# So... hitch hikers.



## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Yeah... I got that plant I was talking about and I seem to have a snail explosion of what _might_ be ramshorns, but Wiki says they're herms. I was fine, absolutely happy, with what looked like six of them before I siphoned out poop and leftover food but...

I think that 6 went down to 2 which is apparently now potentially _30 or more_. I'm thinking about bringing my male count up and Honey does not seem to be interested in them. I do not know if I'm going to be getting the loaches, at least for a while now, so what can I do to keep this population under control?

The reason why I think it's at 30+ right now is because of this little guy. Initially I thought it was a piece of poop somehow stuck to the glass.

Uh. No. It's not. Complete with tentacles/antennae and shell. It's a spiral shape, definitely not a Mystery at least from Honey. Praying it isn't a pond snail ohdearlordnopleaseanythingbutpondsnails.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

I've got dozens of them in my tanks with plants. it doesn't seem to cause a problem in well planted tanks. you won't have any uber huhe population explosions if you don't overfeed 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Shadyr (Mar 27, 2012)

I think fish can eat them if they are small enough. They aren't crunchy yet. I've noticed a number of tiny snails in my 6.6 bookshelf. I rarely see any on the side Redfish occupies. Ghost, my sight impaired fella, seems to have most of them on his side. I think Redfish culls the ones he sees, but Ghost just doesn't see them.

They don't seem to bother the fish, the kids think they are cute, so as long as the tank doesn't seethe with them, I'm content to let them live.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

ugh!! That's a pond snail! Sorry for the bad news!!!

We took everything out, and picked off every single one that we saw for MONTHS! >_<


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

djembekah said:


> I've got dozens of them in my tanks with plants. it doesn't seem to cause a problem in well planted tanks. you won't have any uber huhe population explosions if you don't overfeed
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


+1

we had to feed our bottom feeders, and they just took over!


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Oh, I also wanted to say. They're not a bad snail, they're just highly effective at converting resources into babies. Our tank was spotless when we did have them, we just wanted other varieties, and they couldn't thrive with the pond snails taking all available scraps


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

I'm not so sure if they are pond snails - not yet anyway. I'll have to wait and see as they get bigger. So far they've got spirals kinda like nerites, but it's more oblong and they've got spots right now on the shells so... Not sure what they are yet, but they are utterly adorable so far.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Chevko said:


> So far they've got spirals kinda like nerites, but it's more oblong and they've got spots right now on the shells


definitely ponds. you can tell by the shell in the photo that was posted. It looks just like this one.


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

o 3o That looks exactly like them yeah, sO i might definitely have a big problem in the future. I didn't think they had spots on them when they're young since the adults I see are entirely black-shelled.


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## JustinieBeanie (Apr 22, 2013)

One persons snail population explosion is another's snail-selling business opportunity!


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

we eventually ended up with speckled white ones after they bred enough. It happens.

yea, some people actually like pond snails, if they get to be a nuisance, either get a freshwater puffer, or SELL SELL SELL! lol


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Oh, believe me. I have intentions of convincing my boyfriend to let us get another 10 for a puffer tank. Would feed them to red claw crabs, but I don't think they do snails. Sadly, I can't sell anything to PetCo since they breed and supply from within... Might have better luck with PetSmart though, but no idea.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

pea puffers will eat the babies. You should look into them, they require a 5 gal for a pair from my research


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Oh, belieeeeve me I want to get my mitts on them, snailsplosion or not.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I have pond snails though they have their own little tank. I noticed lately one of their recent baby explosions that one of the young has retained a pure white shell with a black stripe running down the middle. Hopping to get some more cool colors from my pair, they are baby making machines but most of the babies die or are eaten by larger babies after they hatch.


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Huh. So they do a kind of self-culling if there are enough of them? What size tank do you have them in? I didn't know that they could actually do different shell colors


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

A user on the main TFK forum keeps puffers, and he says you should only have like 1 in 10 gallons (due to aggression i think). I believe he had 3 in 29 at one point. his UN is Boredomb, if you're interested in pea puffers.


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## bniebetta (Feb 26, 2013)

I have seriously found like two baby snails a day in my cycling tank and I am so! over it! squish all the things!!!!


