# Snails?



## vant (Jun 4, 2013)

I have 2 types of snails in my guppy tank. I think they are ramshorn and just normal pond snail. 
the tank has some java fern, sword plant, anubia, water lettuce and elodea (canadensis). are these snails good for them or should i get rid of them or put them in my pond. 
i actually didn't buy these and i just found them one day in my tank. guess some hitched a ride on some of the plants i got a couple months back. 
so i am a total newbie and this is the first time i have ever deal with snails. not sure what to do with them. i tried to look at a couple of sites but got mixed opinions. some say they destroy plants while others say they clean the tank of algae. so confused.  don't know what to do. 
i'm afraid they kill all my plants.


----------



## Hollyhawk (Mar 28, 2011)

Both ramshorn and pond snails are considered pest snails. I'm sure they will eat some vegitation and they add a bio load to the tank, like any living creature. I didn't like them and they breed fast, you could end up with hundreds.


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Agreed, I've got 20 up against the glass of my 10g right now. Remove any visible ones you can, or if you don't mind them getting out of control, leave them be.


----------



## vant (Jun 4, 2013)

got it. i'll try my best to get rid of them all. already found some of my java fern have snail eggs on their leaves.


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

The ramshorns breed prolifically, I've never been able to use anything but a copper based snail poison to get rid of them.

You can try your luck with assassin snails, they aren't pests, and you could sell\trade them after they've done their work anyways.


----------



## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

IME they are an eyesore and total pest more than they would ever be a cleap-up crew for algae or otherwise. They will both overpopulate in no time. You will not be able to get rid of these without some kind of help even if you hand pick what you see. Assassin snails might be a good start, but if you have a bunch already then it will take a bunch of assassins to make a noticeable difference. I was never able to beat them with just assassins myself. I bought this product called "Had-a-snail" but never used it. It clams that if used correctly, it was safe for fish and plants. But the downside to any product that kills snails, is they contain copper. Copper kills most snails and inverts and if used in a tank, that tank may never be able to have any snails or inverts again. To my understanding, the copper will always be in the tank after using the product. So you may want to get some assassins ASAP before the problem gets worse. Believe me it will in no time.


----------



## Durogity (Jun 10, 2013)

Diztrbd1 said:


> So you may want to get some ssassins ASAP before the problem gets worse. Believe me it will in no time.


This line was followed by the following lines in my head

Person #1 "So you may want to get some assassins ASAP before the problem gets worse. Believe me it will in no time."

Person #2 "assassins? I think we might being overreacting...."

Person #3 bursts into the conversation "WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!"

LMAO :bigsmile:


----------



## ckmullin (Aug 4, 2013)

I've had a few different kinds of snails. The only 2 times when 'they were out of control' was when I overfed tanks. Don't overfeed and they will reach an equilibrium point and will not breed like wrabbits. If you want some good snails that won't touch plants grab MTS as they benefit a planted tank quite well. In my experience, pond snails have not eaten my plants. I have I think it was last count 21 plant species which they ignore all.


----------



## vant (Jun 4, 2013)

from all the replies, i can see that the problem with ramshorn and pond snails is that they overpopulate pretty fast. but in my case, i have the ramshorn for around 3months already and all i can find is 1 single fully grown ramshorn snail. no babies. the pond snail though is breeding alot so i'm thinking maybe i'll try to get rid of the pond snail and keep the ramshorn. i tried looking at a few more sites and they don't seem too bad. This is what I found:

Disadvantages

1) They easily take over your tank since they breed like rabbits,
2) They produce lots of excrements,
3) Your tank won’t look nice if you keep more snails than fish within.

Advantages

1) Ramshorns are capable to eat small-sized fish (5-6 cm in length) in a day or two! 
2) Every ramshorn snail likes algae,
3) If your aeration doesn’t work properly, you’ll find your snails at top levels.


----------



## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

vant said:


> from all the replies, i can see that the problem with ramshorn and pond snails is that they overpopulate pretty fast. but in my case, i have the ramshorn for around 3months already and all i can find is 1 single fully grown ramshorn snail. no babies. the pond snail though is breeding alot so i'm thinking maybe i'll try to get rid of the pond snail and keep the ramshorn. i tried looking at a few more sites and they don't seem too bad. This is what I found:
> 
> Disadvantages
> 
> ...


This... In fact I find that the pond snails eat even more algae than ramshorns, but the thing is that pond snails breed at such a small size (and eat my plants, grrr) , and are much more prolific than ramshorns... Personally I love Ramshorns and keep them as a clean-up crew in every tank except the one with Assassins (I bought them because they're cool and I just like inverts in general, but they are great at eating any pond snails I find and toss in their tank, plus as a clean up crew for a tank with no other snails)

Also, I find that tanks that have snails in them are a lot healthier in general for some reason, and they also indicate when the water quality isn't good cause they try to escape by climbing out of the water.

For pond snails (limpets, little football shaped ones) I find it easiest to just smush them against the glass and let the fish eat them. For collecting snails, just put in a piece of lettuce overnight and in the morning they will all be stuck to the lettuce, and you can either throw them all in the trash, or else pick off the few Ramshorns with nice colours that you like, and throw away all the ones bigger than about pea size, and they shouldn't breed at that small size.

FYI Ramshorns are safe with plants IME, I have never known them to eat healthy plant tissue.

Bottom line, I would never, ever use copper in any of my tanks!! Go for the Assassins if anything. (I have about a million of them, so I can sell you some for a good price if you're interested)

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/fres...ls-red-gold-pink-brown-ramshorn-snails-53530/

But I personally would just keep a few Ramshorns for cleaning up, since they eat leftover food, dead leaves, and even fish poop. (Yes, I know it sounds insane, but it's true, seen it with my own eyes)

Of course they also poop themselves, but it's like... more digested. You know when you see fish poop that's the same colour as the food it ate? Snails eat that food-ish poop then their own poop looks like light brown dust or something and it's easy to filter out haha... sorry if that was TMI...

Here's an article that tells different types of snails and which will or won't eat plants. --> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/plantedtkssubwebindex/snailsags.htm


----------



## Hollyhawk (Mar 28, 2011)

I beat them with just assassins. Now my assassins are breeding and I'm starting to give the new ones away. No pest snails left! Yeah. It took about a half a year. I did scoop out the unsightly ones on the glass when I saw them, but really the assassins did the work. I think the key is you have to get enough assassins to do the job. Don't expect two or three to be able to keep up eating hundreds of snails.


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I wouldn't recommend copper either, it leaches into the silicon like John said, and you couldn't use it for any inverts safely every again.

Assassins are good looking, and they'll do the job if you get enough. I didn't have any luck with them breeding though.


----------



## Hollyhawk (Mar 28, 2011)

Ya I heard if you have clear coloured silicone, copper turns is green tinted forever as well. Wonder if that is true.


----------



## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Hollyhawk said:


> Ya I heard if you have clear coloured silicone, copper turns is green tinted forever as well. Wonder if that is true.


Absolutely true. Does a great job of tinting your hands too.

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


----------



## Hollyhawk (Mar 28, 2011)

Eeeeeew LOL


----------



## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

how big is your tank?


----------

