# I found a baby snail =D



## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

I am so excited, or should I be???

I found a little dot on my wall and I thought it was an air bubble. I tried to brush it off with a spoon and it would not move. So I scoop it out, checked it with my pen-repair 20x loupe, and it is a snail !!!

Yes :grin:.

I got some plants in mid-Jan and so now I get a little snail. Not sure what type as the forming shell is showing a very pale tan and the white body has grey dots. I put him in a cup and fed him with algae wafer crumbs. this is so fun....

Should I be worried there are more in the tank but just not on the AQ wall?


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

Depends on the type of snail & if you're ready for a population explosion!! Some people like snails & others don't. I like them in moderation so I'm very careful about what I allow in my tank.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

one snail is fine, 1 hundred isn't. If he's the only guy then I say keep him, i am currently raising 45+ pond snails who I hatched myself. I had an older snail too who I qted two weeks and is now living in the 10 gallon tank. Can't find him so I hope my mystery snail didn't eat him O.O

But it's a lot of fun raising snails. I look at my baby ponds every day and remember back to when they were just tiny eggs and realize I have been there for nearly every step of their tiny lives. I am certainly keeping a snail for each tank, Sherlock is in one tank and I have two others I picked out, the rest as finding new homes once they are large enough.


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## Aurie (Jun 22, 2012)

I had a pond snail explosion in one of my 10 gallons and I hated them at first, then I realised that yeah, they eat algae and some detritus so they're not all that bad. If my tank gets bad (no cleanings) they have a population explosion but to be honest, I haven't seen more than 10 at any given time since I kept better care of the tank so they can be an indicator of over feeding etc. If you see a lot of them, cut back on your food and do a gravel vac. They'll die off as a result. If you decide to squish them, remove them as their bodies can let off ammonia. I think my betta ate one cause he's been bloated for like 3 weeks and nothing has helped. I think he ate it shell and all  He's doing fine (pooping, nesting etc) but I never removed the shells.. just squished em. Serves me right. Now I occationally squish with a "club card" (no magnetic strip) and then gravel vac after on cleaning day (every weekend)


This is a pond snail btw


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## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

Aurie said:


> This is a pond snail btw


thanks for the photo, i think i might have a pond snail, bit too early to tell. hopefully i can take a picture with the loupe over it soon.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I have put my second pond snail into my tank and he is the second one to vanish. I am suspecting my mystery snail is eating them because they can pretty much just fit in his mouth.


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## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

LadyVictorian said:


> I have put my second pond snail into my tank and he is the second one to vanish. I am suspecting my mystery snail is eating them because they can pretty much just fit in his mouth.


ok, that might have explained why my snail has been growing leaps and bounds this past week, another 1/4". Yo looks like a teenager trying to grow into his new skin, bumping into things falling off leaves that he once was able to glide on. But he looks like a tank on the substrate, vacuuming off all those uneated food, plus all over the glass :-D.

OK, we'll see if I have a pond snail which I think is most likely as most suggested.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Personally, I like the common snails and in my soil based heavy planted tanks-they all have jobs of sorts....lol....Especially in the heavy planted tanks-the common snails can help provide ferts, eat some algae-especially on the plant leaves, eat the dead/dieing organic matter and excessive fish food. With that said, they can over populate and become a pain if they are not kept in check. They don't seem to cause any problems in my planted tanks when over populated-other than the "Look" especially when you have 20-50 crawling up the front wall....lol....

Since I have so many common snails-I have to trap and remove them on a regular basis to keep them in check. Just the other day-I bet I removed well over 100 common snails-pond, ramshorn and trumpet and I do this about every couple of weeks-but I also have lots of tanks. 

I did get a half dozen Assisan snails-but I haven't really seen much difference in the numbers of common snails in the 2 tanks I placed them in-but its only been about 3 months. I have always wanted to get Assissan snails due to how pretty they are and their common snail diet....lol....I didn't know Mystery snails would kill and eat other snails-I knew they would eat dead ones-but not hunt and kill them...interesting....

One day I still plan to try using common snail meat as my protein for the homemade fish food I make...lol....All my fish love the snail meat when I crush them on occasion and let the body fall-especially the fry...


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I didn't know they would eat them either but I guess calcium is calcium and tiny snails with shells are a perfect source of calcium and my cuddlebone is all gone so maybe it was just his way of saying he needs more cuddlebone. Tesla eats like a pig and I know he prefers meats over plants. I feed him brine shrimp and bloodworms every now and again and he will go for the shrimp over a chunk of zucchini. I think if I want another snail living with him I have to wait for it to be larger than the opening to his mouth so larger than a pea or it will end up being more Tesla food. He's a great snail though, got really large really fast o.o


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## Aurie (Jun 22, 2012)

As a side note:

I've been reading your posts Lady and every time you write "Tesla" I read it as "TESSSSLLAH!" like it says in Zen Pinball for the PS3.. There's a table named Tesla LOL

/sidenote


Aurie


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

I have quite a few pond snails, I keep them in my tropical community, as my loach likes to eat them. :lol:


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## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

ok, the baby is big enough to take a picture, about 1/4" long, so what do I have, a pond snail? I hesitate to put it in the tank and am thinking of rearing it in a container for a while, any thoughts?


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## Aurie (Jun 22, 2012)

looks like a pond snail to me. A little redder than the ones I have. Mine are more gold colored. Looks like the right shape though. Unless it's some exotic one that I've never heard of I'd say like 98% that it's a pond snail.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

It's pretty! My pond snail is solid black.


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## InfiniteGlory (Dec 17, 2012)

My betta has taken out atleast 8 snails, all were ramshorn and one was a pond snail. I kept seeing ramshorn shells on the bottom of my tank and they were all empty. Then when I added in my recent snails there was a small pond snail in the group and by the next morning his shell was empty on the bottom. I guess my betta has a taste for meat. I also hope he help with any potential population explosion.


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