Blue snail identification please

[Riley]

Is this snail a friend or foe?

 

[Fishfur]

It’s a common ramshorn & harmless but it has the potential to become an enormous number of snails if the food supply allows for it, being hermaphroditic.

They’re good algae eaters & general cleanup crew. Some, like me, like them a lot & others find them to be a big nuisance. It’s one of those things you have to determine for yourself.

 

[Riley]

Thank you,
it can stay and eat my algae🐚

 

[Riley]

It’s a common ramshorn & harmless but it has the potential to become an enormous number of snails if the food supply allows for it, being hermaphroditic.

They’re good algae eaters & general cleanup crew. Some, like me, like them a lot & others find them to be a big nuisance. It’s one of those things you have to determine for yourself.

I take it they can become numerous if not kept under control, how many do you think I should maintain, my tank is juwel lido 120litres.(plenty of algae to eat ) do they like BBA ?

 

[Fishfur]

I don’t know if they eat red algae but they might. I haven’t had any red algae show up to see how they’d respond But they aren’t fussy - they’ll eat an awful lot of things.

How many you allow is more of a personal preference I think - I allow quite a few even in very small tanks - under 10 litres small. I like the little pop of colour when I see them. I have red ones as well. They handle being crowded very well, so long as food is available.

Controlling their numbers is mostly down to limiting the amount of food they can get to, Less food, fewer clutches. More food, more clutches.

I sell them if I have too many & they can make good fish food if need be, though I prefer to use bladder snails as feeders.

 

[Riley]

Thanks I’ll see how things progress.

 

[bazz]

Is this snail a friend or foe?

Friend!

I take it they can become numerous if not kept under control, how many do you think I should maintain, my tank is juwel lido 120litres.(plenty of algae to eat ) do they like BBA ?

The numbers will stabilise around the amount of available food, if you have way too many you are overfeeding your fish. I don't think they eat BBA per se, but will feed on biofilm (which likely contains the spores) helping to keep leaves and surfaces clean.