# Stowaway Snails - Good or Bad?



## Lee Sweeting (23 Aug 2013)

Hi! I'm just in the process of cycling my first planted tank, and i noticed a small brownish coloured snail in my tank this morning. I'm guessing this little guy got in the tank on one of the plants!? Are these guys good or bad?


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## Andy Thurston (23 Aug 2013)

Mainly a good part of the clean up crew
Can become a bit unsightly if population explodes due to poor maintenance and overfeeding. Theres been a few recent threads about problem snails as some people dont like seeing them in the tank but thats down to personal preference


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## Lee Sweeting (23 Aug 2013)

Big clown said:


> Mainly a good part of the clean up crew
> Can become a bit unsightly if population explodes due to poor maintenance and overfeeding. Theres been a few recent threads about problem snails as some people dont like seeing them in the tank but thats down to personal preference


 

Thanks Big Clown! I don't mind them tbh, and if their helping to keep the tank clean and stable, then i'm happy to have them. I'm pretty stringent with maintenance, and won't be over feeding the fish, once they go in. Thanks again.


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## DrRob (23 Aug 2013)

Personally I find them annoying, but tolerate them as they're a good sign of overfeeding. My main display only have them in the sump, with makes me suspect that the inhabitants are using them as live food, but they're bigger than the average planted tank inhabitant. My shrimp tank has many, but not excessive numbers, my fry tank has an explosion of them but it helps keep excess food under control.


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## AshRolls (23 Aug 2013)

Be warned, most plants are fine but some are irresistible snacks for snails. My ramshorn and pond snails love to chomp on the Amazon Frogbit floaters, luckily these plants grow fast so are surviving. Note, to start with I thought the snails were just eating parts of dead Frogbit, but I've now observed them eating holes in perfectly healthy plants.


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## DrRob (23 Aug 2013)

There is that. Mine actually have snail track lines in their leaves at times.


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## Lee Sweeting (23 Aug 2013)

I think i will wait and see what happens. My tank has only been up and running for 3 weeks. So i'm not feeding anything as yet, and i have only seen one snail so far. Hopefully they won't get to out of hand. I'm planning on adding some Amano's or cherry Reds, along with some otto's once the tank has cycled. Hopefully they will out compete them for food?


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## DrRob (23 Aug 2013)

No problems with my shrimp finding food in my tank and there are snails in there.


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## Lee Sweeting (23 Aug 2013)

Like i said, i don't mind them, i just don't want to be over run with them. Theres obviously some benefits to having them in the tank. I did read that the population would grow if over feeding was taking place? I'm also guessing that shrimp, and the ottos would also take care of any waste food, as a result keeping the number of snails in check? Obviously i plan to be very carful to not over feed the fish once they go in.


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## Michael W (23 Aug 2013)

If you have shrimps and otos you can put algae wafers in the tank and after some times if you find that have not finished it then remove it. You can also place some pebbles in a container by the window to grow algae and put them in the tank to let the shrimps and oto graze on it. While some of the snails will eat algae i don't believe they will be as effect at doing so than shrimps and otos. If you do find yourself having a snail outbreak the best way is to cut down feeding and or manually removal. If you think your not overfeeding then you can place a piece of vegetable prior to lights out and an hour or so later go back to the tank and take it out. You will find lots of snails on it and around it so its the perfect time to remove them.


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## Lee Sweeting (23 Aug 2013)

Thanks Michael, thats very helpful. Great advice


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## Michael W (23 Aug 2013)

No problem  I have snails in all my tanks as i believe they are very helpful to the tanks even if they do over populate as it will indicate overfeeding which in turn could lead to various problems to water quality and as a result stress out shrimps and fish.


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## ceg4048 (23 Aug 2013)

Lee Sweeting said:


> Thanks Big Clown! I don't mind them tbh, and if their helping to keep the tank clean and stable, then i'm happy to have them.


Unfortunately, this may be another prime example of the illusionary power of The Matrix. In a sort of "law of mass conservation" way these vermin will excrete a fair amount of toxic waste, and will remove almost as much precious Oxygen from the water as occurs during the decay of uneaten food. The more food they eat the more they grow and the more waste they produce, the more Oxygen they consume. And because they move at a snails pace, some food still remains uneaten and rots. The only way to improve the "cleaning" coverage is to have lots of them crawling over your tank, which defeats the purpose. I suppose, some species are prized for there reputed removal of algae from hardscape, but these are often huge, garish and unsightly. The better policy, naturally, is to just not get algae, which renders them redundant.

Infestation can be reduced significantly by application of Super-Mega-Ultra-Nova-High CO2 concentration levels........which.....of course, may not be a suitable option if there are fish present in the tank. And of course, this treatment may not have much of an impact on eggs, so execution of repeated carpet bombing missions via modulation of your knurled needle valve knob is necessary. Be sure to remove the debris. Many will seek refuge by escaping via the tank wall.

