# Confused about Snails



## Ds11375 (Aug 27, 2006)

I asked my LFS what types of snails I could put into my planted tank and they said none. The lady I spoke to said ALL snails will eat my plants. Then I visit your Forum and others for planted tanks and I see that a lot of you guys have snails in your tanks.

Can anyone suggest any type of snails that would be ok for a planted tank.

Tks, Dan


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

Ramshorns, Malaysian trumpet snails (once these get in your tank it's game over, they're there for good), common pond snails, (some?) apple snails, and nerite snails that are acclimated to freshwater

Those are all I can think of at the moment. All should eat dead or dying plant matter, and some algae, and should leave healthy plant matter alone. Personally, I only like ramshorns and nerites. I am deathly scared of malaysian trumpet snails (MTS) because they don't look neat to me and they're supposed to be invincible, even to bleach nukings.


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## Purrbox (Jun 1, 2006)

The Apple Snails that are plant safe are the Pomacea bridgesii (Brigs). Other Apple Snails like Pomacea canaliculata (Canas) can decimate a planted tank extremely quickly. Visit The Apple Snail (Ampullariidae) Website to learn the differences. Also it's the only small Ramshorns that are plant safe, the ones that get really big will also eat plants.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

I think low calcium and low ph combined can rid you of MTS. I had alot of them till i discovered low calcium levels. Now I have zero MTS but a few pond snails survived those conditions.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

Not sure why you wouldn't want the MTS; in addition to cleaning up detritus, they help areate the gravel.

Snail populations are proportional to the amount of food that is available- don't overfeed your fish and their numbers shouldn't become excessive.


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

werner, some people don't want certain species of snails, or any snails at all because they aren't aesthetically pleasing to that individual, regardless of the benefits


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## osiris (Jul 28, 2006)

I put an apple snail into one of my planted tanks and it thought it was an all-you-can-eat salad bar. It especially loved new growth. I guess I had the wrong type.


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## Ds11375 (Aug 27, 2006)

What about Blue or Gold Mystery Snails? Those are the ones my LFS usually carry.


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## Purrbox (Jun 1, 2006)

Mystery Snail is just another common name for Apple Snails. So they may or may not be okay depending on the specific variety. If you check out the website I recommended and go to the Species link, there's some info about telling the differences between species with pics. Brigs are actually pretty easy to tell by the shape of the shell.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

Many different species are sold as "Mystery snails". Unless you can positively id them as a plant safe, you're taking a risk.



> werner, some people don't want certain species of snails, or any snails at all because they aren't aesthetically pleasing to that individual, regardless of the benefits


If you don't want any snails that's fine- lots of people don't. I just figured that if you're going to have snails, why not have MTS too. That's blatant Snail Snobbery! (I'm totally kidding! If you don't want them, don't have them- I'll understand.  )


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

I had a bad experience with Apple snails, they were sent to me as P. bridgesii and they looked like P. bridgesii but either they weren't or these were hungry because soon they started eating all my glosso. They were quite big (1/2"-3/4" long) so maybe that's why. I would assume if it fits in their mouth, they'll take a taste, and I watched an entire stem of glosso disappear inside the mouth of one. I didn't have problems with the smaller ones, but they soon died off. They are not nearly as prolific as pond snails or MTS.

Speaking of which, I like MTS because they're unique. They are quite invincible too, but they do a good job aerating my sand foreground to keep anerobic activity to a minimum.

Pond snails are the bane of my existence. They reproduce SO quickly and in such great numbers it's nearly impossible to get rid of them, and they're plain and ugly to boot. I put two I found in a nano just to see how fast they would populate the tank and already the glass is thick with tiny babies only a week later. They did do a good job of cleaning up the thick algae on the sides though.

I also have tiny ramshorns (none have gotten bigger than 1/8"). I'm guessing this is a seperate species to the big ones you see often. They are also prolific but a little prettier than pond snails.

Of all of these, only the Apple snails have eaten my plants. Yet.


