? about snails in my tank

[bluestarjazz]

when checking my fish today I found a few small snails in my tank
I am not really sure how they got there but will they be a problem for my fish
a senegal, an african brown knife and a gourami

and are they likely to breed and cause a problem or will they be eaten by my fish?

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

I imagine the gourami might eat the snails.

 

[woofy]

if its pond snails which they most likely are, yes they will breed, and big time. u might want to look around ornaments and plants for clear egg clusters and remove them. U can take them out manually now while they are at a small number.

 

[ziggy2]

Put a wedge of potato in the tank at night. In the morning take it out and remove the snails. Repeat until they are all gone.

 

[bluestarjazz]

they look a little like the tiny mystery snails at the lps
won't my poly eat the eggs if they are near the bottom?
any ideas where they came from?

 

[Paullywolly]

they won't be a problem - I almost always have snails in my tanks. I find them helpful - cleaning algae, eating leftover food. And they're neat to look at. The gourami won't really eat them. if they become an issue - massive population explosion - you can either add loaches to remove them or just physically remove them yourself using a variety of traps. However if you don't overfeed your tank their population shouldn't be a problem.

 

[bluestarjazz]

at this point two snails does not constitute an infestation
but if I wanted one what sort of loach would you suggest that wouldn't get eaten by my senegal or out grow a 55-75 gallon tank ie. not a school of clowns

my fish are currently babies
the sen is 3.5"
the knife 4"
the gourami ~2.5"

 

[Dixon81]

i purposely put 4 big trapdoor pond snails in my 125 to help with algae and they are natural filters. in about 3 weeks i have no lie hundreds on them around the tank. Had them for about 1 month then one day i had noone

i dont see them as a problem