snails; good or bad
- Thread starter dbleoh7
- Start date
It's all personal preference... Most people that are trying to get rid of them, are doing so because they can't tolerate the "ick factor" - they think snails are gorss. Nothing more.
My 2.5 has a ton of them, and they are my only cleanup crew in that tank, and they do a good job. Tank is free from algae and everything.
word to the wise though, once they get in there, they're hard to get rid of, so if you don't like the look of them, make sure they don't get in.
My 2.5 has a ton of them, and they are my only cleanup crew in that tank, and they do a good job. Tank is free from algae and everything.
word to the wise though, once they get in there, they're hard to get rid of, so if you don't like the look of them, make sure they don't get in.
I think it's the common pond snails that people are always trying to get rid of. They get a bad reputation because they are self-reproducing and can take over a tank quickly if your not careful. Some fish will eat the smaller snails so if you have a healthy tank you can keep a good balance.
MTS don't reproduce as quickly and are pretty cool looking (IMO) I try to keep a couple in each of my tanks.
Good luck!
MTS don't reproduce as quickly and are pretty cool looking (IMO) I try to keep a couple in each of my tanks.
Good luck!
My personal opinion of your traditional "pond" snails is they are pests, And yes if your tank is perfectly maintained with the right fish & plants you can create a balance and not get over populated, however many people have a difficult time achieving this "balance" I have encountered such a problem in the past.
Lots of people say things like "I never see them" or They clean my tank great" or "they eat dead plants & left over food" etc. But no one mentions just how much WASTE they add to your existing bio-load, it's ENORMOUS in some cases.
Just my thoughts..
Lots of people say things like "I never see them" or They clean my tank great" or "they eat dead plants & left over food" etc. But no one mentions just how much WASTE they add to your existing bio-load, it's ENORMOUS in some cases.
Just my thoughts..
I don't know what kind of snails you have, but with the ones I have, which reach a MAXIMUM of about 1 to 1.5 mm in diameter, add next to nothing to the bioload.
That is another thing; many people say the 'pond snails', which typically have a long, spiral shell, are known to eat plants and get relatively large. The other common snails to be introduced accidentally(the kind I have), are like miniature ramshorn snails; they are tiny, don't reproduce too quickly, don't touch plants, are readily eaten by many fish(my kuhli's live them), and don't have massive populations living beneath the substrate.
That is another thing; many people say the 'pond snails', which typically have a long, spiral shell, are known to eat plants and get relatively large. The other common snails to be introduced accidentally(the kind I have), are like miniature ramshorn snails; they are tiny, don't reproduce too quickly, don't touch plants, are readily eaten by many fish(my kuhli's live them), and don't have massive populations living beneath the substrate.
I have snails in my fifty-five gallon tank and they don't bother anything. They're small little hitchhikers who came on my first batch of hornwort. Actually, they were kind of like the pioneers of my new tank. Since then, they've reproduced. All but one macroscopic species in my tank is reproducing. The only thing that isn't is hornwort but that can reproduce vegetatively. I read on Wikipedia or something that snails can give you some kind of disease or something, but they haven't given me any problems. The only thing I'm worried about, is whether or not converting my tank to brackish water will kill them. I don't want to kill all of those little snails.
Thats just it, what I was trying to explain is, some folks don't have loaches to eat the little pests, so they tend to multiply and get over populated (It doesn't matter how small they are if ya' got 50 of them in the tank 
), it does happen, all you have to do is search the threads, you'll find more than one, "help me w/snails" thread.
The snails I had to deal with were like mini rams horns, the largest was about the size of an pencil eraser, however in the span of about 2 weeks, we had over 60 of them, I tried removing them by hand during weekly WC's, I tried cutting back on food, to the point of nearly starving the fish, I even got some loaches, I ended up just re-doing the tank....never again, friend or pest, my snail days are over.
), it does happen, all you have to do is search the threads, you'll find more than one, "help me w/snails" thread.The snails I had to deal with were like mini rams horns, the largest was about the size of an pencil eraser, however in the span of about 2 weeks, we had over 60 of them, I tried removing them by hand during weekly WC's, I tried cutting back on food, to the point of nearly starving the fish, I even got some loaches, I ended up just re-doing the tank....never again, friend or pest, my snail days are over.
