# What is this snail??? - Can anyone identify?



## Mr Bee (27 Feb 2009)

I know I have loads of MTS, as I've added them myself on purpose, and know what they look like.... here's one of my big ones, about 25mm long   







But I recently added some live plants from the LFS, and since then I've seen a couple of different snails, that I dont know what they are.  

More to the point, I don't know if they're good or bad!

They are more like a 'traditional' snail style, with a full body in contact with the surface, with a roundish shell on the middle of their back.  here's a few pictures I took, it wouldn't come off the glass to get a good pic of it from the side. 

It also moves a LOT faster than an MTS, like a Ferrarri compared to MTS speed!!  And I could definately see it eating the brown diatom algae off the glass.





















Oh yeah, its very tiny too, only about 4 or 5mm long.  I reckon there's at least a couple of them there.

Anyone know what this is?  If it's good or bad?  Should I keep it or kill them?


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## LondonDragon (27 Feb 2009)

Last time I asked the same question I was told "pond snails"


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## a1Matt (27 Feb 2009)

Mr Bee said:
			
		

> If it's good or bad?  Should I keep it or kill them?



Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

If it is eating your diatom alage for you then I reckon it is doing you a favour so would keep it.

I have 2 or 3 that I can see in my tank at any one time.  If the numbers get past 10 or 20 then I know I am overfeeding  the fish and/or the tank is mucky and needs a good clean. I have one that is so old it has hair algae growing on it, which I think looks really cool


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## Mr Bee (27 Feb 2009)

So its a pond snail?

I was worried in case it was anything that is going to eat my live plants.  Do they get big or breed like crazy or anything?  Already got a nice population of MTS, don't wanna be overrun with these...


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## Themuleous (27 Feb 2009)

The long one looks like a Malaysian trumpet snail?

Sam


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## a1Matt (27 Feb 2009)

Mr Bee said:
			
		

> So its a pond snail?
> 
> I was worried in case it was anything that is going to eat my live plants.  Do they get big or breed like crazy or anything?  Already got a nice population of MTS, don't wanna be overrun with these...



Yep. pond snail.

They do not get big. They do breed like crazy if there is enough leftover fish food.  Nothing that good tank management can not sort out. and if it does get bad, just get squishing with your thumb.


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## mr. luke (27 Feb 2009)

It is NOT a pond snail   
Its a tapole/bladder snail, 'pond snails' are typically ramshorns or ones with large cone shaped shells uup to an inch long and fatter than mts.


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## Superman (28 Feb 2009)

I've had a recent infestation of these snails, must of come in some recent plants.
When I see them I remove them, but they're new ones popping up all the time. Although the ramshorn snails I used to have, are nearly all gone now.
My MTS never seem to take off.


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## LondonDragon (28 Feb 2009)

Superman said:
			
		

> My MTS never seem to take off.


These snails need a lot of food in the tank to breed in high numbers, when I had my cray I fed it a couple of times a day a lot of food and the MTS in that tank bred like crazy even though the cray eate some, sometimes I took out 200+ at a time when cleaning the tank. When I had MTS in my planted they used to breed a lot too, when I was feeding my fish twice a day and quite a lot, then reduced to one feed per day since I no longer had bottom feeders and stopped feeding pellets, my MTS disappeared gradually and now have none.


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## Superman (28 Feb 2009)

I do feed sparingly and my Ottos only get food once every other day.


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## aaronnorth (28 Feb 2009)

I only feed my tetras flakes, anything that falls to the bottom the shrimps get but they dont get much! I have noticed a HUGE drop in numbers by the MTS. I have also noticed a few more babie shrimps than normal aswell :?:


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## Dan Walter (28 Mar 2009)

So do these speedy little snails eat plants then?


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## Ed Seeley (28 Mar 2009)

No they don't.  They will eat algae and dead/dying leaves though.


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## Egmel (30 Mar 2009)

If we're talking about the pond snails then I would disagree, they do eat plants and can be quite voracious given half a chance.


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## mr. luke (1 Apr 2009)

THey are bladder snails NOT pond snails, they are completely different things, pond snails are cold-temperate and bladders are tropical. bladders dont eat plants, ponds do. You have bladder snails.


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