Snails

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NotCalebSherida

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Nov 3, 2004
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In the past week I have had an outbreak of snails... i ussually see about one additional snail daily, right now i have close to ten.. and they are all quite large. I want to know where they came from (i assume my live plants) but i want to know if they are dangerous to anything, how to get rid of them (what fish eat them?) and if they are helpful to anything in my tank?

caleb
 
Loaches.I know clown loaches definately do, and I think yoyo's (plus tey are fun fish). I put some in purposefully, and the loach ate all of them. maybe one is still there. If they are fancy, maybe LFS can take them.

You probably got them from the plants. cause they are asexual, they can multiply quick.
 
First off suggest gettign a clown loach is not a good idea. Clown loaches need to be held ina 75 gallon tank ideally with 4-5 other clown loaches. Never get a fish to do a job that you can do. Get a fish because you want that fish and you can properly care for it.

And not all snails are asexual. In fact many snails have the ability to get pregnant once and then drop fertilized eggs for a long time into the future.

Check out Dave's link.

Snails aren't bad, but they usually show up in huge numbers due to some imballance in the tank (too much food).
 
Snails don't hurt anything. They usually help eat algae and excess food. They love murky water but can't tolerate chemicals. The types you get from the live plants usually don't live long. They are actually just as much fun to watch as fish and easier to take care of. Some people buy them as living tank ornaments. If you are worried just scoop them out. Maybe the store will take them back and sell them.
 
Snails are cool and help keep our tank clean.
I had a pretty big one years back and it(she?) let go of hundreds of babies after about 2-3 yrs in our tank.....then died. SE had way too many then and had to get rid of a bunch of 'em.

They are fun to watch!
 
Look in the planted tanks at a petstore. Look very closely. There are often some little snails hanging out. If the petstore doesn't sell them ask for some for free. If you could get a hold of 10 or so and set up a little planted tank (1-2 gallons in aplastic container on the window ledge) you shoudl be able to breed your own snails very easily and add some to your loach tank every so often. Add a slice of cucumber or celery etc.. to the snail tank and leave it there until it is eaten. The more often the eat the more likely they are to breed. You don't even need a filter in the setup, just keep adding frsh water for them. A source of calcium is also good to make sure their shells are tough and the live long enough to be useful. Add some old sea shells for that.
 
thanks I have a 10 I could use....I got the sea shells, don't need a filter good, but would I have to heat it? would the snails survive a cold basment? or should they really be put in the sun in front of the window, or at least heated?
 
I've never tried it without heat so I'm not sure. Sunlight would be good, snails prefer algea, and sunlight would promote that and therefore promote rapid reproduction. All of my snail tanks have filters, but if you did good maintenance I would agree that it wouldn't be needed. BTW, check your PM's.
Dave
 
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