Oh look, snails. Pros and cons?

[bman]

I have been on this board for about eight months now, and would see numerous posts regarding snails. I always bypassed them and thought that it would never happen to me.

Today, after a major pruning of the overgrown plants in my tank, I now see many of these little guys. I am assuming that since I disturbed the gravel a good deal in my pruning, they are out for some reason.

I guess they either came from one of the two people who donated me plants, or the fish store where I originally got the majority of my plants. Nonetheless, I have them now and need some advice.

What kind do I have?
Should I keep them or try to get rid of them?
Why should I keep them?
What do they do to live plants?
Do they eat algae, or what?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Those are Ramshorn snails, cute little guys. Mine do not seem to be repopulating so I don't know if they are fast breeders or not. As far as I know they do not eat plants, at least mine don't.

 

[Toirtis]

Those are Planorbis ssp. ramshorns, the small, 'pest' sort...they will eat your plants (and just about everything else) and reproduce like wildfire....these are, along with pond snails, one of the two types that are most common and undesireable, as they can choke up a tank pretty well.

 

[bman]

I have been noticing my wisteria has been looking pretty cruddy. The ends of most of the leaves look shredded and transparent. Since I know what type they are, I can do some research.

If they are The "Pest sort" and will eat my plants then they will have to go. I will just need to figure out how to get rid of them.

The snails that I have seen (About twenty so far) are all very small but very mobile. I imagine that if they are let to go too long, there will be a major outbreak.

 

[Toirtis]

I imagine that if they are let to go too long, there will be a major outbreak.

It will not take long...chances are if you have seen twenty that you actually have more like 100, and that could increase five or sixfold within a couple-three weeks.

 

[Ky'smommy]

mine are pests and they dont look like that.
they are horrible.
omg there are hundreds take 20-30 out every two days if not more.
so just keep and eye out and just take them out as you can

 

[toddnbecka]

There's a product called Had-a-Snail, a solution of copper sulfate, that will get rid of them. Copper kills any invertebrates, but won't poison the fish or plants.

 

[bs6749]

I had this happen to me as well. I bought some live plants from a LFS ans within weeks I was throwing away snails by the dozens...literally. I would toss out 75 PLUS snails each day. I got rid of the plants, cleaned out my tank, switched gravel, and guess what? THEY CAME BACK!!! Want some advice? Do as I did and buy 2 botia loaches. They took care of ALL of the snails within a week. I was so proud of those guys. They really helped me out there. I don't know what you have in your aquarium as far as fish go but botias (the ones I had) only get about 3" long. Clown loaches will also do the trick but are more expensive and can grow over 10" long I have heard. I personally would get the botias due to GREAT experience with them.

 

[czcz]

JMO

Should I keep them or try to get rid of them?

Up to you. I think of pest snails as a part of the tank and have grown to like them.

Why should I keep them?

They'll eat algae and dying plants. You don't have to go through the trouble of killing them or "renting" a loach to do it.

What do they do to live plants?

Eat gunk off them. They only eat dying plants. For example, here are a couple pics with pond and ramshorn snails. I've had pest snails since entering the hobby in winter '04.

Do they eat algae, or what?

In addition to the above, they'll eat left over fishfood and stuff. If you don't overfeed it is easy to keep their population in check.

For example, here's a bunch of baby Pond snails after feeding a tank for other, more desireable snails:

MTS and limpets are other good pest snails. Generally the hitchikers on plants are fine in planted tanks. Suggest one focus their energy on making and keeping plants healthy instead.

HTH

 

[Toirtis]

There's a product called Had-a-Snail, a solution of copper sulfate, that will get rid of them. Copper kills any invertebrates, but won't poison the fish or plants.

Copper is detrimental to deadly to many fish and plants.....and it takes forever to clear out of the tank.

 

[Toirtis]

They only eat dying plants.

