Would anyone know from experience how likely/often snails chew up healthy, live plants in a larger sized aquarium? And how well of a job do snails really do at getting rid of excessive algae (obviously I know there are other issues leading to an algae problem that can be fixed, but I'm just curious)? And do snails have a tendency to eat fresh eggs?
Snails, plants, and eggs
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From experience, guessing that you are talking about aquarium snails, Apple snails are a species i kept for a few years and at first they were fine with the many plants i had. But as soon as they get a taste for one of the plants then thats it! I lost nearly everything! I dont know whether if they are kept really well fed they may be less interested in your aquarium plants but for me, it was too late. As for your other questions i couldnt really give you a fully trusting answer as i never really watched to see if they were eating the algae in my tank, although they certainly did graze over it for most of their time! -Jamie
I've been keeping planted tanks for many years. I've never seen the snails I've kept (common pond snails, rams horn snails, and Malysian Trumpet snails) eating living/growing plants. They do eat the algae that grows on plants, as well as decaying plant tissue. If I see a lot of snails hanging out on one plant, its because a part of the plant needs trimmed due to a dying leaf/stem. I cut/remove the bad part of the plant, and they dispurse to other areas of the tank. They are often blamed because they are seen at the dying plant, when in reality, its likely the dying plant that attracted them.
I have seen all three snails eat fish eggs and fish fry that were not free-swimming.
I have no personal experience with Apple snails.
I have seen all three snails eat fish eggs and fish fry that were not free-swimming.
I have no personal experience with Apple snails.
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Hello; I keep rams horn and MTS and have observed the larger rams horn make a few holes in an amazon sword leaf form time to time. They do not seem able or interested in any other plants. I agree that they will consume dead or damaged plant material as well as dead fish. I have only noted the ones larger than the diameter of a nickle or so doing this and it was not extensive damage at that. The MTS do not seem to do any damage to plants or at least I have not noticed.
I like to keep snails in planted tanks as they will do some work on the algae. I have seen clean trails in algae meandering for long distances leading up to a grazing snail. There are several other benefits to having snails in a tank.
I am not sure what type eggs you are thinking of, but feel snails will likely eat any they can find. I try to keep snails out of breeding setups at least untill the fry are free swimming. Snail eggs are often coated in a way that hardly anything can eat them.
Ther are some snails that most people do not like, such as the common pond snail. I also would not be keen on collecting wild snails as they are sometimes hosts to parasites and diseases, some of which can be part of a cycle that can infect people.
I like to keep snails in planted tanks as they will do some work on the algae. I have seen clean trails in algae meandering for long distances leading up to a grazing snail. There are several other benefits to having snails in a tank.
I am not sure what type eggs you are thinking of, but feel snails will likely eat any they can find. I try to keep snails out of breeding setups at least untill the fry are free swimming. Snail eggs are often coated in a way that hardly anything can eat them.
Ther are some snails that most people do not like, such as the common pond snail. I also would not be keen on collecting wild snails as they are sometimes hosts to parasites and diseases, some of which can be part of a cycle that can infect people.
Apple snails are not a parasitic snail (I do not know of any snails that are parasites). They may be pests to some, but others love them, as that classification is purely subjective.
Those with the nickname "Apple Snail" could actually be one of several different species of snail. Some have a reputation of eating plants in an aquarium, not just the algae. For Apple Snails to breed, you need a male and a female. If you keep only a male or males, you will not have more in the future. Females, on the other hand, are a bit tricky. While they do need to have contact with a male to reproduce, like livebearer fish, they can store sperm and produce fertilized eggs months after being seperated from the male. If you want to keep them as pets, and don't want them to reproduce, keep only one gender, and if you have females, watch carefully for eggs. Remove them if you do not want more.
This link shows many of the 'common' snails you will see in an aquarium: Various freshwater snails
Many of the snail species are classifed as invasive pests, and it is illegal to have some of them in different parts of the world due to the possiblity of breeding and outcompeting the local fauna.
Those with the nickname "Apple Snail" could actually be one of several different species of snail. Some have a reputation of eating plants in an aquarium, not just the algae. For Apple Snails to breed, you need a male and a female. If you keep only a male or males, you will not have more in the future. Females, on the other hand, are a bit tricky. While they do need to have contact with a male to reproduce, like livebearer fish, they can store sperm and produce fertilized eggs months after being seperated from the male. If you want to keep them as pets, and don't want them to reproduce, keep only one gender, and if you have females, watch carefully for eggs. Remove them if you do not want more.
This link shows many of the 'common' snails you will see in an aquarium: Various freshwater snails
Many of the snail species are classifed as invasive pests, and it is illegal to have some of them in different parts of the world due to the possiblity of breeding and outcompeting the local fauna.