Snails!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I found more in the tank yesterday in the side of the tank kept dropping them every time I'd try to pick one out then I'd lose them in the subsrate. Plants seem OK thus far. Will post more after work. If they do not harm the plants I guess no harm no foul. We shall see however.
 
HybridHerp said:
None of the common pest snails eat plants...if your hole is in an anubias especially, its probably a nutrient deficiency

I actually think snails are very, VERY helpful to the success of a planted tank, they help eat up organic wastes that the plants can't use and convert them into waste that the plants CAN use. My only planted tank without snails (my 75 seems to be resistant to snail population forming, gotta fix that and get the MTS popping in there) gets algae problems due to decaying material like dead plant leafs and the like.
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i completely agree. they also help turn the substrate to keep anaerobic pockets from forming, which is especially helpful if you have any fish the like to move it around (cichlids, loaches, etc) and provide a snack for some fish as well.
 
Ok sorry for resurrecting an this issue. However I have noticed some of my long stemmed plants started dieing. They seem to be dieing from the root system up. Would this be from the snails eating them bottom of the plant in the root structure or just for a lack of minerals in the area. 90 percent of the plants are doing well. I attached a picture of the snail. Thet started off few and far between however there are a good amount now and fairly large. I can see snail eggs on the leaves of my plants as well. Should I be concerned they are causing issue or be fine with it. I believe there is a good amount of food for them. Between left over feeder fish parts and feeder fish food. I appreciate the help. Thanks.
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HybridHerp said:
None of the common pest snails eat plants...if your hole is in an anubias especially, its probably a nutrient deficiency

I actually think snails are very, VERY helpful to the success of a planted tank, they help eat up organic wastes that the plants can't use and convert them into waste that the plants CAN use. My only planted tank without snails (my 75 seems to be resistant to snail population forming, gotta fix that and get the MTS popping in there) gets algae problems due to decaying material like dead plant leafs and the like.
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Hello; I strongly agree with this. I have had snails in my planted tanks for decades. I find snails very helpful.

I skipped ahead a few posts and looked at the pictures. Looks like common pond snails.

In addition to the other benefits mentioned, snails can also be a good source of fresh live food. If you get a large population, that will indicate they are getting plenty of food and are doing a service for the tank. I keep a small pair of hemostats or plires handy to crush the shells of the larger ones. My fish take them well. crushing them with fingers can give you a painful cut.

I have managed the snail population the last few years with a conservative feeding schedule and a day or two of no feeding a week. In the past tanks would be overrun with snails and the excess feeding was an issue with keeping good water quality.

The only observable incidents of snails damaging plants has been when my red ramshorn get to be nickle size or larger. At that size they can damage plants with delicate leaves such as amazon swords. My solution has been to either feed them to fish or throw them into my QT which has only free floating hornwort.

If the snails are hard to spot it seems unlikely they are large enough to damage plants.

My experience is that you are unlikely to have live plants without snails. This occured for me only once in over 50+ years and I went looking for snails to place in that tank.

good luck
 
Thanks guys! Great news I actually like having them in my tank and they are thriving. So I would have been alittle dispointed if I had t get rid of them. Thanks again for the assistance!
 
Update on this. My snail population as seemed to explode over night. I have been removing every egg cluster incan find however it seems that isn't keeping them at bay very much. Less food for them is not an option as this is a high growth tank. Do you all think the lettuce trick is going to be the best method? I was going to get a single assasin snail for the tank however once I read they can procreate by themselves kinda killed that idea. It isnt out of control yet, howrver if left un checked I would say in a weeks time it will be any thoughts are appreciated.
 
Well, tbh, snails regulate themselves. Ignore them, because if you let the population increase a ton, eventually they hit a ceiling as to how many there can be at any given time, and the numbers begin to go down again.

You could remove them manually but I don't find that to be worth the time and/or effort.
 
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