snails

[cod]

I have a large number of snails in my tank. they have increased dramatically in the last month. On the plus side my tank glass has never been so clean. I usually get algae growth on the front glass and now it stays clean. Reading other post about snail I have read that they are a great cleaning crew. I would like to live and let live. Are there any negative aspects of letting the snails multiply. My discus seem unconcerned and should I be .
Cod

[Ralph]

I've got snails in my tank and I like them. But I'm probably in the minority on this one.
The main concerns that I've heard are possible importing of pathogens (if the snails are in your tank already, don't worry), that they eat plants (mine haven't touched the swords yet), and they are unsightly.
They do make a good cleanup crew though. They eat several kinds of algae and they love beefheart (that the discus doesn't get).
The discus eat the younger ones occasionally and have kept the numbers down in my discus tanks. But there are some tricks you can use to keep the snail population down yourself.

[Debbie]

I keep snails in my tanks too and I love them! tI have the Malasian trumpet snails and they don't eat the plants, they burrow in the substrate which eliminates anerobic pockets, and they eat detritus. What more can you ask for. On the down side they can multiply quickly. When that happens I place some flake food under a small glass, the snails can get under and the fish can't. In an hour there will be a whole bunch of snails that you can remove by hand.

[arpanlib]

never kept anything else with discus, not even plants, so cannot comment on such aspects.

but in my only planted tanks, the moment i get the snail boom, i drop in some loaches and they will cleanup the tank in a day. the next day you will not see even a single snail. the loaches like snails a lot and the snails make a good feast for the loaches.

but from the above posts, i think that i have to maintain a small amount of the snail colony as the are said to be the cleaning crew. but will the snails harm my plants ??? i dont know what type of snails they are as i have never paid attention to these creatures. a link where i can find out what snail i have would be great.

arpanlib

[ChloroPhil]

I've got Ramshorn, MTS, and normal snails in all my tanks (I transplant a lot) and I love them all. The regular snails I'm not as fond of and take the opportunity to crush them whenever I feel like it. They're a great treat for the fish. The MTS I can't get enough of, especially using frozen food, and the Ramshorn I just think are cute.

When the time comes for me to get rid of a lot I'll invest in a small group of botia loaches and that will be that. :)

[Debbie]

I like the ramshorn, but do they eat plants?

[ChloroPhil]

I've had no problems with any of my snails eating plants..and I've got some very delicate fine leaved species.

[Ralph]

Most snails love to eat the dead leaves though which is another plus for having snails.

[ronrca]

Interesting story about my tank! I had lots of snails at one time. Now, the snails are disappearing and Im not sure why. Im suspecting the discus eating them as I have seen snail shells in the feces of the biggest discus. The snails are just small so I guess he eats them. Oh well!

[Debbie]

One more question about the ramshorn, do they multiply quickly? If not I will try a couple. I can always remove them if they start eating plants.

[giroux68]

where does one get these good snails? I have only gotten a few here and there on new plants. I have heard of the ones that burrow into the substrait and how much good they do. Anyone know a good source?

[thebaglady]

I sell a lot of ramshorn snails here in Minnesota at our local aquarium society auctions held every three to four months.

Ramshorn snails are a good clean-up crew, especially for fry tanks where you're feeding heavily with BBS, but the fry don't always eat everything. They don't multiply in huge numbers like "pond snails" and their eggs are large and easily visible. If you want to remove them, you do.


Also killie people swear that snail feces are easier to remove and less toxic to the killie fry housed in small containers (like shoe boxes) than decaying BBS.

Once you have some good snails, you want to treat them like fish....I feed mine zucchini etc...I even have a golden morph of Ramshorn going right now. They breed true!!!

I also have one tank with the malaysian Livebearing trumpet snails (the ones that burrow in the substrate) Old timers just love these snails. Other people despise them as they spread. I don't think that's true as I have thirty-five tanks and I've had them in just this one tank for many years. They usually come out at night. I see their discarded shells and wonder about calcium in this tank, but it doesn't really matter....the tank houses rainbowfish and these prefer hard water.

Can you tell I'm new to the forum....I need to make these messages SHORTER ;D Jen K (aka thebaglady)