I think I did something really dumb

[DanW0007]

In my planted tank I saw something moving along the sand out of the corner of my eye. Once I looked close I realized it was a tiny little snail, must of hitchhiked with the sword I bought.

So I'm about to get him out of there asap, but then I feel bad for the little guy. I didn't want to kill him and didn't really have anywhere else to put him. So I let him be. Now god knows where he is or what he's doing. He looked like a baby mystery snail maybe. If he starts reproducing (I do believe they are able to do that by themselves) then are my plants doomed?

I really like snails, so I don't mind them, but I don't want them eating everything I have in there.

 

[frog girl]

I thought that mystery snails couldn't reproduce asexually & that was the benefit of having them instead of the exploding pond snails. . . My golden mystery never had babies so you may be fine. Some fish will goble them down too. I have seen my tiger barbs which aren't really known for their snail eating as far as I know eat baby snails & eggs. They also pick on adults.

 

[DanW0007]

Thanks for the response. If it doesn't reproduce, is it going to still eat my plants?

 

[Toirtis]

Thanks for the response. If it doesn't reproduce, is it going to still eat my plants?

Depends on what species he is...there are a few that look pretty similar.....Pomacea bridgesii won't, but some other Pomacea species will.

 

[Steven A]

Most snails do especially the ones that appear in my tanks 8O

 

[malkore]

Snail ID can be hard, thus assume that any snail is gonna eat plants.
I don't know much about snail reproduction, but I do know that if you got a live one on some plants, then you likely have a few globs of snail eggs on the plants too.