Goldfish and Snails: Does The Combination Work?

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Lupin

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Goldfish and Snails: Does The Combination Work?
Lupin
Published on May 17, 2009


The question as seen in the title has been asked several times and continues raising eyebrows over its possibilities. Does the combination truly work? We will soon find out as we go down this road.

Starting of the Quest for Truth
For a few days, I had been in correspondence with many members of Aquariacentral.com who keep goldfish including Kashta, Inka4040, Flaringshutter and kyryah. I could not help but admire their goldfish as I sifted through the pictures and reminisced how much I missed the old days back when I used to keep bubble-eyes, orandas, shubunkins and many more. I had been pondering if I ought to come back to goldfish again and made up my mind that I will with a new pond being planned ahead while the goldfish remain confined in my snail tanks. Did I make the risk to combine both groups despite some people’s claims the combination will not work? Yes, I did. I tested one of my many Pomacea canaliculata with my fantail goldfish. Overnight, I dreaded the thought the snail will not last until the next morning but I was wrong. The snail remained active as ever and until now, even shows off his antennae despite my goldfish’s presence around him as they grab his pellets which could have possibly intimidated him. This reduced my doubt that the mix is not possible. I began attempting the pearlscales and even dared the ryukins, all of which did not show any inclination to harm the snails at all.​

Fantail Goldfish

Click to enlarge.

Flaringshutter’s Unusual Combination of the Aquatic Creatures Calls for Further Analysis Towards the Parroted Claims
I have to admit I perceived the combination as impossible before. It does seem easier to preach than practice and this is really impractical for most of us to mouth one hearsay to another without testing it ourselves first. I admit when I saw Flaringshutter’s pictures of her goldfish and snails coexisting together, I could not help but think, “Is her case an exception among the many claims about goldfish being not possible to keep with snails?” Was it pure luck that made this combination possible or was it because I may have been misled by the claims blanketing all the strains of goldfish and snails as not possible? The questions really intrigued me and at that time, I made no plans to return to goldfish again as they did not initially appeal me like they did a decade before.​

To follow up Flaringshutter’s case as was mentioned earlier, she mixes her comets, shubunkins, possibly her newly acquired tosakins and a few other strains with her snails including Pomacea haustrum, Pomacea canaliculata, Melanoides tuberculata and many more. Though not many members, I am sure, would have noticed the unusual combination, her combination nevertheless work quite well as evident by her several pictures which “threw me off my box” as I had always believed the combination was quite impossible seeing as the goldfish especially their monstrous sizes could have easily sucked the snails out of their shells. My belief was stemmed from the many claims continuously parroted by members of other forums, possibly those who never even tried the combination at all even before. I had thought to myself surely her case may be one of the luck of the draws, thus, began my quest to dig deeper into this issue and see for myself whether the claim parroted repeatedly is always true or not.​

Doubts Ironed Out
I had a dialogue with a fellow member Kashta whom I knew keeps both goldfish and snails together. After an intensive discussion, it is agreed that goldfish are not, by nature, predatory towards snails which confirms my thoughts as well. She however mentioned she witnessed one ryukin nipping the antennae of one of her snails, possibly mistaking it for bloodworms as she feeds her goldfish bloodworms occasionally. I myself feed my goldfish bloodworms occasionally and have never observed them in particular harassing the snails to death nor were they interested in a single bit towards the exposed eyes and antennaes of the apple snails. Does this truly make goldfish predatory by instinct? No, it does not. The reported mistaken identity of the snail’s body part for something else is proof enough that in the goldfish’s mindset, snails are the last thing they will attempt to eat.​

The Notoriety of Ryukins
From all the information I gathered, ryukins are one of the many strains who earned the reputation for being the most aggressive towards snails pecking them to death due to their beaky appearance wherein their mouths allow them to peck any snail with ease in comparison to other strains. Is this really true at all? This remains one of the most baffling questions. I currently own one male ryukin and despite the presence of apple snails of all ages, he never shows a single inclination to gobble even one up. Instead, he shoves them aside by pushing adults out of the way and picks the young snails and throws them aside as he gobbles their pellets. The snails were not in a single bit, bothered by the ryukin’s remonstration and still try to approach the food area stubbornly. I find this situation rather amusing in a way that the two get along together without any damages contrary to most people’s claims that this would not work.​

Calico Broadtail Ryukin
Click to enlarge.