CO2 is the gaseous version of duct tape. It's usefulness and application are innumerable....

Feed your fish predominantly live foods, which can be done at a significantly reduced interval (owing to it's higher energy), to mitigate the increased cost, and live food will never remain uneaten.

Cheers,


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## BigTom (23 Aug 2013)

I like snails, they've got cool mouthparts and my shrimp enjoy riding them around the tank.


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## ceg4048 (23 Aug 2013)

Weirdo.......

Cheers,


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## Michael W (23 Aug 2013)

The mouthparts comment did throw me off a bit, never expected anyone appreciating the snail's mouths... hahahaha


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## sciencefiction (23 Aug 2013)

Ceg/Clive just seems to like sterile tanks  It's totally strange he's not a fan of ammonia in that case


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## Lee Sweeting (23 Aug 2013)

ceg4048 said:


> Unfortunately, this may be another prime example of the illusionary power of The Matrix. Tn a sort of "law of mass conservation" way these vermin will excrete a fair amount of toxic waste, and will remove almost as much precious Oxygen from the water as occurs during the decay of uneaten food. The more food they eat the more they grow and the more waste they produce, the more Oxygen they consume. And because they move at a snails pace, some food still remains uneaten and rots. The only way to improve the "cleaning" coverage is to have lots of them crawling over your tank, which defeats the purpose. I suppose, some species are prized for there reputed removal of algae from hardscape, but these are often huge, garish and unsightly. The better policy, naturally, is to just not get algae, which renders them redundant.
> 
> Infestation can be reduced significantly by application of Super-Mega-Ultra-Nova-High CO2 concentration levels........which.....of course, may not be a suitable option if there are fish present in the tank. And of course, this treatment may not have much of an impact on eggs, so execution of repeated carpet bombing missions via modulation of your knurled needle valve knob is necessary. Be sure to remove the debris. Many will seek refuge by escaping via the tank wall.
> 
> ...


 

Thanks Ceg, your input is very welcome! At the minute there are no fish or shrimp in my tank. I'm currently just in the cycling period. Algae is very minimal, and limited to a slight amount of diatoms at the minute. I'm currently running 2 x 28 w T5's for 6 hrs a day, i'm injecting pressurised Co2 (drop checker is lime green through out the photo period). I'm also dosing tropica specialised at 5ml per day (i have a 125 ltr tank), i'm also dosing easy carbo at 5ml per day.

Are you saying that it would be best to try and get rid of the snails before they have chance to proliferate? If so what is the best way? Should i push Co2 injection to the limit, with a view to killing off these critters? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Lee.


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## BigTom (24 Aug 2013)

Lee Sweeting said:


> Are you saying that it would be best to try and get rid of the snails before they have chance to proliferate?


 
Unless you have some particular aesthetic aversion to them I really wouldn't worry. If you start worrying about snails now you'll be entering a whole world of plant quarantine OCD.


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## sciencefiction (24 Aug 2013)

Aren't some snails air breathers like the common pond snail and ramshorns? I think whether you should have snails or not entirely depends on the type of maintenance you want to have. In a sterile enviroment you don't even need a filter media. One does many large water changes and removes all stuff manually daily and wipes the glass religiously. If not, then snails are a friend. It's like to say we don't need worms in the ground, or insects in the fields.


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## ceg4048 (24 Aug 2013)

No, it's like saying we don't need rats or mice in our house. As I mentioned, I don't see how we can consider snails as friends. I eradicate snails as much as possible and I don't have any problems as a result. I don't know anyone with a sterile environment. We are neither keeping a ground or a  field. It's a tank, with different environmental parameters and controls to either grounds or fields. If you have plants in the tank you don't need snails.

Also, why do vermin get a free pass into the tank? Everyone worries about pathogen transfer with new fish or even mulm from another filter. Do snails carry parasites or disease?

I would push CO2 to max levels because it can put a dent in the snail population and at the same time help your plants tremendously. Win, win...Then again, some are attracted to mouth parts while others suffer OCD. Different strokes I guess...

Cheers,


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## sciencefiction (24 Aug 2013)

Some people keep mice and rats as pets too  But if I start thinking snail-free then I may come to the conclusion that there's no point keeping fish and inverts altogether because most of them just poop around the place, nothing else.


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## BigTom (24 Aug 2013)

Clive, I love you to bits for your contributions on this forum, but you're definitely bonkers


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## Lee Sweeting (24 Aug 2013)

Haha! Thanks Clive! I'm currently pumping my tank full of Co2 . Once my fauna are introduced to the tank, i'll bring Co2 back down to a suitable level. Do you have any specific methods/suggestions for keeping the snail population to a minimum once i add critters?


