Snails From The Outside.....

[Behold]

Ok bit the real outside!!! Some how i have managed to transport 3-4 snails in to my tank. (Plants maybe)

Should i remove them or can they be of some use?

Pro's/ Cons?

 

[Matty P]

Snails can be introduced into the tank through usually plants, gravel, bogwood, rocks. What shape are the snails' shells?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Some snails are more useful then others and pretty much all of them can multiple pretty quickly.

It is a personal choice really. I have a lot of snails in my planted tank (about 5 different types, none of them introduced on purpose ). They dont really do a lot of harm though (a slight bit of nibbling on a couple of plants but nothing major). They do a great job of cleaning up left over food, dying plant leaves and algae so I'm happy to live with them.

 

[Matty P]

The Malaysian Trumpet Snail (the one with the cone shaped shell) is good for aquariums with a sandy substrate because the snail digs down into it and turns it.

 

[Behold]

The Malaysian Trumpet Snail (the one with the cone shaped shell) is good for aquariums with a sandy substrate because the snail digs down into it and turns it.

Sounds about the right type. they do disapear alot and look coned. ill try for a pic but there very small.....

 

[Behold]

Ok here is all i can get of him he is soooooo small

Ta

 

[Matty P]

The snail in the first pic is a pond snail. Here is a good link for aquarium snails.

 

[afishdude]

pond snails.

 

[Behold]

The snail in the first pic is a pond snail. Here is a good link for aquarium snails.

Ta for that link

They seem to be Bladder/Tadpole/Pouch Snails - Family Physidae

Also i believe there laying eggs already!! i have seen the clear pouch stuff talked about in that article.

Sould i try to remove them or are they good to stay???

 

[afishdude]

its too late now. i no people that started with two snails and now have literly hundreds. as soon as they start laying eggs its almost impossable to get rid of them.

they are probably pond snails, as when they are young they are clear. they will develope a dark black or brown shell at around 2 months of age.

 

[Behold]

its too late now. i no people that started with two snails and now have literly hundreds. as soon as they start laying eggs its almost impossable to get rid of them.

they are probably pond snails, as when they are young they are clear. they will develope a dark black or brown shell at around 2 months of age.

Thanks for that!!! should i try to remove them to keep them under control? They are a dark shell and very defined feelers which is why I identified them as Pouch snails but as i have read this is still a type of pond snail.

Will Khuli Loaches feed on them???

If so im sorted!!!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

yeah khuli loaches will make short work of them

 

[stang1]

Khuli Loaches will only eat very small snails and aren't the best loach for getting rid of snails I'm afraid.
Have a look at Loaches from the Botia family as they are more efficient at keeping the snail population down.
Have a read of this link to get a better idea:
Loaches

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Really? When I had Khuli loaches they seemed to be just as effective as clown loaches in eating snails. They where pretty big though and I honestly cant remeber the snails being very big so maybe that explains it.

 

[stang1]

That could be why Barney. Although they do eat snails, they just don't seem to keep on top of them like the other Botia species.