Snail hitchiker

[Grymatta]

So I recently brought a batch of plants online and put it in my tank. A few days later I noticed a small snail on my heater. I attempted to grab it but missed and the snail fell to the bottom of the substrate where I couldnt find it anymore.

Is this snail a cause for concern? You need more than one snail to reproduce right? Or maybe I can introduce some snail predators into the tank? anyone know any good fish/creatures that control snail populations?

thanks

 

[2e0raf]

I wouldent worry about the snail in the tank, thay wont do any harm infact so i have been told thay actualy help the ecosystem in your tank, although saying that thay can reproduch on their own so you may get over run, you can get snail eating fish to keep you snail population in check.

 

[Balloon Fish]

the most popular snail eating fish would probably be loaches and just dont feed so much if you dont want snails in your tank and keep the ground clean

 

[Grymatta]

thanks. I actually found the offending snail..he was in my filter media. I promptly kicked him out of the tank

I'm curious..I see my LFS selling lots of cool looking snails. I read that snails are supposed to eat debris and dead plant matter. But do they eat live plants as well? Should I not get a snail if i have a planted tank?

 

[phOOey]

the snail you found was probably a pond snail, its fairly common to find them lurking on plants, watch out because you could have more than just one. pond snails are bad, they will eat all the live and healthy plants in your tank. The 'cool' looking snails you saw were probably mystery snails (also known as apple snails), these are good snails as they wont touch live plants and prefer to go for the dead and dying plants.

 

[derajer]

I have to disagree about the mystery snails, I have watched them do a lot of damage to live plants. It depend on the particular plant. They sometime knock them over as well just because they try to climb them

 

[twoluvcats]

ya i'm starting to think that brigs apple snails can still be very destructive to live plants...I've watched mine tear apart a healthy stem trying to GET to the dead leaf, or just clobber something trying to climb on it...in my planted tanks with snails the plants do seem to take more of a beating.

 

[phOOey]

yes, i can see how there large size could harm plants, but the mystery snails tend not to eat the healthy plants. that was my point.

 

[Fish Friend]

is it a good idea then to get maybe an apple snail ? because i was thinking of getting one to make it even more interesting eh ? wotchya all think ?

 

[Grymatta]

hmm thanks for the comments guys. I'll keep an eye out for more pond snails. I think that one snail ate parts of my java plant cause I see little ragged holes on the leaves..

I did see some Mystery Snails at the store, as well as a cool Gold Inca Snail and a Ramshorn snail.

So..I'm trying to decide if I should get one of these snails now for my planted tank. Do you think a snail's ability to clean tank +appearance outweighs occassional uprooted plant? I suppose I can always remove the snail if it becomes a problem. Maybe if I get a smaller size snail it wouldnt knock down plants?

 

[discus4everGrl]

I have a large mystery snail in my tank. He was tiny when I got him. However, in my experience, and because I have fish with him, he eats fish flakes any day over algea....

 

[Grymatta]

hmmm now i really want one..maybe a small Gold Inca snail. I wonder if it will really cause havoc in my planted tank......cant decide..argh!