Should I put snails in my planted tank

[Vinniemabuna]

Hi, I have a 4 gallon UNS cube tank with alot of plants and 12 fire red shrimp . Its a newer tank about a month , I put BB from Aquarium coop and I had some leftover seachem stability that I added, all is doing well so far . I have some ugly ramshorn snails that I dont want in there , is it OK to have a few only or no snails in my tank or do you think they are an important part of a planted tank ?thanks

[Whitecloud09]

It can be, they can clean up (by eating) the rotting leaves and some can help with algae.

[Pepere]

Well, good luck on eradicating them.  I tried eliminating them by consistent removal using a denerle device that takes them off the glass. They hitch hiked in on plants…  3 times a day for months I removed any I could see.  Then I gave up and just left them be…

I havent been all that impressed with their supposed algae control abilities..

 

I guess I am at the point I would never be purposely adding them, but havegiven up on trying to eliminate them.  I guess I could use pesticides that eliminate them, but I dont see the risk benefit ratio of that action being warranted…

[lefty o]

i tend to go for the no snails tanks, or at most a nerite or two.

[Whitecloud09]

Oh it’s ramshorns. I have heard nothing of them helping with algae control. If you want, you can keep them in there, but I don’t really see benefits of it. But maybe there is idk.

[Dacotua]

Adding snails are great in a snail tank, they really help the shrimp out.

However, my 5 gallon shrimp tank has ramshorns snails which I wanted, and I also put 3 assassin snails in the tank. The ramshorns will breed like crazy and I use the assassin snails to keep the at bay. So far I see around 10ish ramshorns in the tank, and a bunch of empty shells, so I know the Assassin snails are doing their job.

 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I welcome snails into my tanks. I guess I’m the odd one out here that believes they’re beneficial lol. 

[Whitecloud09]

On 5/7/2024 at 9:45 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I welcome snails into my tanks. I guess I’m the odd one out here that believes they’re beneficial lol. 

Lol, I have not tried any but have read a ton about them. I think nerites and mystery snails are awesome and help a ton! The only issue with the nerites is they lay eggs and they don’t hatch, and it looks unpleasant lol. But still great snails out there @AllFishNoBrakes.

Edited May 8 by Whitecloud09

[Jeff]

On 5/7/2024 at 9:45 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I welcome snails into my tanks. I guess I’m the odd one out here that believes they’re beneficial lol. 

Same. I just consider them part of the ecosystem - however many there are. 
 

I don't understand the term 'pest snail' ...lol 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I have snails in every tank. Including my Pea Puffer tank as the Nerites aren’t snacks. Ramshorn in most, and Bladder snails on top of some of the Ramshorns. 
 

Now, I will say that most tanks the populations remain the same as I don’t overfeed. In my grow out tank though, a lot of food goes in there, so it makes a lot of snails. But it’s all good as those just become Pea Puffer snacks. 
 

I can’t imagine not having snails in my ecosystems lol. 

[Galabar]

I move extra snails to my pea puffer tank.

[johnnyxxl]

The pond snails that found their way into my tank seem to be enjoying the algae on my glass and eating the leftovers from the Cory cats and kulhi loaches feeding time.

[Tanked]

Do you need them? No.  Snails are working part of the ecosystem. They can be part of your cleanup crew, and sometimes just fun to watch.  As @Dacotua mentioned, an Assassin snail will take care of the ramshorns.    They may also go after your shrimp.

[clownbaby]

You do not "need" snails, but you can have them for certain. Most snails are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive parts. That means any two snails that are hermaphrodites can breed and produce more snails. Snails such as ramshorn and bladder snails are hermaphrodites. Malaysian trumpet snails are not, but the females can produce clones of themselves. Other snails that have a slower breeding rate are rabbit snails, nerite snails, and mystery snails. However, nerites and mystery snails are too big for a 4 gallon and you should not add these snails.

So, you can't really have a "few" ramshorn snails. If you have a "few", they'll breed and produce more. You can have many or zero, really. This is your choice! I love snails, but some people don't. Your best bet is to manually remove them until they disappear. Most of the time snails end up in tanks because they lay eggs on the leaves of plants. To prevent unwanted snails showing up in your tank, inspect & rinse your plants well before adding them to your tank, or, better yet, quarantine them for a week or so. 

The one pro of ramshorn snails is they do eat algae and detritus, but they also produce a bit of waste. It is your choice on whether or not you keep them or not!

On 5/7/2024 at 6:35 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

Oh it’s ramshorns. I have heard nothing of them helping with algae control. If you want, you can keep them in there, but I don’t really see benefits of it. But maybe there is idk.

the benefit? they're cute 🥺 /lh

[jwcarlson]

All my tanks have snails.  Not necessarily by design.  My issue with them is that they invade HOBs and anything with an impeller and can cause issues.

[doktor zhivago]

I got a bunch of ramshorns. I also never have to clean the glass of algae. They're really helpful and good for the fish poop to plant nutrient cycle in a planted tank

[Whitecloud09]

On 5/9/2024 at 4:17 PM, doktor zhivago said:

I got a bunch of ramshorns. I also never have to clean the glass of algae. They're really helpful and good for the fish poop to plant nutrient cycle in a planted tank

Interesting, I might look into that, I am currently having a ammonia spike in my tank.

[Galabar]

The only tanks where I need to clean the glass don't have snails.  I put snails in all my tanks, but the fish decide if they stay there... 🙂

 

 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 5/9/2024 at 9:53 PM, Galabar said:

The only tanks where I need to clean the glass don't have snails.

Yup. My Pea Puffer tank being the one I have to scrape the most because snails are snacks. Several tanks I never have to scrape the glass, a couple others are spots here and there, and then the Pea Puffer tank I have to scrape the most. Thanks, balanced tanks with lots of plants and snails!