[Piscesgirl]

Raise your hand if you like 'pest' snails *raises hand* These poor little creatures have a undeserved bad reputation. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that they weren't "pests" until I had already purchased some clown loaches. Why might snails be better than clown loaches? Well, for one, most dont get a foot in length! Truly, most snails will stay in control if fish aren't overfed. Snails can even keep a tank cycled while you decide what fish you eventually want to stock in it!

What snails do you keep and do you love 'em, or would you rather leave 'em?

I have pond snails (no they don't eat my plants), Ramshorns (I really like these guys), and Malaysian Trumpet snails.

 

[jsenske]

IMO- FULL BLOWN PEST! Especially the Malaysian type! A few Ramshorn are quite charming but if they get out of control - forget it!

 

[trenac]

I think snails are benificial to a planted tank... They eat algae, left over food & keep the substrate stured up. Some people say they eat their plants but I have found this is only true if the plants are dieing already.

I have mostly MTS in my 20G high and pond snails in my 55G tank and a few Ramshorn's here and there.

 

[Piscesgirl]

IMO- FULL BLOWN PEST! Especially the Malaysian type! A few Ramshorn are quite charming but if they get out of control - forget it!

Oh come on, admit it -- you love 'em! ;-)

 

[pineapple]

The only ones that last in pure NYC water are MTS. The others die off slowly but surely. Someone sent me some ramshorns (unintentionally with some plants) recently and they have all dissolved. Mystery Snails dissolve too. Such is life in soft water. Jeff can pipe us some oil to NYC to help with the outrageous heating bills and I will pipe him some pure NYC water to help with his snail problems.... ;-)

I noticed that Arizona Gardens is now selling nerite snails, BTW.

Andrew Cribb

 

[S]

I have been keeping reef tanks for many years and my experience there has been that cleanup crews can make a big difference, with snails being very beneficial. While I have not purposely added snails to my planted tanks they seem to have made their way in via plants. This really doesn't bother me so long as the snails don't get out of control but I would prefer to not send any out when I trade or sell plants to others. To achieve this goal I plan to set up a small tank with puffers. Then, at least theoretically, I could place any outgoing plant in the puffer tank for a few days to remove any snails.

 

[Piscesgirl]

Oh I want some Nerite snails!!!

My water is very soft too - I add calcium carbonate to my shrimp tank, and my 20 gallon has Onyx sand. The Onyx helps a great deal (maybe too well!).

 

[gnatster]

I like snails, besides certain varieties being tasty with garlic butter they are a great cleanup crew and they add that intangible realness of nature to the environment we keep. Back in my reefer days one of my favorite tanks was the refugium with it's preponderance of snails, copepods, starfish and worms. What a blast watching them, like a undersea ant farm.

 

[MatPat]

I could really care less one way or the other as long as I don't have a snail explosion

They really don't bother me until I start seeing them everywhere. I have MTS, Pond, and Ramshorns. If I "had" to choose to have one type of snail in my tank it would be the Ramshorns. The Pond snails just aren't as interesting to watch and the MTS are usually hidden in the substrate.

 

[Mnemia]

I've seen some from time to time in my tank, although very very rarely. I think some of their eggs must have come in with a plant, though I'm not sure what kind of snails I have (they're tiny and brownish/red).

I'm not sure if I just have very few and they are good at hiding or if my gouramis are preying on them and keeping their numbers in check. I've never tried to remove any because I like them and they're not even close to getting out of control.

 

[thaerin]

I'm a mixed feelings right now. I like the malaysians, they doa good job and stay out of sight. The ramshorns and ponds are breeding faster than i'd like so i'm purging the current population and letting thier eggs hatch.

Right now I think i'd rather have more shrimp for cleanup, better job, and easier to take care of.

 

[Cavan Allen]

I have ramshorns in my 30 and I don't mind them. There seems to be a marked population increase every once in a while, but to me, that only means free live food.

Pond snails will eat healthy plants. I know that because I observed one eating holes in healthy java fern. Want to keep Barclaya longifolia with them? Forget that!

 

[Error]

i love my snails.

 

[Piscesgirl]

I have pond snails and they don't touch my plants -- my guess is that there are several varieties of what we term "pond snails."

Ackck Gnat, I'm going to have to add "snails are friends not food" to my sig too!

 

[Piscesgirl]

Looks to me from the responses so far that there are a good many folks with respect for snails I am so glad to hear it. And whew, I'm glad I won't have to start a "snails' rights" campaign!

Thanks for the replies folks, keep 'em coming!

 

[Cavan Allen]

I'm talking about these:
http://perso.infonie.be/pomacea/physas_uk.htm

Pay no attention to the last line of text there. People avoid those in planted tanks for good reason.

I have two Neritina reclivata in my 20 long and they have been model citizens. They're fun to watch and it looks like they do a good job too. N. natalensis have been a bit tougher to find...

 

[Piscesgirl]

Although this isn't the best picture, if you look next to the shrimp, you can see one of my pond snails. Looks pretty similar to the link you have except the point is slightly less, but not really visible in the the picture. Color varies with the amount of calcium in the tank, heh. Maybe I'll try to get a better picture of one of my critters tonight

Anyone else have pictures of their pond snails and can indicate whether they've been eating the plants or not?

 

[robitreef]

I just noticed snails in my tank after it's been up for one year. I currently use RO/DI, so I am surprised they are getting calcium for their shells. They are real tiny and not that noticeable (yet). I have clown loaches and a puffer, so hopefully they will snack on them if they become too prevelent. I understand they are supposed to be good for aerating the substrate. much like earthworms do in the soil.

 

[Piscesgirl]

Do you use straight RO/DI? If not, I would think that maybe you are reconstituting it with enough calcium/minerals that they are ok. Or, maybe not! Maybe that's why the lack of snails over the last year? I personally do find that they are beneficial to a tank.

 

[JanS]

I really like the MTS's, but in all honesty, I'd rather not have the Ramshorn and Pond snails in the tank.
The first reason being, I don't like to send them out with plants since many people really get annoyed with it (even though you warn them), and I guess they just look sort of messy in the tank when they're hanging off the plants, etc. That's probably just me, though.... ;-)

I do keep all of the types listed above in unoccupied tanks (like you mentioned PG) to keep the bacteria going, which is a great thing.

Edit: I forgot one of the most important reasons - they eat my Cory eggs.... :|