Snail help 🐌

[mw2022]

Can anyone tell me what type of snail this is? Currently in the process of cycling my tank but I’m guessing these guys came in on my plants. Seem to have loads already and eggs! They are doing a great job of keeping the algae under control

Looking on track for fish next weekend, is there anything I can get that will eat some snails/eggs to keep numbers down?

 

[Colin_T]

Common pond snails. There are 2 types, the shell spirals one way for one species and the opposite way for the other species. Both breed prolifically and eat algae, plants, fish food, dead fish and fish eggs.

Squash it and remove any eggs you see or you will end up with hundreds of them.

 

[mw2022]

Common pond snails. There are 2 types, the shell spirals one way for one species and the opposite way for the other species. Both breed prolifically and eat algae, plants, fish food, dead fish and fish eggs.

Squash it and remove any eggs you see or you will end up with hundreds of them.

I feel awful squashing them is there anything that will eat them so I don’t have to feel so bad

 

[kiko]

pea puffers will get rid of them easy

 

[DocDoc]

I have the same problem, at first I picked them off and put them into a wee wildlife pond I have outside… but as time went on I became less sentimental and just chucked them outside… now my local Fish shop has Assassin snails on offer so I’m going for some of them…

 

[kiko]

unless you intend of filling up your tank with assassin snails...don't bother..
1 assassin snail will eat 2 or 3 dwarf ramshorn/week which look smaller than these days...in a 45gal like mine...I had 8 assassin snails and they didn't do much...
every week I was cleaning the water pump intake from snails stuck on it...washing the sponges/floss..
a single pair of pea puffers got rid of the assassin snails and the ramshorn...I still have snails which I let them live as I do want to keep the puffers and they're a food source for them...
but I don't have to clean the pump every week now...it's all a matter of balance

 

[DocDoc]

unless you intend of filling up your tank with assassin snails...don't bother..
1 assassin snail will eat 2 or 3 dwarf ramshorn/week which look smaller than these days...in a 45gal like mine...I had 8 assassin snails and they didn't do much...
every week I was cleaning the water pump intake from snails stuck on it...washing the sponges/floss..
a single pair of pea puffers got rid of the assassin snails and the ramshorn...I still have snails which I let them live as I do want to keep the puffers and they're a food source for them...
but I don't have to clean the pump every week now...it's all a matter of balance

Hmmm interesting! I don’t mind a few snail in there, you know, 10-15 or so as they do a job, so I was hoping just to maintain a balance rather than obliterate the existing snails. I know nothing about pea puffers so will go investigate!

 

[DocDoc]

Ahh… no use for me, it’s a community tank… back to the Assassins…

 

[kiko]

Ahh… no use for me, it’s a community tank… back to the Assassins…

so is mine...
Black Bar endlers, Neon tetras, Rainbow forktail, zebra plecos, otos, hillstream loaches, dwarf corys, then crystal black fire red and amano shrimp and the Boogie Men...the Pea Puffers!

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

 

[DocDoc]

so is mine...
Black Bar endlers, Neon tetras, Rainbow forktail, zebra plecos, otos, hillstream loaches, dwarf corys, then crystal black fire red and amano shrimp and the Boogie Men...the Pea Puffers!

What! Wow everything I read says no to any tank mates for them… because they’ll nip like mad… so yours are ok? And you just have 2 is that right?

 

[kiko]

that's correct...only 2 and they're a female+male
and yes...they will nip the neon tetras here and there and endler fry are game! as for forktail..they're usually in middle/top so they don't meet...
they don't bother the plecos even when they're side by side...otos I've seen them try but they're usually fast cory's the same...
baby shrimp are game
but basically my tank stock is around these numbers:
30ish endlers / 20ish neon tetras / 4 forktail / 4 zebra plecos / 6 otos / 8 corys / 2 hillstream loaches / 3 amano shrimp (1 died about 2 years ago) 1 fire red shrimp (I'm using this one as a test as they're smaller than caridina) and around 10-15 crystal black shrimp
breedingwise....endlers / neon tetras / crystal black...which the fry are all game for everyone in the tank not just the pea puffers
I like keeping a live food source for everyone as this is a community tank and specially the endlers carry the flag on that...
so regardless of keeping the puffers or not..most fry born in this tank will most likely get eaten..
that's how I notice when the neon tetras breed specially because they have this bright blue when they start to color and they're a lot smaller than the rest
as for the endlers..I usually put the female in a breeding box when her belly starts getting somewhat "squared" which means she's like 1 week away
then I leave the fry to grow for about 2 weeks and then put them in my tank...most of them will literally be food for someone as it is in nature xD
PS: also keep in mind these puffers grew in this tank from fry and didn't come aggressive or territorial as adults from a shop...
think of it as a dog and cat situation...
you don't get 2 adult pets and put them together it's a no no...but if they're small and grow together they'll behave different than if they were already adults
that's how I see it

 

[DocDoc]

that's correct...only 2 and they're a female+male
and yes...they will nip the neon tetras here and there and endler fry are game! as for forktail..they're usually in middle/top so they don't meet...
they don't bother the plecos even when they're side by side...otos I've seen them try but they're usually fast cory's the same...
baby shrimp are game
but basically my tank stock is around these numbers:
30ish endlers / 20ish neon tetras / 4 forktail / 4 zebra plecos / 6 otos / 8 corys / 2 hillstream loaches / 3 amano shrimp (1 died about 2 years ago) 1 fire red shrimp (I'm using this one as a test as they're smaller than caridina) and around 10-15 crystal black shrimp
breedingwise....endlers / neon tetras / crystal black...which the fry are all game for everyone in the tank not just the pea puffers
I like keeping a live food source for everyone as this is a community tank and specially the endlers carry the flag on that...
so regardless of keeping the puffers or not..most fry born in this tank will most likely get eaten..
that's how I notice when the neon tetras breed specially because they have this bright blue when they start to color and they're a lot smaller than the rest
as for the endlers..I usually put the female in a breeding box when her belly starts getting somewhat "squared" which means she's like 1 week away
then I leave the fry to grow for about 2 weeks and then put them in my tank...most of them will literally be food for someone as it is in nature xD
PS: also keep in mind these puffers grew in this tank from fry and didn't come aggressive or territorial as adults from a shop...
think of it as a dog and cat situation...
you don't get 2 adult pets and put them together it's a no no...but if they're small and grow together they'll behave different than if they were already adults
that's how I see it

Your tank sounds cool. I like the ‘natures way’ of keeping numbers in check!I’ve looked around, there are no puffers in any of my local-ish aquarists but I have seen them in one last year and they were just the cutest. I was warned off them for being a species tank fish only at the time… I think you’ve hit the nail on the head when you say you got them young so they adapted to the community. I’m going to keep them in mind thank you!!

 

[Beastije]

Again i want to just say that if you don't overfeed and do regular water changes and filter cleanups you will not end up with hundreds of snails. You will end up with few and they will help you clean up algae on glass
Tank without snails is suffering from brown algae and so, and the presence of hundreds of snails is a very clear indicator that you are doing something wrong