# Snails



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

So what are these snails that hitched a ride on my new plants? There kinda cute but theyre eating my plants. Do you guys just kill them? I dont feel right about that. Are there any benefit to having these tiny little annoying things in my tank? Can I just scoop them all out and put them in their own tank?


----------



## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

What shape is their shell?


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

I think this is what they are http://www.planetinverts.com/pond_snail.html I wish i could post a picture but I cant find my camera anywhere this morning. They are very tiny and i went from seeing one for now seeing like 6 all with shells, theyre in two of my tanks now. They look like the picture but their shells are slightly pointed at the end. Same coloring though.


----------



## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

They're either trumpet, pond or ramshorn snails. A little point would indicate pond snails. I know a lot of people simply squish them against the glass when they see them - fish usually will eat them up at that point.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

Ew, thats sad. Is there any benefit to leaving them in there?


----------



## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

NOOO! If they're pond snails, get them out, now, before they take over!

I was like you...I though, oh, how cute, tiny little snails, I'll let them live in my tank...until I realized that the things are like gremlins and they propagate every ten seconds. I swear you start with one, and before you know it they've eaten an entire wisteria bunch and there are a thousand of them in there. 

As for getting rid of them...they are ferocious little buggers. They even survive salt. I swear at the end of the world there will be twinkies, roaches, and pond snails.  You can either fish them out any time you see them (sometimes you can vacumn them up as well), put in a peice of: kale, lettuce, or sliced cucumber and remove them once they're latched onto there, or, and this is what has worked the best for me, buy a couple of assassin snails and let them do your dirty work for you. 

They're cute and you feel bad for them at first...then they eat 30$ worth of plants and suddenly you don't feel quite so awful about disposing of them anymore.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

That made me really LOL. Cant i just go dump then into the lake or something?


----------



## gorillakev (Feb 21, 2013)

MichelleA said:


> That made me really LOL. Cant i just go dump then into the lake or something?


I personally wouldn't you don't want to introduce anything into a lake that wasn't already there. Even if you know there's pond snails in the lake and what not, you might introduce some diseases also.

You can humanely euthanize them also, I haven't done it but you can do that.

I usually put all my pond snails and ram shorn snails in a bucket outside and put dead clippings in the bucket also. Or I put in a few in one of my tanks that has assassin snails.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

Awe man yeah i guess youre right. I really dont want a bucket of snails though lol I cannot fathom killing them or anything for that matter... Except spiders.... and mosquitos... Well you get the picture. What are these assassin snails? Do they eat them?


----------



## Graceful (Apr 30, 2013)

MichelleA said:


> Ew, thats sad. Is there any benefit to leaving them in there?


If you're adverse to crushing them (as am I) you can "hire" some assassin snails to eat them. Over this past month I have had three assassin snails completely remove my ramshorn problem. I had at least two dozen of the little b******s!

(I actually have assassins available for purchase, you can PM me if you'd like.)


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

Oh man, I just ordered 4 purple mystery snails from Peachii on here. Looks like they have to live with their own kind?


----------



## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

Yeah the assassins will eat the mystery snails, assassins stay pretty small but they will eat snails that are 20 times larger than they are, even if they have to gang up to do it. 

If you don't over feed your tank ramshorns and pond snails won't explode population wise and over feeding includes the dead plant matter, they eat it off the bottom of the tank. You can do a one time sweep of you tank as you see them and then offer them up for the price of shipping after you get alot, just throw them into a mason jar or bucket. Some people use them for feeder snails for loaches, puffers and assassin breeding tanks and don't mind paying shipping to make their fishies happy. That way you aren't killing them and they are continuing the cycle of life. 

They shouldn't eat live and healthy plants (I've seen some do it but it's rare). They will clean algae and dead plant matter and pond snails I have read also eat planaria and hydra out of the water to keep the pests down, should you ever get them.

I have all kinds of snails in my tank. I got them from the first plant order, spent 2 months stressing out and trying to get them out of the tanks and finally let the snails win. I did a clean out of 2 of my tanks to get the brown colored ramshorns out so that I could introduce the blue and pink ones I eventually want to be able to offer to sell some of, but am still trying to make sure I get them all out.

