How dangerous are pond snails?

[Kuhlifan]

My little tank has a pond snail explosion going on. Typically, people suggest to ways to get rid of or control snail problems. You either stop feeding or put food in and scoop out the snails that pile up on it. Well, I have pond snails, and they are pretty much living on my wisteria. I've tried putting in, say, a nice big algae wafer, but they ignore it. In fact, they seem to ignore the food altogether in favor or eating either my plant or some algae, with the latter being well appreciated.

So, should I worry about losing my plant, or will they nibble a little but not really damage it?

 

[Notophthalmus]

They generally will not eat live plants; they may be scraping algae and other aufwuchs off the wisteria's leaves.

 

[TKOS]

They are fine. They eat predigested food, algae, decaying plants etc... They are opportunistic. If you see holes in plant leaves it is most likely due to nutrient problems for the plants.

 

[Kuhlifan]

Ha! Amazingly enough, the holes all developed after the plant got covered in pond snails.....

 

[ZSandmann]

I have NEVER seen pond snails eat live plants. They are in all my planted tanks and no problems at all. If you have too many snails you are feeding to much or it isn't getting to the fish.

 

[Kuhlifan]

Ok, I'll repeat myself. The snails almost never leave the plants, and totally ignore any food I put in. I never see the snails on food, which is rarely left after the fish eat it. Putting an algae wafer on top of the plant where the fish can't get to it but the snails can results in it slowly dissolving away with no attention from any nearby snails. The few exceptions are when the snails get into a corner of the glass that I don't clean so the algae is there for the eating, or when they get knocked off the plant and land on the substrate. They eventually make their way back to the plant.

Before the snails, I've never noted any little holes or decaying leaves in the plant, but now that the snails are really starting to pop, there are. It's not extensive, but it's there nonetheless. As they completely ignore any food I put in, including sinking food for my kuhlis, then it would make sense that they're eating where they're living, which is the plant.

Not to put your experience into question, as we all know that things like this aren't always predictable, but everything I've read on pond snails refers to their habits of eating plants. Some say they eat a little, some use words like "voracious." I was simply looking for people's experiences on the matter to see if they, indeed, will eat a plant away to nothing or if they will just nibble here and there.

 

[Dwarf Puffers]

You say you don't see them eating the food. Did it occur to you, maybe, that the wisteria is full of food that has sunken onto it? Either the wisteria is dying, you're overfeeding, or there is too much gunk (some of which snails will eat), which could be the cause as your tank is very overstocked. Or it could be all three.

 

[NickD]

Is the wisteria something you can pull up? If so, then you could pull it up with all the snails attached and then dunk it in something that kills snails but not the plant. Maybe a bleach solution? I know there's also another chemical that people use but I can remember the name of it at the moment (something permanganate?). Then replant the wisteria.

 

[Kuhlifan]

Yes, a few flakes do tend to get into the plant, but it's not uncommon for a larger flake to get wrapped around a stem and sit there all day until I either remove it or it dissolves on its own. The snails never touch it. I've had ramshorn snails before, and they certainly waste no time getting in touch with any food I put in. This is, however, my first experience with pond snails, thus the question.

There is no "gunk" in my tank, with the exception of one back wall of the hex that I leave uncleaned for my otto. The snails do like that algae. However, they will go around an algae wafer, flake food or shrimp pellet like it doesn't exist. They will also move across a wisteria leaf and leave a trail of holes behind them.

Doing a simple search for aquarium pond snail in google and looking at the top 10 results gives you the following links, hence, again, my question. You might enjoy reading what they say about pond snails.

http://www.fish-tank-guide.com/snailarticles.html
http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/snails.html
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail2.htm
http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=aquariumsnails
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/302613/overview_of_freshwater_aquarium_snails.html?cat=53

 

[Kuhlifan]

Actually, my wisteria has become a floating plant. I put it in before I bought fish, and the low light/low nutrient situation I had before buying a better bulb caused it to start dieing off. It was my first attempt at a planted aquarium, so I decided to let it go until dead before removing it. After the stem rotted through and it started to float, I put in the new light and it boomed like crazy. Every two weeks I have to cut large chunks of it off and give away so my fish can continue to swim around. I could take it out, but I'm reluctant to do so. Sometimes one of my kuhlis disappears into it, and as he's rather small, you sometimes can't find him in there. I don't want to risk dipping him along with the plant.

The thing is, I don't mind the snails. I just don't want them to consume the entire plant. If they just nip a little and move on, then no big deal. However, everything I read about them says they eat plants like crazy. After 1.5 years of healthy plants with no apparent problems, a few weeks after the snails start to breed (I bought two banana plants that they "came with") I start to see leaves developing lots of little holes, but only where there are snails around.

I won't put chemicals in the tank to kill them off, because that's just wrong. My tank it too small for a snail eater, and putting in extra food to attract them for removal doesn't work as they ignore the food I put in. Sorry if I sound frustrated, I was just curious about how much they eat, but now I'm on the defensive, it seems.