Stowaway Snails - Good or Bad?

[ceg4048]

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,

 

[sciencefiction]

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.

 

[BigTom]

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

 

[Lee Sweeting]

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?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

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.

 

[ceg4048]

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,

 

[Andy Thurston]

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

 

[Lee Sweeting]

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.

 

[sciencefiction]

😛 I saw a few..

 

[Ady34]

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???!!!

 

[sciencefiction]

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.

 

[LondonDragon]

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?

 

[Ady34]

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 😛

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 🙂

 

[Michael W]

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?

 

[LondonDragon]

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 😉

 

[Michael W]

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.

 

[sciencefiction]

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.