Planorbis snails eat healthy plants, too....they have been a headache to me for decades....they will even eat holes in Anubias leaves.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If you want to rid the pests, then get an army of 3 or 4 striped (zebra) loaches (Botia Striata). They stay small, and are real snail busters. They also love the eggs as well. But as long as you are running a filter, you will always have them in the filter. But in a couple weeks, you will notice no more snails in the tank, or maybe an occasional one that's slipped past the loaches temporarily, lol.

http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_striata.html

I have tons in my planted tank, but have not noticed any plant damage due to them. Pros for snails are algae removal, depending on the snail, and for me, most reproduce too fast. I would want some that the numbers can easily be managed.

 

[bman]

Thanks to all for your responses. I am now terrified that I have "hundreds" of snails. lol

I have two (maybe three can't find the other one) otos in my tank so adding copper would not be what I want to do. I am very light at the moment on fish load, so I may look into getting a loach or two. Since the snails will contribute to the overall bioload, I would rather have something with fins to look at. My tank is a 20 gallon long.

I do not think of calling a snail a pest unless it ate the live plants. The dying leaves and algae are OK to eat in my book. I do not like the fact that they reproduce rapidly, so something must be done to control that. Putting vegetables in there every couple of days and then removing the snails sounds a bit labor intensive, since my tank is recessed in the wall and getting into the top to do such a task is not practical.

Does anyone know how big they get?

The largest one I saw was 1/8 inch long.

 

[Burks]

I've heard of people placing vegetables in the tank and when they are covered with snails, simply remove them. A little more work but it should keep the snail population down a bit, won't get rid of them all.

I have those in my tank as well. There's enough algae in there so they don't bother my plants.

 

[czcz]

Toirtis,

For clarification, I believe I have these guys: http://applesnail.net/content/snails_various.php#Planorbidae
Mine, which I've seen look similar to bman's pic:

and "the small Ruby Red Ramshorns," which appear to be cross breeding with the above.

Just my experience, FWIW. I've gotten the pest one from a couple of gurus (as you are) as hitchikers.

bman,
The biggest I've seen was around 3/4." I see ones that big so rarely it's kind of a treat.

If the population is low, you could also spend a couple nights picking them out or smashing them against the glass as a treat for the fish, and feed lightly until you have to hunt to see them. Take away their food and you can kill them off.

HTH

 

[hc8719]

something has been eatting my ghost shrimp, (im thinking it was either the new dragon goby or kissing gourami, ever heard of those guys eatting shrimp?) but now im actually trying to grow a stowaway snail i found in a plant, seeing my mom would freak out if i bought a few snails at petsmart (thinking they'd reproduce again)

if you want to mail a couple rams my way....

other than that, i think you should remove some, but something eatting the excess flakes is a real bonus for me

 

[Toirtis]

I do not think of calling a snail a pest unless it ate the live plants.

Wait until the babies clog your filters, eat your fishes' food, and cover everything, too.

Does anyone know how big they get?

The largest one I saw was 1/8 inch long.

½"- 9/16" is about maximum.

 

[Toirtis]

Toirtis,

For clarification, I believe I have these guys: http://applesnail.net/content/snails_various.php#Planorbidae
Mine, which I've seen look similar to bman's pic:

Yes, those are both the Planorbis ssp. to which I was referring....annoying little beggars. The greeny-brown and reds may be the same species, but different colours, but it is difficult to be sure.

 

[bman]

Looks like I will be researching a loach to keep these guys in check. Since I have a 20 gallon, are there any species I should stay away from due to the size they get?

I counted about forty just now, so "weeding them out by hand" does not sound like a fun night to me or my wife. Most of these that I counted are about the size of a pin head; that would be very difficult to get with my sausage-sized fingers.

 

[Toirtis]

Looks like I will be researching a loach to keep these guys in check. Since I have a 20 gallon, are there any species I should stay away from due to the size they get?

The zebra loach or a skunk botia are about your best bets...they are great on snails (many loach species ignore snails), and stay reasonably smallish (unlike clown loaches)...I find yoyo loaches are pretty good, too, but you would have to rehome them once they hit 3" or so.