# We Gotta hitchhiker! (Pics)



## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

This is so weird...

I've had this 10 gallon tank cycling for a lil over a month now, never noticed him till today and boiled EVERYTHING i put into this tank besides the Moss which I'm suspecting he came from.. Take a look:







Anyone know what kind of snail he is? Looks a lil gold on the shell and where do you guys suspect he came from? The moss?


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

I can't see the shell that well, but I'd have to guess it's some sort of mystery snail. (One of the two FW snails I've seen...) I'm probably wrong, but at least it doesn't look like one of those multiplying pest snails!


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## ftsdeploy (Feb 5, 2011)

Ya, that is pretty cool, I would keep him around as a good story to tell!


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

funlad3 said:


> I can't see the shell that well, but I'd have to guess it's some sort of mystery snail. (One of the two FW snails I've seen...) I'm probably wrong, but at least it doesn't look like one of those multiplying pest snails!


From what a few people tell me, looks like hes a Bladder snail (physella acuta, Physidae)

http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/physidae.html



ftsdeploy said:


> Ya, that is pretty cool, I would keep him around as a good story to tell!


Yea, I planned on it! Might as well add a few more lol


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## Aflat (Apr 16, 2011)

Yeah snails are a net addition. If they start to over populate, I go in one a week and pick the one's I see out. Seems to keep them in under control. Pretty cool


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Aflat said:


> Yeah snails are a net addition. If they start to over populate, I go in one a week and pick the one's I see out. Seems to keep them in under control. Pretty cool


Yea, from what I read is they're hermaphrodites (don't require a mate, they're both male and female) and will quickly fill the tank if you don't have something that eats snails.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

I have nothing that eats snails and have 3 species of "pest" snails that never cause a problem. A lot of people just over react when they see snails and fail to see the benefits they have. I never remove snails from my tanks either and there is rarely a problem. 

Your right that your snail is a bladder snail. They are one of the snails I have running around my tanks.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Mikaila31 said:


> I have nothing that eats snails and have 3 species of "pest" snails that never cause a problem. A lot of people just over react when they see snails and fail to see the benefits they have. I never remove snails from my tanks either and there is rarely a problem.
> 
> Your right that your snail is a bladder snail. They are one of the snails I have running around my tanks.


Yea I agree, as soon as i told a friend she was like Crush it ASAP! I'm like huh? lol I couldn't do that... He looks harmless and doubt he will multiply into a million snails... haha But, who knows guess i'll find out soon.

Yea, the first thing I noticed about the bladder snail is his incredible speed!


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

Snails can really move when they want to! My apple snails will lap the tank in like.... 15 minutes.


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## Bettawhisperer (Oct 1, 2010)

Looks like a common pond snail and they reproduce rapidly. Your tank will be full of them in no time.


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

I would get rid of it. I had them in my tank and they hitched a ride from a plant too. They can reproduce on their own I believe. I saw a couple, fished them out and then just kept seeing them and taking them out. Finally I decided I had a 10 gallon tank sitting around so I would fish them out and put them in the 10g. So after a couple weeks I took out about 10 snails. I would keep seeing a couple every couple days in my 20g fish tank. After another couple weeks my 10g had about 30 snails from what I caught from my 20g. Then, no joke, about a month later my 10g with 30 snails went to about 200 snails. I fished out about half and gave them to my father-in-law for his outdoor pond. Then another month later I decided to break down the 10g snail tank and I had about 500 snails in there. They ranged from the size of a pen tip to a pea. They were the exact kind you have in your photo. The have little egg sacks that are a clear gel they will put on the side of a tank, the top, on decor, plants, etc. The gel is usually about the size of a pea and has little dots (babies) inside, probably about 10-30 dots per gel sack. 

I'm still pulling them out of my 20g tank on a daily basis. Basically when I move I'm going to get a 29g and swap everything over to that tank but not before boiling and getting rid of the few live plants I have left. I still think the snails are interesting but just not worth the hassle in a community fish tank.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Yea, you guys got me all paranoid now... So ima just take him out lol... My girl fell in love with the snail, dont ask me why. So I was thinking of getting a lil small 1-2 gallon tank and putting him in there for her. Maybe add a betta, but, I think bettas eat snails dont they?


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## Danio king (Feb 25, 2011)

i have the same snails in my 30 gallon they rode over on some cabomba i got off aquariumplants.com. its been three month now and theres only like 3 more than there were when i first noticed them. Its really not a big deal.


