# Plant Nursery with thriving Bladder and Mini Ramshorn Snail population



## MsRed_BR (Jul 25, 2021)

Hello, Everyone!

I currently have a plant nursery with a thriving Bladder and Mini Ramshorn (_Planorbis arnoldi_) Snail population. They hitchhiked with the Anacharis I bought last month. I've moved the adults to their own "tank", but the babies are still popping out everywhere. 

These plants are supposed to go into my (soon to be) Walstad tank - a 20 gallon long that will only house three bettas (with dividers).

My question is: should I do an alum dip for all plants (and possibly substrate) before I place them in the Walstad tank (to try and get rid of them), or should I welcome them into the new tank?

I know Diana welcomed Malaysian Trumpet snails, but I'm unsure about these other types (as they are not diggers).

Thank you in advance for your advice!


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC! And welcome your snails, they are almost impossible to eliminate and your bettas might enjoy snail snacks.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I have a female paradise fish that's a snail killer but other paradise fish are not.
You can build a snail trap to take out the snails.

Snails aren't so bad. They keep your tank free of algae.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

I've become a snail person since one or two of them stowed away on my last plant purchase. They like algae and decaying leaves and seem to avoid everything else. What more could you ask for?


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## MsRed_BR (Jul 25, 2021)

johnwesley0 said:


> I've become a snail person since one or two of them stowed away on my last plant purchase. They like algae and decaying leaves and seem to avoid everything else. What more could you ask for?


I was okay with them when I found the two adult individuals that originally came with the plant, but a month later I've got no less than 100 babies and juveniles zooming around. That's a 5000% increase. 😬
My fear is that the exponential progression continues and, when I least expect it, I'm having to move out of my apartment, because they need room for their offspring. 🤣


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

The population will balance out. Food is the limiting factor.


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## MsRed_BR (Jul 25, 2021)

mistergreen said:


> The population will balance out. Food is the limiting factor.


Yes, what I worry about is: if they're doing great now (with no fish food and fish waste to feast on, only decaying plants), imagine how it'll be when they have an even better buffet! 🤣
Not only that, but I feel awful vacuuming the gravel now, because I know I'm killing several of them in the process.
I have no way out, really. I guess I'll just have to wait and see... 😬


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

MsRed_BR said:


> Yes, what I worry about is: if they're doing great now (with no fish food and fish waste to feast on, only decaying plants), imagine how it'll be when they have an even better buffet! 🤣
> Not only that, but I feel awful vacuuming the gravel now, because I know I'm killing several of them in the process.
> I have no way out, really. I guess I'll just have to wait and see... 😬


If there are more snails when you start adding fish food, it's simply because there's extra nutrients available there. The snails will help break down the food + waste more quickly so the plants can use them faster. Really the only issue would be if the snails are visually unappealing - in this case, maybe try to get your MTS population up. Since they're often buried during the day, they aren't as easy to see. In my tank, the MTS have out-competed the bladder snails quite a bit; I hardly have any at all anymore, whereas it used to be absolutely infested like yours. Along those same lines, you could add some prettier snails, like ramshorn/nerite/etc to increase the competition.


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## MsRed_BR (Jul 25, 2021)

jatcar95 said:


> If there are more snails when you start adding fish food, it's simply because there's extra nutrients available there. The snails will help break down the food + waste more quickly so the plants can use them faster. Really the only issue would be if the snails are visually unappealing - in this case, maybe try to get your MTS population up.


Oh, we don't mind their looks at all. We have pretty much adopted them as our own already... We just want to make sure we'll be able to keep the apartment as they stage their takeover. 🤣
Actually, I just got a couple of Pink Ramshorns... I'm just burying myself deeper and deeper at this point. 😬


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Embrace the new world order and bow to your masters.


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