# What do baby Malaysian Trumpet Snails look like?



## Harry Muscle

I've had my 55G tank up and running for almost two weeks now and I've been noticing baby snails ... I put Malaysian Trumpet Snails in there on purpose, however, I'm suspecting these babies might be hitchhiker pond snails ... not sure though. So I was wondering if anyone has pictures of what baby Malaysian Trumpet Snails look like ... the size of snails that I'm finding is about 1 to 2 mm (1/16 of an inch or so) ... I know it's quite small so all snails might look the same at that size ... but it's worth asking.

Thanks,
Harry


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## Gilraen Took

IME they look like regular Malaysians do, only a whole lot smaller! The ones I've seen in my tanks are around 1 mm long and have the same shape as adults, whereas the baby pond/ramshorns look like miniatures of them.


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## Harry Muscle

Hmm, maybe I need glasses to see them better   Mine don't really match either the MTS or pond snails ... hmmm, maybe it's something completely else ...

Btw, as a side point MTS snails give birth to live snails, right? Pond snails lay eggs, right?

Thanks,
Harry


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## tfmcder

Harry Muscle said:


> Hmm, maybe I need glasses to see them better   Mine don't really match either the MTS or pond snails ... hmmm, maybe it's something completely else ...
> 
> Btw, as a side point MTS snails give birth to live snails, right? Pond snails lay eggs, right?
> 
> Thanks,
> Harry


Yup, so take a look around for any egg sacs. If you see any then you are most likely seeing some type of baby pond snail or ramshorn.


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## evercl92

even the little little ones have the definite cone shape that the adults do. If it's a more circular body, you've got something else.


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## southerndesert

Hard to get a picture, but they show up on the glass allot when very young and do not really look like the adults until they grow quite a bit. They are very small (live birth) at this age and you will be able to see them begin to "stretch" out as they grow...

Bill


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## Harry Muscle

I found one that's slightly more grown up and it's definately pond snails ... are they bad for plants? Or are they more or less harmless and useless. If they are harmfull to plants is there any fish that will eat snails but leave shrimp alone (cause I really wanna get some shrimp in the near future).

Thanks,
Harry


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## GlitcH

nope pond snails are great for your tank......won't harm your plants at all.
As for fish that will eat snails but not shrimp.......good luck with that one.


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## jb0y

Hi Harry,

I am about to start an aquatic aquarium, and been doing some heavy research on snail, shrimp, and notes on how to maintain a lush beautiful aquatic plants. I did come across some interesting notes re-snails, and from what I learn, pond snails is BAD for your plant. They WILL eat all your plants.

I been trying to look for a picture of the Malaysian Trumpet Snail, as I am trying to get one to eat all the dead leaves, etc. No such luck yet.

Here's some of the info I obtain from thekrib.com noting the info posted about pond snail. 

Hope that help.

J

Malaysian trumpet snail
The Malaysian snail, Melanoides tubercularia, is an interesting creature in that it lives in the substrate during the day and only comes out at night. Its shell is a perfect cone shape and gets to about 2 cm long. It is a livebearing snail and reproduces quite readily. It is considered beneficial to a plant tank and doesn't seen to harm plants, even in large populations. They are hard to find for sale, but usually come for free on plant shipments. If desired, Clown loaches will keep them and other snails well under control. 

Ramshorn Snail
Ramshorn snails are very common and come in various sizes. Their shape is as their name suggests. The smaller varieties (under 1 cm) are not too damaging to a plant tank, although they seem to relish the tender leaves of the Hygrophila family. 

The other type is the dark and light brown striped Columbian Ramshorn that can grow big as large as 2 inches in diameter. The stripes run the length of the shell with a pattern of random width light-dark- light stripes that stays constant throughout the snails life. These snails are extremely prolific and have a terrific appetite for plants. 

Pond Snails
Pond snails are football shaped snails under 2 cm in length. They are to be avoided, as they will happily eat all your plants.


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## jb0y

Hi Harry,

I am about to start an aquatic aquarium, and been doing some heavy research on snail, shrimp, and notes on how to maintain a lush beautiful aquatic plants. I did come across some interesting notes re-snails, and from what I learn, pond snails is BAD for your plant. They WILL eat all your plants.

I been trying to look for a picture of the Malaysian Trumpet Snail, as I am trying to get one to eat all the dead leaves, etc. No such luck yet.

Here's some of the info I obtain from thekrib.com noting the info posted about pond snail. 

Hope that help.

J

Malaysian trumpet snail
The Malaysian snail, Melanoides tubercularia, is an interesting creature in that it lives in the substrate during the day and only comes out at night. Its shell is a perfect cone shape and gets to about 2 cm long. It is a livebearing snail and reproduces quite readily. It is considered beneficial to a plant tank and doesn't seen to harm plants, even in large populations. They are hard to find for sale, but usually come for free on plant shipments. If desired, Clown loaches will keep them and other snails well under control. 

Ramshorn Snail
Ramshorn snails are very common and come in various sizes. Their shape is as their name suggests. The smaller varieties (under 1 cm) are not too damaging to a plant tank, although they seem to relish the tender leaves of the Hygrophila family. 

The other type is the dark and light brown striped Columbian Ramshorn that can grow big as large as 2 inches in diameter. The stripes run the length of the shell with a pattern of random width light-dark- light stripes that stays constant throughout the snails life. These snails are extremely prolific and have a terrific appetite for plants. 

Pond Snails
Pond snails are football shaped snails under 2 cm in length. They are to be avoided, as they will happily eat all your plants.


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## jackgood

Here's a good picture of a pond snail that I found

Pond Snail

Contrary to what has been said above they do not eat live plants. At least they haven't eaten any plants in my 55 gal. and I have tons of these little buggers. They seem perfectly happy to munch on the algae that grows on my tank. And they seem to coexist well with the malaysian trumpet snails I have.

They provide lots of benefits in that they keep your tank relativly clean and don't ordinarily harm anything. Having said that they aren't very attractive and given the oportunity will reproduce by the hundreds (your over feeding your tank, knock it off!) I certainly wouldn't shed any tears if they all disappeared tomorrow.

I've thought about trying to eradicate them all. The trick for me is that I'll have to try and get rid of all the pond snails without losing all my trumpet snails. From what I've read the simplest method may be to just introduce a predator to my tank. Couple of clown loaches would eat the pond snails and leave the trumpet snails alone due to their hard shell. At least, that's the theory.


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## jag428

Pond snails will not eat healthy plants but will munch on sick plants that might have survived otherwise. Also they are very annoying once you have a couple of thousand of them in your tank. But anytime you use live plants you a probably going to get them.


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## cynkatt

hmm i have alot of malaysian and pond snails and i find them very benificial to my tanks, they never ever harm or eat my plants atall...my very large apple snail who is the brown striped kind on the other hand will eat rotting leaves, tender shoots and and weak plants, he won't pick and choose between a weak new plant vrs and old dying leaf, he gets moved around alot between 5 tanks so as not to do too much damage lol he is impressively large.


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## dekstr

I'm not sure what do baby Malaysian Trumpet Snails look like, but yesterday I got some snails that came with the plants I got. Not sure what they look like, but this afternoon I saw a really miniature version of the snail on the glass.

Pictures:  It's really hard to take pictures of small things with my limited photography skills. Note the difference in size, and the big one is trying to get away!


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## Tex Gal

If you want a px. do a google image search and many pxs. will come up. I have Malasian Trumpet snails and I will tell you that clown loaches will eat them. Since the snails bury themselves in the substrate it's highly unlikely that the loaches will get them all. I have had the loaches and snails exist together for years. BTW the snails have never hurt my plants either.


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