Are Snails Okay In A Planted Tank?

[wodesorel]

Planning out the new 65G, and it will be heavily planted. The problem is that I have pest snails in all my other fish tanks and I KNOW they'll eventually make their way to the new one. (It won't be helping that I'll be moving over fish from one of the infested tanks.) I have kuhli loaches, so I don't want to use any chemical snail cures, and therefore I'm stuck with them. These things are so prolific that I tore apart my largest tank last year and boiled everything - sand, wood, fake plants - and the snails were back in a month's time.

If they do manage to get into the new and soon to be planted tank, is all lost? Or are a few snails a good thing to have around? There are MTS, Spike Tailed Trumpets, and Ramshorns. I don't mind them and I think they're cute, but I also don't want them decimating a low-tech tank.

 

[RadaR]

Those snails are absolutely fine.

 

[TheRedDarren]

If they really bother you, you can get loaches to clean them out, I think the botia loaches are snail eaters. At least when my 180l planted was infested, I bought 6 botia striata and they cleared them out in a few days. Never had a single snail after that

 

[Teephphah]

I hate myself for saying this, but it's better that you hear it from me before someone who actually cares about this incredibly, monumentally important issue sees this and starts jump down your throat . . .

Anyway, a while back, I was researching ways to deal with my own snail issues and I was considering the use of loaches. The thing you're going to hear from all the people who are probably more concerned about fish than people is this (Note: The following should be read in the most condescending voice you can muster): "snails are beneficial to your tank's ecology. If you have too many snails, that just means you're feeding your fish too much food. You should never purchase a loach only for snail control purposes because they won't eat them all and some loaches get very large and YOU HAVE A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TO LOVE AND CARE FOR THAT FISH AS IF IT WAS ONE OF YOUR OWN CHILDREN."

That being said, the species you've mentioned all appear to be mostly harmless to your plants, so you probably don't have too much to worry about.

Besides, there's always the whole Assassin Snail approach. I've never had any emotionally damaged mollusk-lovers chide me about my obligations to care and nurture an assassin snail. As an added bonus, assassin snails do pretty good work. My MTS population is all but gone. Now all I've got left are these teeny, tiny little buggers that the assassin snail would have to eat whole (not the usual sticking its mouth into the other guy's shell and going to town).

 

[wodesorel]

I have kuhlis that are going in there, so as much as I'd love another species like dojos or weathers I won't be doing it. I'm looking to expand the kuhli colony a whole bunch. I started seriously fish-keeping for those kuhlis seven years ago, and I'm just thankful I finally have the chance to upgrade them and get them new friends! As long as there are bettas in the tank (especially the females) the snails never get too far out of hand, but I was worried about them eating the plants before they got ate themselves.

Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I just had this fear of bringing home all these beautiful new plants and waking up the next morning to a chewed-up salad fest. I got a free 10 gallon set-up a few days ago and moved one of my bettas into it, and as soon as I can track down some floramax it'll be planted up so I can get a feel for a low-tech tank without getting in over my head.