Snail questions

[nursie]

I have some snails that hitchhiked in on some plants. There appear to be 2 types, I think ramshorn, and the other has a spiraled shell. I have heard of a couple of different types, and wondered how to tell the difference. One is Malaysian trumbet snail, which seems to be desirable, and then my friend that has fish talks about a livebearing snail that wreaks havock in the tank. Anyone know what she is talking about ? She calls they Malaysian snails, but anything I read about them seems to be positive.
I was going to leave them, am planing on getting loaches, but want to be sure not a problem.

 

[mickey]

The pic above will help you identify your snails.

Malaysian Trumpet snails (MTS) are live bearing snails
and will multiply like crazy.

ramshorns are good snails too, but loaches will gobble them up as will cichlids

mystery snails are good too, but they get pretty big

MTS have harder shells and are not so easily eaten

 

[OrionGirl]

Very few snails that hitch hike in will be a problem--and none will multiple out of control unless conditions allow them to--meaning there's lots of food--uneaten fish food, or plant debris. I have a variety of snails in my tanks, and I've never had a problem with any of them. Keep the substrate clean, don't overfeed, trim and remove unhealthy plant matter, and snails won't be a problem.

 

[RTR]

Agree strongly with OG. Snail population issues are tank feeding and/or upkeep issues. i run two dozen tanks, most are planted, almost all with MTS, red ramshorms, and common pond snails. None have large snail populations.