Snails

[SaltwaterDreams]

Hello,

My husband is in the process of re-setting up his 20 gal semi-planted aquarium and letting it cycle. Today we noticed a tiny snail in the tank. Nothing but plants are in the tank ATM so I figure the snail somehow worked it way into the tank via a new pennywort that was purched a few days ago.

We have heard that some snails eat algae, but which ones? At this stage we can not tell what type snail this is, but still wondering what snails actually do, or how benifical they can be.

Thanks,

 

[SHortyGeorge]

I use Malaysian Trumpet Snails largely for aerating my substrate, and cleaning the scraps of food that make it too the bottom... They work for that quite well... and I am pretty sure I have seen them eating algae, but they may only do this when there is no other food for them? I'm not sure

 

[TankGirl]

I have had snails of all sorts for years - some I wanted and some I didn't. I do not think they eat algae to the point where you will be free from it (if it is a problem) but they will make trails through it, LOL! They do produce a lot of waste so any benefit they might have is made up with the resultant waste added to the bioload. I have one large ramshorn snail in my 5gal that I love to watch as a feature animal in the tank.

If you don't want snails to become a pest problem, which is easy to have happen, I would go ahead and snag that snail out of there, and maybe get the pennywort out and rinse it under tap water very well to dislodge any snail eggs that may be present.

 

[Devilishturtles]

The snail probably did come off of the plant, which happens quite often. No harm will come of the snail, but they will soon devour your plants if left in to multiply.

Definitley check around for more snails, incase there was an egg sack on your plant, as opposed to just the one snail. It will definitley eat algae and food, but if you want your plants to not get chunks taken out of them from the snail, I would advise getting rid of it.

 

[Cherry Barb]

I agree with Tank Girl. I ended up with snails in my 20g and now there is no getting rid of them. I had to buy a couple of Skunk Botias just to get their numbers in check, so....

My advice is, if you're not too far into the setup, take it apart and rinse everything possible to release any other snails and their eggs. The problem is, if you don't, you'll have an entire snail population before you even realize it. 8O

Rose

 

[Lance M.]

The very small 1 cm snails won't eat the plants. They will eat plants that are dead or dieing though. The small snails will only start to rapidly reprouduce if there is a lot of detrius and un eaten food and stuff at the bottom, so if they do start to multiply its a good indicator that there is a good food source in the tank for them. Almost all large snails will eat the plants, like ramshorn snails and mystery snails. If you want to keep snails, a medium sized snail that does not eat the plants, just stuff that falls to the bottom are trapdoor snails. I recently got 4 of them. They grow to about 2 inches and like the dark. They move around at night and if they are in an area with a lot of light during the day, they will burrow into the gravel or sand and just wait there until night while they eat they clean that area under the gravel.