Snails By Jingo!

[Fastblur]

I seem to have acquired some unwelcome guests in my tank, at least three small snails have appeared on the aquarium glass this morning. I guess the eggs were on some plants purchased about a month ago. What do they, well do? Should I be particularly bothered?

 

[catxx]

they'll be pond snails, or ramshorns snails, most likely
they can breed like rabbits, so pull out the ones you see
they may take a nibble on plants, but my ramshorns are more interested in algae.

 

[Fastblur]

So I should be offing the little blighters on sight?
I've just had a better scan round the tank, there's at least half a dozen, I don't know how I haven't noticed them, there at least the size of erm, the blunt end of a pencil.

 

[catxx]

if you don't want a snail invasion, go for it!
i was too much of a passifist (sp?) with my ramshorns and have over 50 now! (not in my tank though, i pulled them out)

do a gravel vac and that gets some out of the gravel, they like to bury themselves.

 

[Fastblur]

Alrighty then, is there anything to stop them coming back? Ought I to keep one?
I imagine there are still larva/eggs in the water.

 

[catxx]

you can keep one in something that isn't your tank just to watch it grow up, i like my little ramshorns really, they're very active little snails, always on the move. i have them in a 3L acrylic box, and change their water every couple of days. they like to eat plec flakes and cucumber.

the only way to stop them coming back is to pull out or kill the ones you see on sight, once they grow big enough they'll lay their own eggs and you end up with hundreds.

chemical treatments to get rid of snails aren't really advised.

 

[Fastblur]

Let the snail smiting begin!

I was thinking of collecting them in a jamjar and erm, treating them like escargot, i.e. boiling water.
Is there a more humane way to do this?

At roughly what size do the little blighters (eight now!) start producing eggs?

 

[vancouver]

I'm a fan of snails.. they will help to clean algae, and some will also eat excess food. Some say they will eat live plants, but I've only noticed mine eating the dead parts of live plants (the brown parts of leaves)

So I'd keep em, but if you don't like snails, you can buy chemicals that will kill them, or just squish em when you see them on the glass.

 

[Fastblur]

To be honest I'd rather not kill anything but I want to keep fish rather than snails.

Are these things A-sexual? If they're not I might keep one.