Tiny snails.

[Lawrence Ferguson]

Hi, I have a three week old tank and I've just noticed a 5mm snail and four tiny ones. Must have come from a plant I added couple weeks ago.

What should I do? I got all I could see but then, I saw none before today so their could be more.

Should I get an assassin snail? Will they breed and become unmanageable?

Cheers.

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[Henry]

Snails are pretty harmless and help to clear your tank of dead or dying plant matter etc. and break it down into cast (soil like substance aka poo). They tend to be beneficial in planted tanks unless you're specifically looking to breed egg scatterers. Populations tend to stay reasonable unless you provide them with excess food. If you find the numbers rise to unsightly levels, buy an assassin snail or wait 'til the lights go out and scoop them off the glass.

 

[Michael W]

They will breed a lot if you overfeed you fish. I welcome most snails in my tank as I think in my opinion they will help with tank maintenance (not saying it will do you job for you). I have both pond snails and Malaysian Trumpet snails in my tank to help with the uneaten food in my shrimp tanks and to turn my substrate in the tank. Some people hate the look of overpopulated snails in their tanks but I have not experienced this in my tanks. One thing to look out for is that sometimes Trumpet Snails will up root delicate foreground plants which doesn't have a strong root system.

Assassin snails can eradicate a snail infested tank, they will only breed if you have a male and female assassin otherwise a single assassin won't breed but the 'pest' snails will breed on their own.

Edit: basicly what Henry said, typed this while you posted

Michael

 

[Nealeg]

They more than likely did come from the plants. I would recommend that the best policy is to get rid of them and you can probably do that without an assassin being introduced just pick them out of the tank by hand. I always maintain that any livestock in my tank is there because I introduced it, that way I know exactly what's in the tank and where it came from. After all, you don't know if those snails are plant eaters!

Neale

 

[Kurono]

Pfft I love snails makes me sad they are hated. Though if they are plant eaters I'd totally NUKE them I'd find a way muahaha... but other then that I even raised snails inside a small aquarium and fed them to my assasin I loved the experience seeing them grow from egg to full mature adult it was a fantastic experience.

Anyways assassins are fantastic though with incredibly tiny ones I don't believe they'll have a chance at eating them.