Do rams horn snails and trumpet snails escape?

[snailaquarium]

Hi

Thanks for the response before re plant cleaning, I am curious about the use of the rams horn and Malaysian trumpet snails as a clean up crew in an aquarium with shrimp. Do you think these would escape? I have bottle aquariums where the snails have rarely ever gone above the water level. Do you think its best to put a cover over the top of the aquarium?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Byron]

While snails certainly could crawl out, I don't know why they would unless the water was toxic and they were trying to escape. My tanks are all covered, but the openings for heaters, filters, etc are more than sufficient for these snails to crawl through, and I have dozens if not hundreds of the snails. I see them above the water line now and then, but I have never found one outside the tank.

On the topic of tank covers, this is a good idea regardless. Dust and other stuff can settle on the water and inhibit the gas exchange; water will evaporate into the room which is not good for the wall construction. Heat will escape from the water more easily if uncovered, though this is an issue more for colder weather than warmer. Fish like anabantids that breathe air should have the tank covered so the air remains warmer; not doing this can cause issues for fry during the development of the labyrinth organ.

 

[snailaquarium]

While snails certainly could crawl out, I don't know why they would unless the water was toxic and they were trying to escape. My tanks are all covered, but the openings for heaters, filters, etc are more than sufficient for these snails to crawl through, and I have dozens if not hundreds of the snails. I see them above the water line now and then, but I have never found one outside the tank.

On the topic of tank covers, this is a good idea regardless. Dust and other stuff can settle on the water and inhibit the gas exchange; water will evaporate into the room which is not good for the wall construction. Heat will escape from the water more easily if uncovered, though this is an issue more for colder weather than warmer. Fish like anabantids that breathe air should have the tank covered so the air remains warmer; not doing this can cause issues for fry during the development of the labyrinth organ.

How do your creatures get enough oxygen then, purely through plants??

I thought plants would be enough to oxygen the water but would 2 shrimp get enough from five strands and growing elodea Densa?

 

[Byron]

How do your creatures get enough oxygen then, purely through plants??

I thought plants would be enough to oxygen the water but would 2 shrimp get enough from five strands and growing elodea Densa?

Tank covers are not sealed so there is plenty of air exchange. And I create some surface disturbance with the filter return, just a bit of a ripple, to encourage a good exchange of oxygen/CO2. This is not detrimental to the plants either.

While plants do release oxygen through photosynthesis, I would not rely on this alone, and even so this only occurs during photosynthesis. The light has to be strong enough to drive photosynthesis, and all other required nutrients must be available, or photosynthesis will slow and even stop, as it does during darkness. That is when the oxygen level can become depleted, depending upon the plant and fish loads.

Unless the tank cover is so tight it almost seals, oxygen from the air will still enter the water especially with a bit of surface disturbance.