just learned about snails! should I be scared?

http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/snail.shtml

I hope that will answer your questions.

From my point of view snails are a good thing. They help to clean waste, algae and dead leaves from plants. All of the things you said are great ideas, don't overfeed, don't leave dead plant materials, as this will lessen the number in your tank.

Don't worry about them overstocking your tank. They produce very little waste and actually often consume fish waste so in turn make the fish waste less toxic.

Snails in my tanks start to get overwhelming somtimes, so I pluck them out every few weeks. I have made a snail free zone and those that enter do not live. If only the snails knew about it.

In my experience and of others' I've read about on this forum, you can eradicate a snail infestation in a week or two if you get any kind of Botia loach.
I have Yoyo Loaches (Botia almorhae) and less than a month after I introduced them to my aquarium, there were no signs of snails. You could try Striated Loaches (Botia striata) or Clown Loaches (Botia macracanthus) also. Those three are the most common I've read about and used in eliminating snails. Plus, they are really entertaining fish .

Graeme

Watch out what type of loaches you choose as some of them get very big. Clown loaches are heavy bodied and get to be 8 inches or so in size and need to be kept in groups.

To prevent getting snails period, just dip them in a solution of 1:20 bleach:water solution, that will kill the snail eggs on the plants. Dip them in for about 10-15 seconds or so(not too sure of the time, the aforementioned time will not kill the plants though). If you get them from Pet Goods, there won't be any snails. I just got 2 banana plants there yesterday, I was waiting to get them for a long time and they had a bag full of them. I only got snails from a plant I got at the place across from the race track.

What I miss about the abundancey of snails in my tank is that my amazon sword has a lot of bad leaves that I have to cut off. It looks pretty crappy. The snails used to eat the leaves right away when they were like that.

Originally posted by TKOS
Watch out what type of loaches you choose as some of them get very big. Clown loaches are heavy bodied and get to be 8 inches or so in size and need to be kept in groups.

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Not to mention the different water temps you may need and that clowns seem pretty sensitive. I love them, but darn it, I can't seem to keep them. They get ick so darn easy.

I had two yo-yo's that I really like, but one died suddenly. I have one now and he is doing great. Unfortunately, even when I had the two, it didn't lower my snail problem.

I'm gonna close that tank anyway, moving the three fish out and getting rid of all the darn snails!

Zebras (aka striated) and YoYo's are good snail eaters that stay relatively small (~4"). Puffers are also apparently quite good at devouring snails.

If you don't want snails, then I'd say treating your plants before putting them in your tank would be the best way to go, though. If you do want snails, I might consider doing that anyway to control what types of snails you have (you could seed your tank, I doubt an LFS would miss a few MTS or pond snails).

Personally, I don't like snails much (slugs w/ shells are still slugs ) and I ended up getting Zebras. My Zebes must be lazy, since they haven't wiped out my snail population though I rarely see snails, which is plenty good for me.

My opinion on snails.

There are many different types of snails out there. Some are pests and some are not. These are the three most common you will get from live plants.

The ones you don't want are Pond Snails (pest snails) - These guys will reproduce quickly and wreak havoc on your plants. They are usually an iridescent yellow to brown and have a round shell with a one point on the snail’s right side.

The ones you “may” want one or two of are the common Ram Horn Snails – They can reproduce and overrun a tank, but it’s not likely as long as you keep their numbers in check. They will eat mostly dying plant matter, algae, and fish food that has dropped to the bottom, but may occasionally nibble on the edge of a plant leaf. They make great janitors that clean up your tank without adding any new fish. They have curled shells (hence the name) are red to brown in color and may or may not have black/brown spots. Full grown, they usually are only about ½ inch long. I have one in my tank that I keep as a pet. He just glides along the bottom doing his thing.

The desired snails are Malaysian Trumpet Snails. They have a long brown and white shell and black bodies. They do not glide like other snails. They pull themselves along with their foot. The biggest I have seen is ¾ of an inch. I’ve heard that they can get up to 1½ inches. These guys do not eat live plants. They strictly eat fallen fish food and algae. In addition to being great janitors, they also offer another service to the tank. They are diggers. You will not see them very often as they burrow under the substrate. This provides necessary aeration for your plants and will allow some of the hidden gunk to be caught by the filter. You will know you have too many if you see about a dozen on the aquarium walls at any given moment. At that point, you should remove about 5 or 6.

They easiest way to get rid of snails without adding chemicals or a snail eating fish (I’m not a fan of either method. Chemicals are just bad practice and in small tanks they is often just not enough room for another fish), is to place a “washed” cucumber slice in a small glass jar with a wide enough mouth for the snails, but not the fish (partially burying the jar will decrease the opening). Place the jar on its side at the bottom of the tank. After a couple of hours, this will draw out most of the snails. They love cucumber. Simply remove them and throw them away or smash their shells and your fish will eat them. Do NOT flush snails. They can carry parasites that can infect the water supply.

There are a few of us that like the little guys. When it comes to a small tank janitor, I can’t think of anything better.