't mind seeing small snails crawling around don't worry about it.

The only problem comes if there is ramshorn snails which will eat plants but those are simple to identify.

 

[Mebbid]

When you do have a snail infestation and are controlling it with assassin snails you wind up with things like this.

This is my snail graveyard caused by a combination of my assassin snails and my filter / powerhead blowing all the empty shells to one side of the tank. This is a total of 4 assassins in a 55g which are doing a good job of keeping my pond snails under control.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

I'm still in my fishless cycle cycle (lol) there's the 2 it's cool to have something movin in there I guess they can stay for a bit. Btw I like the graveyard it's kinda cool