Snails?

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kamikaziechameleon

kamikaziechameleon

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 23, 2010
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western hemisphere
I was cleaning out my canister filter today and found it had a couple thousand tiny snails in it. There was non in there larger than a grain of sand they where tiny. I didn't realize they where snails till I was half way through cleaning and wondering where all this black sand came from. I raising one granule up to my eye to see that under very close inspection they where tiny snails.

Just wondering a couple things. This tank currently has several infectious diseases(fin rot/open sores/fungus/miscellaneous parasites) in it and my buddy began treating it over the weekend while I was out of town by raising the tanks salinity hoping this would knock out the sudden assorted infections. So far it does appear to be working

At any rate I was wondering if the snails where dangerous to my fish and if they would be knocked out by the salt? If the snails are not harmful and would survive the treatment I wouldn't mind having them as a clean up crew in my fry tanks since they could double as food for the little ones as well.

Thanks in advance.
 
ziggy2;5096513; said:
Depending on the type, they can take over a tank.
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So do you mean they'll kill/hurt my fish? The tank is bichirs and assorted african/american cichlids. I can't immagine they'll have a large presence in the tank without the fish eating them. They are small but my catfishes would probably make quick work if they came out of the substrate. I want to know if they can function parasitically I guess since they are so small I imagined that they could be like a tick or flea. If that is unlikely they I really don't mind them they are small enough new fry could eat them seriously.
 
get some puffers in the tank to get rid of snails man. my red eye puffers love eating snails that i buy...you're lucky they breed in your tank, hahaha. here's a video i made of my puffers having a go at them snails!
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They do contribute to bioload, and if they die from any medication, etc. the rotting bodies will cause ammonia spikes. Otherwise they are harmless and a great snack for many fish.
 
knifegill;5096600; said:
They do contribute to bioload, and if they die from any medication, etc. the rotting bodies will cause ammonia spikes. Otherwise they are harmless and a great snack for many fish.
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I'm not medding the tank since it isn't apparent what the specific cause if illness is. I'm just raising salinity till symptoms disappear and then lowering back to pure fresh. Hoping that blanket treatment will go a long ways. I'd like to take any surviving snails(assuming they are safe) after the disease is purged and move them to a fry tank since they are literally as small as brine shrimp, maybe even smaller. Good to eat poop and get eaten by cichlid fry. They won't hurt the sponge filter any. I really like free food. they are about as hard as a sesame seed, so any fish with a bite can eat them whole and chew em up.
 
The adults probably get eaten. I also get tiny babies in my filters. They will probably grow to much larger sizes in other setups. Are they bladder snails?
 
knifegill;5096616; said:
The adults probably get eaten. I also get tiny babies in my filters. They will probably grow to much larger sizes in other setups. Are they bladder snails?
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bladder snails? I'm not sure to small to make out details. Seriously smaller than a poppy seed. Flushed thousands of them last night. Amazing. I've never had adult snails so how do they reproduce? How did I get them haven't had snails in years and never in this tank or with any of the fish in this tank when they where in previous setups. I'm so confused and amazed. I can't help but see a potentially abundant and cheap source of food for small cichlids and fry if they can survive a canister filter.
 
Throw some in a jar with a piece of fish food and see what happens. Can you get pictures?
 
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