tk_yt Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 I have my new aquarium set up about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and everything was purchased from Aquarium Coop, including plants, spiderwood, fish, substrate, and most recently the pleco caves Yesterday my son noticed some bulbs on the tips of the branches of the spiderwood in my tank, and today when we took a closer look, they turned out to be shells of snails! So I used a tweezer and took out more than 10 of them... And now am wondering how they got in the tank in the first place. But more importantly, what do I do now to get rid of them? I'm sure that now I saw the snails on the branches, it's safe to assume that there are way more in the tank at this point. I don't even know what type of snails these are, and whether they will be harmful for the tank. Currently I have 1 bristlenose pleco, 10 neon tetras and 1 betta (the betta was the original fish we had before setting up the aquarium, and it was in a tine 3 gallon tank that was bare bottom with no decors, chances of the snail from the betta is very low I think). Any ideas or suggestions are much appreicated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Those are Ramshorn snails. While some consider them a pest, they can also be helpful tank cleaners. You will only get too many if you overfeed. You can hand pick them or trap them with a piece of zucchini weighted to the bottom for a few days. If I have to many I feed them to my loach tank. I don't mind Ramshorns at all! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Undoubtedly they came from the plants. Mostly we tend to agree that snails are beneficial (someone will be sure to disagree lol) as they clean up algae and spilled food. Some people find them unsightly. Your options are hand picking them when you see them as you just did, traping them (generally only partially successful), or adding a fish, such as a dwarf chain loach, that thinks they are a delicious snack. Personally I am very happy to have snails in all my tanks. They eat dead plant matter and wasted food that my lazier fish ignore, and let me feed fry tanks heavily without worrying that I will end up with rotting food. I also have a few fish that think they are a treat. My pea puffers eat almost exclusively snails, and my cichlids love it when I toss in a handful that have gotten too big for the puffers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn T Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 I love little snails of all varieties. Great little clean-up crew, and they only proliferate (i.e. OVERPOPULATE) if a tank is overfed or has issues that are causing plant die-offs and such. I currently only have pond (bladder) snails, but I plan to order some ramshorns, as well as some nerites, this spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Definitely ram horn snails I would leave them in tank they are great at eating dead plant material and aglae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celly Rasbora Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 I just bought some snails on eBay, so I think you lucked out. Cory has a video on snails that's helpful, but I also like this short video by Rachel O'Leary. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Rigel Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Personally I think it takes a lot more effort to eradicate pest snails (and, similarly, duckweed) than to accept their presence. I too fought against snails when I had my first planted tank- I added assassin snails and now have a thriving colony that is so numerous I will never be able to remove 100% of them. (So... pick your poison, as it were. Lol) Snails are a good indicator for when you're feeding too much, they eat dead plant material, and the only downside is if you think they are unsightly. If you do want to get rid of them, I would go with the natural predator approach mentioned above (dwarf chain loach, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taco Playz Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Quote 2 hours ago, Trish said: Those are Ramshorn snails. While some consider them a pest, they can also be helpful tank cleaners. You will only get too many if you overfeed. You can hand pick them or trap them with a piece of zucchini weighted to the bottom for a few days. If I have to many I feed them to my loach tank. I don't mind Ramshorns at all! I agree I love ramshorns. The best thing to do is to keep them but if you get way too many you can always feed them to your fish. My Golden panchax Killifish love them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk_yt Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 Thanks everyone for helping me identify the snails and also for the suggestions! I'm taking note of the overfeeding, and will stop looking for the little shells hiding somewhere in the tank. Sounds like no harm for the tank, so I'm ok with it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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