If you ever put 2 assassins in a tank and then take them out, be sure to watch your tank for a few months (maybe 6) because they will lay eggs. Only 1 baby snail hatches at a time but they can lay multiple eggs a day and after they hatch and grow they may kill the pet snails you have introduced on purpose.

Mystery snails are fine in any tank setup that doesn't have a clown loach or assassin snails in it. They do fine alone or with multiple mates. 

I've fallen in love with ALL types of snails and now have 7 different types. They are super fun to watch. Even the big huge inch long brown ramshorn that is in one of my tanks.

An easy way to get the snails you don't want out of your tank is to put a piece of cucumber, lettuce, spinach, or carrot into the tank over night, blanch it slightly and then stick a salad fork or some kind of weight on it (a plant weight works great) and let it sit over night. It should be covered in snails when you wake up and just pull it out and put them wherever you like or dispose of them.


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

There are people who will buy them as there are species that eat pond snails, like loaches, puffers, ect
I tried to put some with the goldfish but they got eaten before they made it to the bottom. Although I am not sure how good it is for them, since they ate the shell as well...

I like snails...:-D


----------



## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Don't get me wrong, I like snails too.  I just don't like it when they take over. Apparently I'm overfeeding...but my pond snails do tend to eat the roots of my plants. I find them all over the floating wisteria I have and they will NOT leave it alone. They don't mess with my ludwigia though...which I thought was odd...but their inclination to not eat healthy plant matter is interesting...the wisteria looks good and grows...but I wonder if the roots are more tender (the ludwidigia has buried roots) and thus more appetizing to the snails? 

I can't bring myself to kill them either...but I do have assassins, and big thanks to Peachii about the assassins laying eggs! I had no idea about that.  I've got a tank with a ramshorn and two mysteries, and I was thinking to put them into some other tanks as well that *don't* currently have assassins, but did before...but I'll definitely hold off on that.  I feel bad enough killing the pond snails, it would be awful to "murder" a snail *I* introduced.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

Oh wow that sounds like an excellent idea to just let them breed then sell them off. i think ill put them in some sort of critter keeper and let them explode. Theyre actually eating my val and my wisteria. Im finding little holes and peices missing here and there. They sure do eat alot for being so tiny! Thanks for all the awesome advice.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

Wow Now i know what they mean when they say snail explosion. I came home tonight to find a million tiny little snails everywhere in one of my tanks. I grabbed all that i could see and put then in their own little critter keeper with some cucumber. 10 minutes later damn near every single one was attached to it! crazy little things


----------



## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Yup.  They also can self-breed as they are hermaphroditic. This only aids in their overpopulation...


----------



## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Blue Fish said:


> NOOO! If they're pond snails, get them out, now, before they take over!
> 
> I was like you...I though, oh, how cute, tiny little snails, I'll let them live in my tank...until I realized that the things are like gremlins and they propagate every ten seconds. I swear you start with one, and before you know it they've eaten an entire wisteria bunch and there are a thousand of them in there.


If you don't overfeed your fish they won't multiply. I have only two pond snails in my 10 gallon because I only feed my bettas exactly as many pellets as they eat. The two pond snails have been there for about 6 months without multiplying.

Also, pond snails will only eat your plants if the plants are already dying. There is a type of ramshorn snail that will eat live plants, but pond snails will only eat the parts of leaves that are dying. I see this on the oldest leaves on my plants that were already starting to turn brown. When the snails get at it, there are holes in the plant but only because they ate the dead stuff.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

I keep reading that Orange August but there are little holes in my perfectly green plants. I see where they have eaten the brown edges off some. Could they be ramshorns? I found a tiny what looked like an egg sack stuck to the wall of my tank... Like a little bag with black dots in it. I quickly plucked it out but does that indicate anything as to what they are? Ive had it in my head that they are pond snails. I only feed my fish two pellets a day twice a day and they eat them all.


----------



## MichelleA (Jun 25, 2013)

Two different kinds


----------



## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

That's a ramshorn and a pond snail so you have them both. Chances are they are eating the dead or dying areas off of your plants in the tank. They will leave circles and such when they clean on the plants if any areas are unhealthy. I've got them in all my tanks, heavily packed with plants and they don't bother the healthy plants at all but will munch down on all the debris, dead and dying areas off of them.


----------

