Anyone Know What Type Of Snail This Little Fella Is?

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Francesjane

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Hi...can anyone tell me what type of snail this is I found in my tank last night? I have looked at many pics but none that I think look similar.
 

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+1 for Tadpole snail, they commonly come in with live plants.  You can often see them on the live plants section in fish shops!
 
So my next question is....do they multiply quickly and massively or will I only have this single one...naturally I do not want loads, so if it were just him then he can stay....if it is a he!
 
Yes I am afraid so, they reproduce asexually (so only requires one) and also reproduce at a very early age. It is highly likely that you have lots of eggs and more will appear.  They are not too bad if you do not overfeed, you will always see them but they are quite good algae mops.
 
Pretty sure these wee guys are hermaphroditic and so carry both male and female bits n bobs which means they're prolific breeders. If you have 1 then it's quite likely you have a few more.
 
Just monitor their population. If you remove a few every week it will be controlled. If you see more than 10 snails
 
It's what is known here as a pond snail, a pest snail. Some people have a real problem getting rid of them, maybe it's because of over feeding. They may also munch on your plants if you have any.
 
To see if you have more of them you could put a piece of lettuce in the tank over night and not turning the light on have a look in the morning if there are any sitting on it. Most people will remove them that way too, just by then taking the leaf of lettuce with the pond snails out of the tank.
 
Looks like one of the Physa spp. which grow to around 5-10 mm long and at least for me, do not breed out of control. Unlike the various larger pond snails, the Physa snails which are commonly found in aquaria do not eat plants.
 
I hear everyone say throw them away..but they are living things? Where do you throw them? I can't just do that easily because i picture putting them in the rubbish bin but I know they are still alive and probably suffering wherever they have been put......can I not give them to a friend with a pond???
 
Please do not put them in a pond, as they are potentially not native it can cause ecological problems + they can potentially spread to another watercourse etc....  I personally add Nerite snails to my tanks (and some amano shrimp) that both eat algae and do not leave much food for the other snails, this seems to naturally keep the population down. As long as you dont mind a small amount of them living in your tank.  Otherwise, IMO, the most sustainable way to kill them is to crush them and feed them to your fish.  Hope this helps!
 
I won't add them to the pond...but...can't crush them either...I am way too sensitive to do that...I will just keep vigilant about not overfeeding and hopefully they won't multiply too much...if not...a snail tank it is lol

Thanks everyone for your help
 
The other option, then, is an assassin snail, a snail-eating snail available from many LFS. If you can't kill them, let another animal do it for you.
 
I bought a live plant yesterday at my LFS and it had one of these little guys attached to it.  Apparently they do multiply quite quickly and can become a problem. I thought he was cute though so I couldn't bring myself to get rid of him. I will keep an eye on my tank and see how things go. Good luck with your snail!
 
I started with one and I very quickly got more. They are easy to spot as they have to go up to the surface to take in air every now and then. Just keep an eye out for their eggs which are little white dots in jelly on your plants/filter/glass/anywhere and remove them, plus don't over feed and should be ok. I quite like them, even though they do munch my crypts the cheeky molluscs.
 

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