I've seen all the threads, but I've always just assumed people found them gross
The tank where I see them isn't my 29 with loaches(I never see any in there, they all get eaten); it's the 2.5 hex, which has no predators for them. I'll admit, there are a lot in there, probably 20-40 at any given time, but they don't go beyond that, and don't look bad IMO. I guess it all depends on which species you end up with, and how much excess food is in your tank.
The tank where I see them isn't my 29 with loaches(I never see any in there, they all get eaten); it's the 2.5 hex, which has no predators for them. I'll admit, there are a lot in there, probably 20-40 at any given time, but they don't go beyond that, and don't look bad IMO. I guess it all depends on which species you end up with, and how much excess food is in your tank.
What is the definition of overpopulation when it comes to snails? At the maximum I sometimes will see several snails in my tanks; and sometimes they're hardly noticeable at all. I never look into my tanks and see what I would consider to be a frightening infestation of snails.
They only add as much to the bioload as is made available. It's just simple physics - living organisms need food to live. They are made of what they eat. Therefore the amount of living organic matter in an ecosystem is only equal to the amount of available organic matter upon which they feed. This available matter comes in the form of fish foods, dead fish, and plant/algae. (which gather their energy from the light and dissolved organics in the water column.) I will have to say though that even in my most algae-ridden and unmaintained tank situations ala my intermittent onsets of lazy depressions, I still have never encountered any sort of snail explosion that I have ever experienced to be a hindrance or a problem. They're nothing more than tiny little mollusks sliding around the tank. They don't cause any malfunctions or changes in the integrity of your aquarium's vital systems.
Not to mention the fact that the entire surface of your aquarium's interior is a place where plenty of bacteria can grow and thrive. In theory it is nearly impossible to overload a tank's biocapacity unless you're overcrowding it to hell with big, messy fish who you are overfeeding like crazy. Snails are tiny creatures who don't eat much and thus don't give off much waste. So whatever minuscule amount of extra bioload snails add to your tank is both easily controllable, and also largely irrelevant.
People tend to overfeed their fish just by default. I actually only feed my fish a few times per week and when I do it's only enough for them to consume within a minute. This has worked for me over the course of many years and has kept perfectly happy, long-lived fish. So there is no need to starve your fish to death just to try and rid your tank of snails. If you have some, they should never really get to any point of trouble simply because they never get the chance.
Anyway, I'm ranting. I used to subscribe to the idea that snails were pests...but only because that was largely the accepted canon and not because I took the time to observe the fact that they made no dent in the success of my tanks. Once I just accepted them, I found that they no longer even enter into my concerns.
And I don't see what is gross about them. They're just little creatures with cool shells.
They only add as much to the bioload as is made available. It's just simple physics - living organisms need food to live. They are made of what they eat. Therefore the amount of living organic matter in an ecosystem is only equal to the amount of available organic matter upon which they feed. This available matter comes in the form of fish foods, dead fish, and plant/algae. (which gather their energy from the light and dissolved organics in the water column.) I will have to say though that even in my most algae-ridden and unmaintained tank situations ala my intermittent onsets of lazy depressions, I still have never encountered any sort of snail explosion that I have ever experienced to be a hindrance or a problem. They're nothing more than tiny little mollusks sliding around the tank. They don't cause any malfunctions or changes in the integrity of your aquarium's vital systems.
Not to mention the fact that the entire surface of your aquarium's interior is a place where plenty of bacteria can grow and thrive. In theory it is nearly impossible to overload a tank's biocapacity unless you're overcrowding it to hell with big, messy fish who you are overfeeding like crazy. Snails are tiny creatures who don't eat much and thus don't give off much waste. So whatever minuscule amount of extra bioload snails add to your tank is both easily controllable, and also largely irrelevant.
People tend to overfeed their fish just by default. I actually only feed my fish a few times per week and when I do it's only enough for them to consume within a minute. This has worked for me over the course of many years and has kept perfectly happy, long-lived fish. So there is no need to starve your fish to death just to try and rid your tank of snails. If you have some, they should never really get to any point of trouble simply because they never get the chance.
Anyway, I'm ranting. I used to subscribe to the idea that snails were pests...but only because that was largely the accepted canon and not because I took the time to observe the fact that they made no dent in the success of my tanks. Once I just accepted them, I found that they no longer even enter into my concerns.
And I don't see what is gross about them. They're just little creatures with cool shells.
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