What is this tiny creature?

[Fishman Jason]

Does anyone know what this little guy is?  I first saw one on the glass a few days ago then found this one on driftwood today and took him out for further examination.  It's no bigger than the diameter of a pencil.  It looks like a snail to me but it's awfully small and there are no big snails in the tank to make baby snails.

[Guppysnail]

It is some type of ramshorn snail most likely. Most likely hitchhiked on a plant. It may have hitchhiked as an egg sac which means he has friends. Harmless cleanup crew. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Dancing Matt]

I have some of these also which stay small. Small type of "pest" snail (pest if you do not want it).

[Flumpweesel]

I get tiny Ramshorn pest snails in my nano tank .They are probably to tasty to last long in the big tank.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Flumpweesel
T

[Fishman Jason]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I'm going with the conclusion they are small ramshorn snails that hitchhiked in somehow, are harmless and kinda cool, and will probably get eaten by the angelfish or opaline gourami before they get too big.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/8/2022 at 10:55 AM, Fishman Jason said:

I'm going with the conclusion they are small ramshorn snails that hitchhiked in somehow, are harmless and kinda cool,

They are fun to watch. 🙂 

[macdaddy36]

Definitely Ramshorn Snails, harmless and actually beneficial

[Odd Duck]

This might be micro or mini ramshorns.  Planorbis planorbis.  They only get to 4-5 mm across the shell, tend to hold their shell very flat to the surface they’re on, and they have a much flatter, narrower shell than a baby of the larger ramshorns (Planorbis duryi and Planorbis corneus) we’re more used to seeing.  Those have wider shells right from the beginning and look almost round as babies when they are the same diameter as an adult mini ramshorn.  Otherwise they are much like the larger ramshorn snails that reproduce to the level of food in the tank.  They do seem to be more likely to get eaten and disappear.  I was seeing a few in my angel tank at first, but I’m not seeing them any more and there’s plenty for them to eat.  I suspect both angels and cories had a part in removing them, maybe be even the bristlenose plecos.  I’ve also seen them pop up in other tanks with no fish but they seem to get outcompeted by larger ramshorns.  I had red ramshorns in a culture tank with nothing else in there and they popped up and disappeared almost as fast as they appeared.

Look how thick these 2 red ramshorns are.  The bigger one is only about 6 mm in diameter but almost 5 mm thick.  The smaller is about 3 mm in diameter and at least 2.5 mm thick.  The minis only get about 1 mm thick even as adults, juvies are only about 0.5 mm thick.  No pics of the minis, I don’t have any right now.  I wish I did, they’re super cute little things.  I didn’t try to remove them from the angel tank, they just disappeared.

 

[Flumpweesel]

On 7/8/2022 at 5:14 PM, Odd Duck said:

micro or mini ramshorns

Well that explains why mine never get very big I was wondering.

[PotatoFish]

These ramshorn snails started to appear in my tank after my goldfish and dojo loach died.

 

I haven't sat and watched them do it, but I am also fairly certain that they eat black beard algae (BBA). I have found them, on more than one ocassion, in the center of a green circle on an anubius leaf that was formerly covered in BBA. I find them to be cute and helpful.

[Fishman Jason]

@Odd Duck You know your snails!  Thank you!

[Odd Duck]

On 7/9/2022 at 9:34 AM, Fishman Jason said:

@Odd Duck You know your snails!  Thank you!

😆 😂 🤣 You don’t want to get me going on snails!  At last count I think I had at least a dozen species and I just added a couple rabbit snails yesterday to make it a baker’s dozen.  😃 I get a little obsessive sometimes, deep dive down the rabbit hole and have to try everything I can.  🤣 🤷🏻‍♀️