# Will this snail hurt my betta fish?



## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

So I have a pond (not man made so I have no idea what else is in the water) in my backyard and I found Planorbis snails (they are brown little snails) in the water. I put them in a tank (without fish in it) and they have been alive for like a month now in the tank (none died). I have been feeding them veggies and snail jello I made. So my question is can I put the snails in my betta tank or do you think they will make the fish sick or give them parasites?


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Nooo! Don't do it. Snails from the...._outdoors._ *shudder* nasty little things that make fishie sick. You have to be super careful when bringing plants and critters from the outdoors in. They are loaded with parasites and bacteria that your fish hasnt been exposed to.


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## Skitters (Jan 29, 2014)

Agreed with above. I know you said they've been in quarantine for a while, but it's always a hit or miss thing when bringing things in from outside.

The snail itself, however, is called a 'ramshorn' snail and are completely harmless to bettas. I got one in my tank and he's left alone most of the time. The snail I mean. He just cruises around. So long as you can 100% guarantee that your new friends aren't carrying parasites and diseases they should be alright to put in your tank.


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## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

Definitely not putting them in my betta's tank now! Is there a way to tell if a snail has parasites? How do you treat a snail for parasites? So my snails had babies.. does that mean the babies might parasites if their parents did?


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Like a year ago I stole a bunch of plants from a river, washed them and never had issues... Haha maybe I got lucky but I wouldn't do it again, seems really risky


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## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

lol


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Basically you need a microscope and an expert to know for sure. The snail may be carrying all sorts of nasty things that it is immune to but your betta is not.


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