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## Unkillable Cat (24 Aug 2013)

If it helps I got a yo-yo/Pakistani loach to try and control my snail numbers as I wanted a few on the clean up crew but had thousands of the buggers. I now have none what so ever. Every now and then I will drop a dozen or so in from my shrimp tank and they rarely last more than an hour.


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## ceg4048 (25 Aug 2013)

Yes, if you like loaches then then that's a good choice and they will do a good job of hunting down snails. Otherwise, OCD is really the only way to go, along with keeping the tank clean and removing all the ones you see. Inspect and wash new plants. Snails are such a problem that there are issues even with the chemicals used to soak the plants in to keep them snails/egg free. The toxins can leech back into the water column and poison fish or shrimp. So be careful if you buy plants from the Far East. Soak the plants in a bucket for a few days.

When I run for President I will have a "More Bonkers - Less Snail" platform...

Cheers,


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## Andy Thurston (25 Aug 2013)

I scrape snalis out of filter and put them back into tank for my clowns but they destroy most aquatic plants other than anubias and a couple of other species. I need a huge tank before I can rescape their current home


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## Lee Sweeting (25 Aug 2013)

Thanks Clive, much appreciated! I'm currently pumping my tank full of Co2, i haven't seen any in the last couple of days . I'm sure they will turn up again soon though. Thanks for the advice.


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## sciencefiction (25 Aug 2013)

I saw a few..


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## Ady34 (27 Aug 2013)

I like snails generally, in the garden and in the tank, i find them kind of fascinating too 
I bought two horned nerites to see how they would do and its like 'wheres Wally?' everytime i look at the tank.....but i always find them either buried, on an anubias leaf or chilling on a rock crack! Ramshorns can breed like the clappers but i never have the heart to flush them, even when cleaning if they end up in the bucket they get fished back out into the tank, they are very calming to watch go about their business. If i ended up infested id have to thin them, but thats never happened yet.
What i dont like are those really unsightly white limpet like ones that really spoil the view, ive got an outbreak of those and dont know how to get rid of them or what makes them proliferate???!!!


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## sciencefiction (27 Aug 2013)

I got a fresh water limpet outbreak in the fry tank last year. I didn't do anything to them. Eventually when I started feeding less and moved most of the fry out they just disappeared. Also my shrimp population increased so possibly they outcompeted the limpets for food.


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## LondonDragon (27 Aug 2013)

There is nothing wrong with snails in your tank!  I have snails in all of mine, they are lovely, great mouthparts too! 

You can't say these are not great?


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## Ady34 (27 Aug 2013)

sciencefiction said:


> I got a fresh water limpet outbreak in the fry tank last year. I didn't do anything to them. Eventually when I started feeding less and moved most of the fry out they just disappeared. Also my shrimp population increased so possibly they outcompeted the limpets for food.


 
mmm, i got them in my last set up too, but they did dissappear after a while.....no shrimps though to speak of. I dont know their life cycle or why they would come and go....i just hope they go soon as i really dont like them sticking to the glass and spoiling the view, they dont move 'fast' like normal snails 



LondonDragon said:


> You can't say these are not great?


 

They are beauties, awesome photo, gives the impression they really would miss each other if they were seperated


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## Michael W (27 Aug 2013)

I love those tylo snails of yours! I've always wanted some but I've heard tylos do love plants a part from the likes of anubias and java ferns. What are your experiences with these?


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## LondonDragon (27 Aug 2013)

Michael W said:


> I love those tylo snails of yours! I've always wanted some but I've heard tylos do love plants a part from the likes of anubias and java ferns. What are your experiences with these?


I have black tylos from Germany, I do have anubias, mosses, crypts and bolbitis in the tank and they seem to leave it alone. Just keep them well fed


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## Michael W (27 Aug 2013)

LondonDragon said:


> I have black tylos from Germany, I do have anubias, mosses, crypts and bolbitis in the tank and they seem to leave it alone. Just keep them well fed


 
That is awesome! I'll be sure to get some in the future, I've always been fascinated by tylos.


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## sciencefiction (27 Aug 2013)

Ady34 said:


> mmm, i got them in my last set up too, but they did dissappear after a while.....no shrimps though to speak of. I dont know their life cycle or why they would come and go....i just hope they go soon as i really dont like them sticking to the glass and spoiling the view, they dont move 'fast' like normal snails


 
I am not totally sure why they appeared in this tank as I had never seen them before and I had another 3 tanks running for ages. But they appeared soon after setup and after a few months disappeared without a trace and I never saw even one again. At some stage I blamed the wood piece I put in there because it kind of "peeled" itself inside the tank upon placing it initially and there were dust brown particles falling from it for the first few months. I just let them clean it I guess  Here's an old picture of ugly white limpets.


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