snail question

[Cliffz]

Folks,
I had a billion little snails in my tank which I really dont mind. The tank is very clean with no algae problems( (occassional BBA).
I just wanted to understand snails better.
These snails grow no bigger than 1/4 inch at their biggest. They seem to hang out at the water line. I believe they came in on some plants.
How do they reproduce?
They dont seem to eat plants although they love algea wafers and spinach which I feed my amano shrimp.
Do they lay eggs? where? I see alot of them on the eco complete also--do they bury themselves?
Please educate this grasshopper!!
Thanks

 

[Purrbox]

Sounds like you're talking about the Common Pond Snails? Pictures would be helpful. If they are pond snails then they lay eggs pretty much anywhere. Plant leaves, driftwood, rocks, aquarium glass, you name it.

 

[Cliffz]

I'll snap some pictures--tiny little snails----mind there own business---glass is very clean!!!

 

[plecoperson]

They do sound like pond snails-their eggs are clear and laid in little globs--as Purrbox said, just about everywhere!

I have them too, and I like 'em.

 

[Cliffz]

didnt get a chance to snap a picture but looking at other pictures they are Pond snails. nice, quiet -but billions of them!!

 

[7Enigma]

Common pond snails as already mentioned are egg-layers. In tanks with certain fish (especially barbs) you might not see too many of these since the eggs are tasty little morsals to many fish. They do not burrow in the substrate like MTS do. They are some (if not THE) fastest snails around and can quickly zoom from one side of the tank to the other.

They are quite hardy and will populate tanks fairly quickly when a food source is present. Billions! would generally denote an overfeeding or poorly maintained tank. They will populate to the amount of food present. I would up the cleaning or lower/change the feeding amount/type. While nice to have in the tank and very interesting to watch for some (myself included), a ton of them are a general indicator that you might have some nitrAte levels to watch out for.