Just found a snail

[Ryu1981]

hi all again

just found a snail hes a really small guy and for what ever reason i can't get a good enough picture to show . his shell is like a shining rams horn snail but is only 1mm and as much as i want a cool snail in my tank i don't think it will be a ram horn .

thing is that worries me i know nothing about snails which is why i have'nt bought any so he must have come off the plants is there a chance he will be a pest or should i leave him

((i know i haven't give u much to work with so i will try to get a pic of him but if you had any help it would ease my mind )0

 

[SmokingRay]

Well that's up to you. If iff looks like a ram horn I would let it be, it is good for your tank to have some snails in it as long as you don't let them over run it.

 

[Ryu1981]

well hope its a ram ...but i don't mind him in there as long as i know he won't do anything bad plus he's kinda cool

 

[bluekrissyspike]

most common 'pest' snails aren't really all that pesky. they are good for your tank, just avoid overfeeding or you will end up with zillions of them.

 

[KIM_TMA]

Like bluekrissy said just don't overfeed, and even your pest snails will be fun to have and watch, and that will give you a beginners understanding in snails.

 

[Jane of Upton]

Oh, I have these "Itsy-Bitsy Rams" too!

I have not found them to harm plants at all, and by the looks of their foraging, they seem to get into the smallest nooks and crannies looking for algae, which in my book, is a good thing. I find the ones I've encouraged and added to my inverts tank are frequently grazing on the glass, so I think they like the biofilms that form there.

At their largest, mine seem to have topped out at less than 1/4" in diameter, and most are closer to 1/8". They sort of hold their shell flattened, or sideways to their direction of travel, whereas ramshorns stand upright, perpendicular to whatever they're traveling on.

I don't think these are a pest at all, and they don't seem to breed nearly as quickly as ramshorns (and are FAR less prolific than the physa-type pond snail, which I do consider rather "pesty" because they reproduce so darn fast). I have found very tiny clutches of eggs, with only 3-4 embryos each, unlike the masses my ramshorns lay, which have 6-12 embryos and sometimes more. I suspect the very tiny egg masses are from these itty bitty rams.

So don't fret - your new addition probably did come in on plants, but they're not plant eaters in my experience, and you certainly won't get overrun by these little guys!

-Jane