# Snail Friends



## Magdelaine (Apr 9, 2005)

Long after my recent plant purchase I have found some new creatures in my tank-snails! There are two different types, the flat brown type and a pointy shelled type. I found some eggs, too, on a plant that I scraped off and the fish attacked thinking it was food. This is new to me...

Do I need to get rid of them? Can I get rid of them? What are up sides and down sides to keeping snails that come with freshwater plants?


----------



## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, to be honest I haven't found any downsides to the snails in my tanks. I have little ramshorns and cute little "mini-mystery snais"








I once had some pond snails, but my rosy barbs took care of them (they are such greedy fish...)

Your pointy shelled things are either pond snails
http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/specimens/Physa_sp_DSCN4592.jpg
or MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails)
http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/specimens/Melanoides_sp_DSCN8220.jpg

You don't need to get rid of them, but do keep their numbers under control. Don't feed too much fish food, and if you find that you have too many of them, then remove some of them. You can rid of the excess snails by putting in some lettuce in the evening, and in the morning, pull it out, covered with snails.


----------



## euRasian32 (May 19, 2005)

I don't know how true, but I've read that Malaysian trumpets can be canniballistic if there aren't enough food/nutrients for them in the tank. I've got close to a hundred MTS's in my 125.


----------



## Magdelaine (Apr 9, 2005)

It seems the pointy shell is an MTS from the pictures, and the flat shelled sort is a ramshorn. I haven't been super good about keeping my water changed and tank cleaned lately, which is one reason why they are suddenly so big and I'm just now noticing them...but it seems like they are helping keep my tank cleaner than not. On a rock that I took out and forgot to put back I found at least one tiny baby one, so they are already reproducing.

Ok, I'll let them stay for now...I kind of like them. But I don't want them over-running my tank. But on the subject of overfeeding...

BTW, I always feel like I'm overfeeding my fish from the amount of junk I get in my gravel. I feed them a small pinch of flaked food once every day and I skip days about twice a week. Food never gets to the floor (although if it does because of a current a fish will find it and eat it) and it dissapears within about 30 seconds. Can I feed my fish even less? They seem kinda skinny. I know I'm not overstocked.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Snails are beneficial and harmful to a planted tank, depending on the species and the person who owns the tank. While MTS and ramshorn don't eat plants, I find them unsightly and I add snail predators to a tank that has them. Pond snails are a nusiance and will decour all but the most hard plants. Apple/mystery snails can eat plants but usually dont. Its a matter of preference but pond snails (though the name is incorrect) are one you will want to get rid of. I suspect this is what you have as MTS are livebearing and only pond snails lay thier eggs underwater (of the snails commonly found in aquariums).


----------



## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

It seems the Simpte's experience with pond snail is different from that of me and my friends. When I had pond snails (before the rosy barbs got rid of them) my plants didn't suffer, and I have a couple of friends with planted tanks, and their plants don't seem to suffer. Perhaps there are some circumstances under which pond snails eat plants and some under which they don't?

As for apple snails, it's a matter of species. Pomacea bridgesii don't eat plants, except for duckweed, which they love. Pomacea canaliculata eats most plants. They are easy to tell apart by the shape of the shells (see http://www.applesnail.net/). In the US the P. bridgesii are called mystery or inca snails, and the P. canaliculata are called apple snails. In the UK, the P. bridgesii are called apple snails and I have never seen a P. canaliculata for sale except for on a specialst snail shop web page.

Also, as for where they lay eggs, I think small ramshorns lay eggs underwater as well as pond snails.


----------

