# What is this snail and is it OK?



## BlueSplendid (Apr 12, 2014)

So I just arrived home for spring break from college, and as I was filling up my aquarium with water, lo and behold this bugger appears out of nowhere! Thank goodness I have my real camera because it's only the size of a popcorn kernel. *I'd love to know what type of snail it is, and whether it's a safe type to have with my betta.*

The picture was taken in my current 3 gallon, with has only a marimo moss ball I've had since last summer. The thing the snail is on is a large root decoration, fake. However, that decoration used to be in a 10 gallon that for a short time had microsword I ordered from bamaplants.com — that's the only way I can imagine the snail got there. Then, somehow, the snail hid out in the decoration (which has air hose holes) for like a month before being forced out into the open today. Currently I have no substrate but this weekend will be adding sand and some plants besides the marimo. So I'm not opposed to snails if it's safe!

Thank you for any help!!


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## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

There's no picture?


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

Yeah, no picture. Go to "Go Advanced", click on the paperclip, then after browsing to your file be sure to click "upload".

Depending on the snail though, it's most likely a bladder snail or a ramshorn snail. Neither will hurt your betta - but both have the potential for a population explosion in your tank! They should help clean up dying plant matter though.

Keep your tank maintained and don't overfeed. If they get too plentiful, you'll have to trap and remove them.


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## BlueSplendid (Apr 12, 2014)

I do have a picture uploaded, I have no idea why others can't see it... I'll just post it here again and see if it works this time.


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## BlueSplendid (Apr 12, 2014)

Greenapp1es said:


> Depending on the snail though, it's most likely a bladder snail or a ramshorn snail. Neither will hurt your betta - but both have the potential for a population explosion in your tank! They should help clean up dying plant matter though.


Thank for you leaving suggestions even though you couldn't see the picture! I looked up bladder snail, it must be that.


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## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

BlueSplendid said:


> Thank for you leaving suggestions even though you couldn't see the picture! I looked up bladder snail, it must be that.


I didn't want to guess in case it was a dangerous snail (unlikely) 
And the picture the 2nd time works 



http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-experts/wiegert/snail-wars.aspx said:


> The diet of snails more or less crosses the board of available foods, and for convenience, they can be divided into four major feeding groups, though few are exclusively within one group. These four groups are the primary scavengers (i.e., those that eat detritus, dead organisms, etc.), the plant-eating snails, the grazing snails, and the carnivorous snails.


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## Cranly (Apr 14, 2014)

Yep - looks like a bladder snail. 

They can reproduce like crazy, but are otherwise pretty harmless.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Cranly said:


> Yep - looks like a bladder snail.
> 
> They can reproduce like crazy, but are otherwise pretty harmless.


Yep, they also poop like crazy. Learned that the hard way.


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## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

Pond snails are fine. I have a few of them. They do great at eating the dying leaves and my betta does great at population control. Ummm. Tasty! So I don't have a problem with population. And they do poop alot, but that shouldn't be a problem with proper water management. The larger ones, my betta just plays with them by pushing them off of the glass and don't let him catch them gliding across the top.


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

I know that betta will eat small snails, but it still baffles me on how exactly that works. Seems like an *awful* lot of roughage!


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## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

Rubbie just sees one as he is pertroling along and stops, and just gobbles them up. I swear he enjoys it. He has figured out that they like to hide on the substrate and will go by picking them off one by one. I've even caught him pushing the substrate around looking for them. He's like a little shark


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I crushed and fed some baby bladder snails to my guys last night. These snails have rather soft shells and I watched my bettas crunch them up. Seeing as bettas are insectivores I'm sure their stomachs are good at dissolving animal proteins.


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## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

Should be some calcium for them as well


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## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

Lol


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## shooter (Dec 25, 2014)

I *was* picking out around a half dozen tiny snails out of my new tank daily that hitched a ride in on my plants. Until Crush moved in. No more tiny snails, he gobbled them all up. His nerite is just fine though.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Lol I'm not lucky enough to have a betta that eats snails in the tank where I'm having this bladder snail population explosion. No.. I taught him not to bother my ramhorns early on. Ramhorns don't seem to have quite so many babies nor poop so much.


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## Siobhan (Nov 11, 2013)

Based on the mortality rate in the community tank (mollies), they don't eat the shell. They eat the poor snail and leave the shell. As fast as the ramshorns proliferate, they can't keep up with the Horde. However, the snails in Opie the betta's tank are entirely safe from becoming lunch. He has no interest in eating them no matter what their size. I think it depends on your betta. Opie is a peaceful soul and so is my other betta, Freckles, who likes to watch the ghost shrimp run from him but never harms them in any way. He just pokes them with his nose to make them move, and he doesn't even follow them.


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## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

a few of my bettas make lunch out of only the teeniest of the snails.....probably only a few days old if that. The larger ones they leave along. Betta popcorn.......


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## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

Yeah. That's what mine do. They eat the tiny babies and I have seen the shells laying on the bottom. But all but Brady, leaves the bigger ones alone. (Except for Rubbie pushing them around, and generally bullying them)


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I moved my betta Gaston into my 5g with the bladder snail infestation... in one night he devoured them all .-. today he had a bunch of shell filled poops. So some do eat them whole.


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## Vireo (Mar 5, 2015)

I have a bladder snail that arrived on my anubias.. I had NO idea bettas eat them. I'll keep him then... I hadn't seen him for over a week and thought he died until he showed up today, I was going to send him to snail heaver..

I was scared when I saw him cause I used to breed fancy guppies, and my tank was over-run with snails and egg sacs... Cleaning egg sacs is the worst.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Bladders poop and breed a LOT. Some bettas don't touch them, hence how I had an infestation in this tank. The egg sacks are clear and hard to see underwater. Above water it's like a clear ball of jelly that is usually attached to the plants.


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## Vireo (Mar 5, 2015)

Tress said:


> Bladders poop and breed a LOT. Some bettas don't touch them, hence how I had an infestation in this tank. The egg sacks are clear and hard to see underwater. Above water it's like a clear ball of jelly that is usually attached to the plants.


Urg... I'm removing him when I find him then. >.> Thanks...


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Vireo said:


> Urg... I'm removing him when I find him then. >.> Thanks...


keep an eye out for his children xD


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## Vireo (Mar 5, 2015)

Tress said:


> keep an eye out for his children xD


I can't even find him now!! URG!! :evil: Oh gawd!! No babies please!! lol

Seriously, it was a nightmare in my guppy tank. lol My aunt set it all up for me as a kid.. 5 gal. Totally over populated with fish, fry, snails... It's amazing that anything survived.


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