What are these snails? Should I remove them?

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

crimsonpython24

New Member
Joined
May 19, 2021
Messages
38
Reaction score
2
Location
Taiwan
I recently added some new plants from my local aquarium but some snails seem to come with them.

Sorry that I couldn't provide a better photo, but they are fairly small -- just around half a centimeter (around 1/5 of an inch)
 
Looks like the good old pond snail, I actually always ask for them because my clown loaches are eating them as snacks if they are lucky to spot them in plants. I was told that they can breed like crazy so I would maybe monitor for now and start removing if you end up seeing a lot of them? We all have different feelings towards snails :)
 
Looks like a bladder snail. I had one hitchhike in on a plant and my daughter now has it a pot as her pet. As Dephea said, they can breed like rabbits. Personally, I'd remove it now rather than wait 'til it's too late.
 
I had great luck a few years ago and let one get fairly large. It was in a betta tank so I could control feeding and debris. It lived forever.
Some are actually quite pretty.

If you over feed, or just breathe 😆, you will have a bunch.
Gobs.

I am constantly removing their slimy little snail blobs filled with tiny snail eggs. That's a good way to get rid of a bunch at once, but it's a battle.

Niblet does his part !

20201022_223026.jpg
 
They breed like mad - when I can’t cope with the numbers I put microwaved lettuce in the tank overnight and take 100s out!
I did think my Betta might eat the tiny ones but he shows no interest in them 🤷‍♀️
 
I had great luck a few years ago and let one get fairly large. It was in a betta tank so I could control feeding and debris. It lived forever.
Some are actually quite pretty.

If you over feed, or just breathe 😆, you will have a bunch.
Gobs.

I am constantly removing their slimy little snail blobs filled with tiny snail eggs. That's a good way to get rid of a bunch at once, but it's a battle.

Niblet does his part !

View attachment 138609
Oh gosh is that a tiny pea puffer? I want to get some but waiting for a spare tank first as I don't want to mix them with anything they shouldn't be with :D
 
Some aquarists like having these harmless snails, some do not. The fact is, they are beneficial, and well worth having. They eat organics, which means all the fish excrement, plus any dead organic matter, and they eat algae from surfaces like plant leaves (not sufficiently to deal with problem algae, but they do help to control algae in a healthy biological system). This breaks the organics down faster so the various bacteria in the substrate can better deal with them. And the snails can get into every nook and cranny, well worth it.

As for breeding, once present they will reproduce rapidly according to their food availability. So the more snails you see, the more organics there are in the tank. Stock less, feed the fish only what they actually require [every manufacturer of fish food recommends feeding way more than mature healthy fish require], and the snail population will adjust accordingly.
 
Another interesting thing about these snails is it doesn’t take 2 to reproduce. One snail can reproduce on its own. I also had one for a very long time and it got quite big. Then one day boom lots of baby snails.
 
Oh gosh is that a tiny pea puffer? I want to get some but waiting for a spare tank first as I don't want to mix them with anything they shouldn't be with :D
Yes, that is Sir Niblit the Mighty Hunter.
Now he is a country gentleman overseeing his estate!

20200902_160539.jpg
 
I am absolutely in love now. I guess it's time to get that extra tank, ey
I know!
He's so tiny in that image...
I got him during the Great Snail Invasion of 2019.
I wish I had planned for a bigger tank so he could have friends. But...
🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌
 

Most reactions

trending

Members online

Back
Top