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

congrats on your free pet. I love pond snails as they are interesting to watch, and will help to keep your tank clean of algae. I really dont see why people freak out about snails so much, in my eyes their benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

Oh and also yes you should expect him to start to multiply


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Alright, if you have a snail explosion it is a clear sign there is a waste control issue in the tank. Snails only take over a tank if there is enough food. There should not be enough food in a tank to allow for this to happen. A snail infestation is a clear sign something is out of balance. I run 3 different tanks, all densely planted low tech and high tech. I have bladder snails, MTS, and ramshorns. Some tanks have one species, some have two, maybe all three. Usually though one species dominates in a particular tank. There is rarely a problem with too many snails. I never remove ANY of them and I don't have any snail eating fish either. MTS are well known for turning the gravel/sand. All these species make quick work of plant debris, that is if they fish and shrimp don't beat them too it. 

I have some sort of nutrient issue in my two high tech tanks. I knew it pretty quickly from a sudden drop in grown then different algae out breaks in both tanks. The problem with my plants lead them to reduce their "niche" in the tank. They are not consuming what wastes they were before. A month later there is a increase in snail populations in both tanks. Tanks have been running for years and snails have been present for years. I honestly am never concerned about the snails. Their numbers can go up and down depending on how well the tank is balanced. ATM both are poorly balanced and that is my fault. What exactly the problem is I could not tell you yet. What I see are not problems in there selves, but the effects of something else. Like the saying, "Everything happens for a reason."


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

Exactly, Mikaila. 

I like to watch my fishes' behavior closely to give me signs that something is off balance in my tank. Sounds like you can do the same with pond snails.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Mikaila31 said:


> Alright, if you have a snail explosion it is a clear sign there is a waste control issue in the tank. Snails only take over a tank if there is enough food. There should not be enough food in a tank to allow for this to happen. A snail infestation is a clear sign something is out of balance. I run 3 different tanks, all densely planted low tech and high tech. I have bladder snails, MTS, and ramshorns. Some tanks have one species, some have two, maybe all three. Usually though one species dominates in a particular tank. There is rarely a problem with too many snails. I never remove ANY of them and I don't have any snail eating fish either. MTS are well known for turning the gravel/sand. All these species make quick work of plant debris, that is if they fish and shrimp don't beat them too it.
> 
> I have some sort of nutrient issue in my two high tech tanks. I knew it pretty quickly from a sudden drop in grown then different algae out breaks in both tanks. The problem with my plants lead them to reduce their "niche" in the tank. They are not consuming what wastes they were before. A month later there is a increase in snail populations in both tanks. Tanks have been running for years and snails have been present for years. I honestly am never concerned about the snails. Their numbers can go up and down depending on how well the tank is balanced. ATM both are poorly balanced and that is my fault. What exactly the problem is I could not tell you yet. What I see are not problems in there selves, but the effects of something else. Like the saying, "Everything happens for a reason."


You make a very good valid point here...
If theres no food source available, then theres no reason to reproduce. 

I didn't wanna take the chance anyways, So I went out and got a 2.5 Gallon. 
Since my girl was dying for me not to crush him, I decided I might as well save a Betta while I'm at it. Went to two diff LFS's and picked up the most stunning one they had. I'm just hoping the Betta doesn't eat the snail now lol... Or I might just be making my OWN dinner for the week haha


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

I don't know about pond snails... but I know my betta doesn't bother apple snails... except for occasionally nipping at their feeler thingies. 

You should consider making that 2.5 gallon a quarantine tank and getting the betta and snails a 10 gallon.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

egoreise said:


> I don't know about pond snails... but I know my betta doesn't bother apple snails... except for occasionally nipping at their feeler thingies.
> 
> You should consider making that 2.5 gallon a quarantine tank & getting the betta and snails a 10 gallon.


If I had the space i would...
My girl and everyone I know already thinks i'm crazy for having this many tanks lol..

And I'm no where nears the tanks most people on this forum got.. I dont know how some of the people on this site do it. It was a fight just to upgrade to the 55g :chair:


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## Cichlid Dude! (Mar 15, 2011)

I once had a massive snail problem in my 20gal. tank, exact same snail type as that one, by the way, and it got so bad that I couldn't see the fish well 'cause of all the snails (at least there wasn't any algea haha!). Eventually, it got so bad that I got my clown loach (heard they ate snails). Got him acclimated, and BAM!! Snail population down to zero in a month!
If you can keep snails successfully, more power to you! And if you get a population explosion, clown loaches are pretty common in my experience!


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

Mr. fish said:


> If I had the space i would...
> My girl and everyone I know already thinks i'm crazy for having this many tanks lol..
> 
> And I'm no where nears the tanks most people on this forum got.. I dont know how some of the people on this site do it. It was a fight just to upgrade to the 55g :chair:


Haha! I feel ya. Workin' on tanks 5 and 6 and trying to convince my boyfriend that I need to upgrade a 10 gallon to a 20 long... no such luck ...yet.


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

my betta ignores the pond snails in his tank. However the apple snail in the same tank doesnt ignore the pond snail eggs >_<


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

one of my bettas eats snails but then she kills everything living that gets near her.


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

put a puffer in there , joking!


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