# Snail ID?



## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

A few days ago I spotted some snails in my fish-less planted tank. I figure they came in on some java fern as eggs because I checked it out before adding it and didn't see any snails and didn't find them till 11 days later. So far I've counted 3, though I am sure there are more or will be soon. I think they are ramshorns, but I am new to snail species (always had them as a kid but never paid much attention).










Depending what they are I might need some tips for ridding them. So far they've been extremely helpful in cleaning all the algae and junk in the tank and I'd seen no damage to the plants after they have been on them. So long as they will not harm my plants, I'll happily put up with them. If they have a boom, they'll be spread around my other tanks or sold to my LPS (if they'll take them). 

Anyways, what are they? If you need more pictures I can try and grab one out (they've been hiding on me and since they are small it's hard to find them if I drop them).


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Looks like baby Ramshorns!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Yay! Glad I'm not totally helpless at IDing things xD

I know they can multiply fast, but is there anything else I should know about them? Like what do they actually eat?

Also I had read that aq salt helped stunt algae growth and since I was having a boom I had added some in and reduced lighting time. A few days later I found the snails. Have I caused them any damage? I only put in about 10g's worth since I was trying to account for the displacement of the soil, plants and driftwood in the 15g. It actually did help with the algae.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Actually Ramshorns do but I believe they still need to be of certain age. And if you don't overfeed the tank, they really don't become a problem unless you just don't like snails. They eat most anything, veggie wafers, algae wafers occasionally, most algaes, and fresh veggies.

How much salt did you put in? Like ten teaspoons or two teaspoons? Probably didn't hurt them much either way.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Ah I figured, I'll have to go look up more about them.

I dosed at 1tsp/g, so 10. I was just worried cause I started only seeing one for a while but just seen another so I guess they are fine. Doing a large wc cause I'm rescaping and trying to get the bubbles out of the soil. Got lazy for a while with poking and it's sure biting me in the butt now. lol

Thanks for the help


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Wait... I just read something that says they eat you plants, is this true? If it is I'll probably remove them and give them their own jar to enjoy. Do I need to heat the jar?


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

This is my first time hearing of salt being used to combat algae. Perhaps it's true, I don't know. I thought salt and plants don't go well together.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=425050
"I have lots of live plants in all my aquariums. I have not seen any difference with any of them at the 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon level. The only plant matter to suffer has been algae which grows way slower. Going well over this dosage will cause issues with some plants."

Oops, I did mean the 1tbsp/5g. Got it mixed up with the treatment dose when replying, but I did follow the 1tbsp/5g when I dosed but only put in 10g's worth to see if it helped.


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

It wasn't my intent to argue for one side or another. I don't know a thing about this topic.

I did a quick skim through that thread. What I got from that, is that in his experience, a mild concentration of salt is a good disease preventative. Although his plants continued to grow, we should not conclude that it has algae-fighting capabilities.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I know you werent, I was just backing up what I had said. 

Personally I found that the algae started to die off and I had a growth boom in my plants. They all grew quite a bit and I'm rescaping a bit to try and rebalance things. Plus I was trying to squish out more of the freaking methane bubbles... next tanks I'm sticking to sand with root tabs/ferts.


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm looking at your photos and don't see enough algae for you to have to worry. What kind of algae do you have anyway?

Anyways, to get back on topic, snails are inevitable. I even go the extra mile to buy tissue cultured plants and pay extra attention before introducing foreign plants, and still I have snails. Once you have it, there is absolutely no way of eradicating them. I've gone as far as throwing my sponges into the clothes dryer to kill them without any success.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I'm not totally up on all the types of algae, but my driftwood has been collecting a ton of algae because it right under one of the lights. It had green algae on it, and hair algae? the long wispy green stuff. lol. Even with reduced lighting times it was still growing, and the javas were suffering so I said screw it, and tried the salt. Not saying it's amazing, just that it gave me and my plants a leg up. Or root up.

Still ended up moving the javas to my 5g, they were growing in the 15g (new leaves) but the algae was killing the bigger leaves. Can't say if they are doing better in the 5g since I just moved them last night.

Anyways, sucks that you've been fighting them for a while with no luck. 

I'll be removing any I find and giving them their own jar for now. I find snails amusing. I like snails and have always felt that they are just a part of the ecosystem of a tank. But I like my plants more than the snails so if these guys are gonna nibble them, they aren't going to be welcome.


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## ellekay (Nov 11, 2014)

I had snails growing up too. Started with 12 (a birthday gift from a friend's sister) and ended up with multiple hundreds by the time the fish died and we tore the tank down. I just remember them reproducing like mad! I want a snail or two for our tank now, but will be sticking with Nertite snails, as they don't reproduce in freshwater. 

I love baby snails though! They're so cute!


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Ramshorns don't usually eat live plants. They prefer dead plant matter. I have a total infestation of them in one of my tanks (Phoenix is a very sloppy eater) and the plants are all fine in there.


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## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

For nuisance snails assassin snails are very effective.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

My lps doesn't want to buy any, so I am going to keep them in their own jar. Currently I have a chunk of veggie in the 15g to check for any others. I'd love to get my hands on a Nerite but all they sell around here is Apples, Mysteries and Assassins.


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## Cacique (Jul 12, 2014)

Are those snails tiny? I have many tiny ones like that in my betta tank and I don't think they're ramshorns. I have ramshorns in my shrimp tank and they're much bigger and hold their shells up rather than keeping them flat.

Anyways, I wanted to add that they will most likely leave your plants alone unless they're dying. I have a few plants in my shrimp tank and I've only seen them eating on the parts of the plants that are dying off. The only thing they ate completely was some algae I had.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I've been considering adding them back in, but I'm not sure if I want to deal with snails. Though if I get other plants and stuff I'd likely end up with them anyways (or others like them).


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## Cacique (Jul 12, 2014)

I think there are some dips you can use on plants to kill any snails/eggs that might be on the plants, and I've read of some people that just give them a good wash in old tank water.

I have an enormous amount of pond snails in my shrimp tank from all the plants and they kept breeding. I've been thinking of trying to find other people that want some, but I might end up moving them to some of my other tanks to help clean them up. My shrimp tank is the cleanest of all my tanks (Axolotl, betta and goldfish are the others) and I do the least maintenance to it.


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