Can anyone identify this snail?

[Malachite]

From what I have researched i think this is called a common pond snail but I am not sure. It snuck in in my plants and now I have hundreds of the little pin sized baby ones. I like the way they look so I just wanted to make sure these are not bad for the aquarium (Like the dragonfly larvae that also snuck in). Thanks for any info anyone has.

 

[case_rums]

Looks like a ram horn, or common pond snail to me also.

They are not great for aquariums. Time to get a loach...

 

[Aqualung]

Looks like a pond snail to me. Snails won't usually become a problem unless you overfeed. Overfeeding can create a population explosion. I have pond snails, ramshorns, and trumpet snails in my tanks. I actually like having them in my tanks.

 

[Malachite]

Looks like a ram horn, or common pond snail to me also.

They are not great for aquariums. Time to get a loach...

That actually brings up a good question. My tank is going to be a community tank with small fish in the 1 to 2 inch range. Would one clown loach (Semi-aggressive I believe) do ok in a community tank?

 

[Kasakato]

Whats whrong with snails in the tank? I have a few and like them.

 

[Aqualung]

That actually brings up a good question. My tank is going to be a community tank with small fish in the 1 to 2 inch range. Would one clown loach (Semi-aggressive I believe) do ok in a community tank?

Clown loaches do best in groups, and get pretty big. How big is your tank?

 

[Malachite]

Clown loaches do best in groups, and get pretty big. How big is your tank?

I have a 75G. I am trying to keep small however. I prefer the small fish look. That is why I went with otto's over pleco's. I am trying to stick to 2 inch and under fish. Since the snails don't really bother me I may just leave them be. I enjoy the natural look to a tank anyway.

 

[tomm10]

Well, clown loaches will grow up to a foot long so there goes your small fish idea. A 75 is probably the minimum size tank I would put clown loaches in.

Pond snails are not horrible. They will grow to infestation with overfeeding and that will happen alarmingly fast. Typically they don't cause problems as they only eat dead plant material and leftover food but in large numbers they can be unsightly.

If you want to use fish to control them I would suggest Kuhli loaches. They are eel like in shape and get to be about 4". They love pond snails and will make sure they don't take up permanent residence in your tank. The spend almost all their time in the bottom of the tank and like the company of their own kind (4-6 of them would be a good number). I love mine and think they're one of the most interesting fish in my tank.

 

[cdawson]

If you have plants I would advise against putting any clown loaches in there, they dig. Alot.

Pond snails aren't destructive, unless your plants are already dying or are dead they won't touch them. It's apple snails you need to worry about. I have all types of snails in all of my planted tanks and as long as you're not overstocking and overfeeding then the populations don't blow up. Instead of housing a fish you can't properly house just use the trapping method(I highly advise against putting a clown loach in anything smaller than a 100 gallon wide tank). Put a piece of romaine lettuce in before you go to bed and then remove it in the middle of the night when it's covered in snails( only takes a couple of hours).

 

[TKOS]

And yes, that is a common rams horn snail. I have heavily planted tanks and lots of these guys. They are greta fun to keep and won't hurt anything. Biodiversity in a tank is good.

Reduce feeding for the fish, clean the substarte occasionally, remove decaying leaves and algae and the snail population will stay low.

If you have soft water with a low kh the snails will never grow very big anyway as their shells won't develop.

Pond snails are flat spirals.

A better loach choice would be yoyo's. A small group would fit well in a 75 gallon and they get no more than 4 inches in size or so. Zebra loaches would be a nice choice as well.