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

I used to be terrified of snails a long time ago after reading about all the horrors they can cause. Now I love them. I have a 10 gallon with one big blue mystery snail, a couple of medium sized rams horns, and a ton of baby trumpets. I bought the blue mystery, the rest hitched a ride with plants I bought. They aren't eating any of my plants, nor glosso. I think that they are the BEST algae cleaners. I have otto's and shrimp, and the snails are the ones that really clean the plants. The otto's take care of the glass and the shrimp eat the fish food  . 

My feeling is that the smaller they are the better.

If you feel you have a problem with snails there is a simple technique you can use: 

1. Get a film canister (for old camera, you know what you would store the film in). Cut about 2-3 holes on top of the lid about a quarter inch in diameter. Put an algae wafer inside of the canister and close the lid (or use a piece of cucumber, squash, etc. Put it on the bottom of the tank overnight and in the morning remove the canister and a bunch of snails will be inside. The fish wont be able to get inside of the canister because the holes will be too small. If you have bigger snails that you want to get rid of, simply make the holes on the lid bigger, but make sure you dont make it too big so that others can enter.....

If you have small shrimp they may get inside the canister as well, but when pouring out the contents of the canister, use a net to catch any shrimp and put them back in the tank. 

2. Or just get a Clown Loach.

DONT USE SNAIL KILLER CHEMICALS, IT IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN POSSIBLY DO TO YOUR TANK!


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## Lord Nibbler (Dec 22, 2005)

*More snail questions*

This looks like a good thread to ask snail questions on.

I have a 10g nursery tank that tends to get dirty pretty quick. What sort of snail would be good for a mostly bare tank around 84F? I haven't had luck with plecos or ottos even when the temperature is lower as the lack of cover stresses them out.

My LFS has the "mystery snail" and "trapdoor snail" types for sale, but they didn't seem too knowledgable about snails (which was surprising). I guess the mysteries could be any kind of apple snail till I take a better look with that guide, but what type are "trapdoor" snails?

I also tend to get a lot of algae with my Limnophila. I have ottos and SAE but the ottos won't swim around in the fine-leafed plants and the SAE will only chow down on the algae when it grows up vertically. Any recommendations for snails? I figure I'd try one in one of the aquariums and see how it does.


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

MTS won't eat live plants, will burrow through the substrate, preventing anaerobic pockets from forming.
Small (NOT the Cana, that grows to the size of a baseball) apple/mystery snails will eat plants occaisonally, depending on how hungry they are, and how tasty they find any particular plant. 
Nerite snails will eat algae, won't eat live plants. Their eggs require salt water (or at least brackish) to hatch, but they will still lay eggs all over the tank.
Red ramshorn snails won't eat live plants, brown ramshorns are usually safe as well. Colombian ramshorns will eat anything green.
Pond snails are a gamble, there are many different species in that category.
Amano shrimp are useful for cleaning algae from fine-leaf plants.


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

MTS only burrow a few mm's into the substrate.. Not enough to really aerate anything. Anaerobic pockets form deep within or under large, solid objects. Not to discount other benefits, though they are interesting and somewhat usefull...

Pond snails and ramshorns are quite usefull to us, and I won't have a tank without one or the other.


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

Trapdoor snails prefer cooler waters. The give birth a couple of times a year to a single snail each time. I have one (a viviparus) and they have such cute "hose noses" with one set of stubby tentacles. They eat algae.


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## Lord Nibbler (Dec 22, 2005)

How cold is "cool water" for trapdoors?

Also, how big are amano shrimp? And do they crawl out of the aquarium if possible? I have some rather big rainbowfish, and the one time I got a wood shrimp before it crawled out of the aquarium the same night and dried up.


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

I keep my trapdoor snail with no heater and they become uncomfortable (in my experience) in temperatures of 23 - 24C (73F+). 

Amano females grow larger than the males and compared to dwarf shrimp they look huge lol. I would guess the females are about 3 inches long.

If you have problems with shrimp climbing out the tank I would check the water parameters, temperature and tankmates.


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## Lord Nibbler (Dec 22, 2005)

I'm not sure what water parameters the shrimp might not have liked, but the rainbowfish tend to be curious and aggressive towards new inhabitants.


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