Snail Question

[James0816]

Other than mass over producing....what are the pros/cons of having them in a tank? I am getting some great information here (wish I woulda found this site a long time ago). I am torn to get any and I hear they also can hitchhike in on plants that you get.

If I do get them...how do you control them? just pick em out of the tank and throw them out? has to be a use for them somewhere right? lol

thx again for all the great info. looking forward to getting my tank reestablished again...bigger and better this time. I have decided to not put the plastic plants back in a just go for it with real ones.

 

[rwilliams254]

Depends on the type of snail? I assume you're talking about the little spiral ones? The pests? You can put a piece of cucumber or somethink like that, then come back in an hour or so...then throw out all the snails. Repeat. Should diminish the qty in the tank.

FYI: Mystery Snails/Apple Snails are fantastic and get to be 2-3 inches in size!

 

[swany]

Depends on what kind of snails you get. The ramshorn snails and the pond snails can do damage to more delicate leaves of the water sprite. But that is the only plant I ever had get damaged by snails. Maylasian Trumpet Snails (MTS) burrow into the gravel and actually do a lot of good. When fish are overfed, much of their food passes semi-digested through their gut and is then excreted which can produce all kinds of foul water. However, this inadequately digested food is eaten by the MTS which in turn digest it very well and the excrement is more easily managed by the bacteria.

Overall, you get large snail populations when there is a lot of food for them. However, food source can come from decaying plants too. If you find a lot of snails, there are a couple of things you can do. One of them is to put in a limp piece of lettuce. Snails love this and will all get on it. You can then pick it out of the tank with snails attached and throw the whole thing away. Another thing you can do is get fish which eat snails. Generally Clown Loaches and Yo-yo Loaches will do that. I do not recommend chemicals even though there are chemicals on the market.

So, that is pretty much it. I personally have a lot of plants and a lot of snails of all sorts. They don't bother the fish or the plants. So I don't worry about it. Live and let live.

Swany

 

[lovejonesx]

If I do get them...how do you control them? just pick em out of the tank and throw them out? has to be a use for them somewhere right? lol

I have yet to see a snail that you could "CONTROL" short of catching them & throwing them out!!

My method in the past (b/c I try not to do the chemicals), was to simply bait them with food & let them amass & throw them out,....AND MIND YOU THIS TAKES FOREVER IF YOU HAVE VERY PROLIFIC & TURNED ON SNAILS!! lol

I have an Apple Snail right now in a 75 galloon tank in my bedroom that I've had for years & who has grown SOOOOO HUGE & moves SOOOO FAST around the tank, the HE/SHE is the highlight of the tank & is sometimes more interesting than the fish!! HUGE I TELL YA!!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

If you go with an Apple/Mystery snail try to make sure it's a Pomacea Bridgessii. There are several different species sold as Apple snails, and Bridgessii is the least likely to eat plants. They are large enough that you really don't need more than one (no fear of rampant reproduction). Plus, they are not hermaphrodites, so if you do buy two and are lucky enough to get the same gender you won't have to worry about babies.

 

[smallfry]

Well ... I can't speak of the pros of snails, but some comments about keeping them out of your tanks.

This week I learned how to kill off snails and snail eggs on incoming plants. Soak in 3 tablespoons of Alum per gallon of water for 3 hours. (I did 7 hours). This keeps any hitchhiker from coming in that you don't want. Also kills other creepy crawly things on the plants.

I was just told this, and haven't tried it out - but another fish keeper said he picked out all the snails he could find, and then he put in those super cheap glass or ghost shrimp that they sell for feeders. They ate all his remaining snails. Some people use loaches for snail control. Again, I haven't tried this - but reporting ideas in case you need it.

Good luck!

PS: Quarantine new snails - because they can carry in diseases to your tank.