Author’s Further Observations
Currently, my pingpong pearlscale, oranda and fantail goldfish are also housed with several snails of various species (with the exception of assassin snails remaining confined in their own tank) including the popular Lymnaea stagnalis, Pomacea diffusa, Pomacea canaliculata, Planorbis sp., Physas acuta, nerite snails and trumpet snails. None of the seven goldfish of mine showed any inclination either to harass the snails since they were introduced to the snails. Like the ryukin though, they show their gluttony habit shoving snails aside as they eat the pellets. In a way, they coexist quite peacefully and again, this is quite possible contrary to many people’s belief that it is not.​

Click images to enlarge.

Group of Pomacea diffusa consuming a pellet


Melanoides loebbeckei

Asking for Logic and Investigating the Mindsets Further
So what does this mean? Are all goldfish really friendly to snails or are there exceptions to cases? The truth is I have yet to encounter a single goldfish that would really empty a shell so I cannot really confirm straight away that all goldfish are really friendly to all snails.​

To date, there are still claims that circulate around regarding the goldfish eating snails especially as an unorthodox means of eradicating snails without any pictures offered as proof. Although it is probable that some goldfish eat snails, there has yet to be a single photo to prove the goldfish can suck the meat out of the shell. No less than the theory above, can put this matter to rest that goldfish do not eat snails by means of sucking them out. To explain precisely how the theory works, their (goldfish) mouths may seem well equipped to suck the snails out but is this possible? Going back to the anatomy regarding the snails, all snails have columellar muscle that keeps their bodies strongly attached to the shells. Without it, they become detached from the shells thus making them vulnerable to attacks and eventually die in the process as a result. Their ability to retract quickly to the shell along with the aid of their columellar muscle prevents them from being sucked easily by the goldfish.​

On the other hand, it would be foolish to conclude that goldfish truly eat snails. It has been observed that the goldfish’s habitual continuous foraging for food does not permit the snails to get their fair share of food unless you want to risk overfeeding your pets and do a massive water change afterwards just to compensate their added waste production. Theoretically, this renders the claim that goldfish eats snails moot. How? The failure of the snails to outstrip the goldfish for their share of food somehow deprives them the ability to survive as they were unable to eat at all. This is probably the most logical explanation yet in most cases wherein snails fail to sustain their population due to lack of food as a result of the goldfish outcompeting the snails for food supply. This can be compared to the frequent advice of cutting back on food as a means of putting the “pestilence” of snails under control. Does this make sense at all?​


Image courtesy of Applesnail.net and owner, Stijn Ghesquiere.

Can Goldfish Be Compared to the Notoriety of the Loaches?
To throw another example to clarify matters further, does the above paragraph make them consistently well protected even towards loaches (particularly ones with notoriety as avid snail consumers)? Goldfish cannot be compared to loaches. Particular species of loaches are by nature adept at sucking the snails out of their shells due to their different mouth structure that enables them to hunt for snails effectively whereas goldfish are not.​

Reaching the Conclusion
Conclusively, the combination is quite possible assuming all requirements are efficiently met without one being adversely affected in favor of another. One thing to bear in mind is the goldfish’s extraordinarily large appetite. They will, by no means, continue eating to the point their digestive tracts become clogged thus leading to digestive upsets. This type of behavior incapacitates the snails’ ability to sustain their population and health (near starvation) so it is down to the owner to try to find out how best to satisfy both groups’ appetites.​

As far as the other requirements are concerned, goldfish being coldwater species prefer temperature no more than 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, several species of snails particularly all from the Ampullaridae family and a vast majority from the Neritidae work quite well within this range, thus, are perfectly compatible with goldfish. Snails of the Lymnaea, Physas, Melania, Thiaridae and Planorbidae groups work quite well.​

Hopefully, this article helps in clearing up the issue that the combination is not quite possible as has often been repeated by some hobbyists who choose to believe quickly rather than try for themselves whether this does truly work or not.​
 
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