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

djembekah said:


> A user on the main TFK forum keeps puffers, and he says you should only have like 1 in 10 gallons (due to aggression i think). I believe he had 3 in 29 at one point. his UN is Boredomb, if you're interested in pea puffers.


From what I remember reading there's supposed to be a female/male ratio similar to guppies to keep down aggression with dwarves so about three would be fine in a 10, between size and plants anyway, I would think. The one site I go to fairly often about them says that it should be 5g/1 puff to weed out aggression and they get more aggressive as they get older, especially when they reach sexual maturity.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

1 male 1 female. The mating pair will try to kill an extra female


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## dormbettafishery (Jan 12, 2013)

My eye automatically found the title of this blurb. I was just about to post a question about the medium small size snail that appeared a few days ago. I've seen about 3 tiny little babies since then. I looked online, trying to figure out what snail type it could be, but I would like a second opinion. I'm thinking it is a pond snail, but not sure because I've never dealt with hitchhikers before (first planted tank)... I don't mind them and don't really want to kill them unless they overpopulate. 

*Does anyone know what type of snail this is? *
The plants that the snails came from are micro sword and a anacharis plant.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt243/toRoscko/DSCI3577_zps364cbb24.jpg

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt243/toRoscko/DSCI3575_zps6715a691.jpg
(I have no idea what the white/yellow stuff is in the picture... :s I really hope it's not eggs.... o.o Only after I looked at the picture did I see the stuff on the rocks.)


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## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

dormbettafishery said:


> My eye automatically found the title of this blurb. I was just about to post a question about the medium small size snail that appeared a few days ago. I've seen about 3 tiny little babies since then. I looked online, trying to figure out what snail type it could be, but I would like a second opinion. I'm thinking it is a pond snail, but not sure because I've never dealt with hitchhikers before (first planted tank)... I don't mind them and don't really want to kill them unless they overpopulate.
> 
> *Does anyone know what type of snail this is? *
> The plants that the snails came from are micro sword and a anacharis plant.
> ...


That's definitely a pond snail. Like a user said earlier, they're not necessarily a *bad* thing so long as there's one of them. But usually, if you have one, you have at least two and that's all it takes for a population explosion.

If you do decide to keep it in your tank, just make sure you don't overfeed and you shouldn't have too many snailbabies come about.

And I don't think those are eggs. Pond snails lay eggs in these little gelatinous masses either on the sides of the tanks or on the plants. They look like clear, globular-looking jelly things with little white specks in them.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Technically, you need one fertilized one. lol


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

I like pond snails *shrugs*
You may be able to sell them on aquabid or ebay.


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## dormbettafishery (Jan 12, 2013)

:> Thanks all.

^_^ This is my first time having snails thrive in my tank, so I'm pretty stoked on how fascinating these little hitchhikers are and how the camera captures them just right.


I will definately watch the food intake of my tiny community (it's growing slowly). I just added four white clouds and five ghost shrimp throughout a couple of weeks (one of the white clouds disappeared...so I currently have three (plan on housing six or seven of them in my 10g). And now my little hitchhickers.  

Over excitement caused me to loose my common sense and totally brain skipped on the fertilization step. XD I am so easily entertained. 

I did a little youtube research and I don't believe it's laying eggs.

I looked with my camera some more and I know this is kinda weird, but I could have sworn that it had eggs stored in it's shell? Does that happen? I don't think it does, but there's no harm in asking.

If I do end up having tons of snail babies later on, then I will definitely try to sell them. (did not think about this)


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

I've no idea how pond snail reproduction goes, but some of my ponds have been found on top of each other, with two appearing to have a duel on top of the thermometer. I think I'm gonna have an explosion, lol. Since I would love to get a few dalmatian mollies, would they pick at and eat the snails?


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Yeah, I do have the sneaking suspicion that I will very soon have an explosion. Aside from puffers, what could I use that would eat up to adult pond snails? I would greatly appreciate ideas from eggs to adults ;^;

I have read that ghost shrimp will eat snail eggs. S'that true?


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

some loaches, like yoyos, will eat snails


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