Do You Like Snails In Your Tank???

[Bellabelloo]

Many snails eat plants as well as algae and waste.
I have no problem at all with having them in my aquariums. My axolotl eat them and my newts eat the newly hatched ones.

So I have a Question.

I put some snails in my tank, one pond snail and a lot of unidentified ones. They are small but growing bigger, none are bigger that 2 cm. Anyway, I don't know what they eat, apparently they eat waste? But I was looking at one of my plants and half the stalk was eaten! I am pretty mad because it was my healthiest and fastest growing stalk. Could a snail have eaten it? Do they eat plants as well? I just thought they helped keep a tank clean and provide extra food, but I didn't think they would eat my plants! Is it a snail that ate part of my stalk do you think?

 

[Niels D]

I'm a snail lover as well. Especially bladder and pond snails. If they get eaten your axie will dispose of the shell in the natural way. I've seen one of my axies "get ridd" of a large shell without any problem. I don't know if this would be the case if it were a large ramshorne snail of course.

Another observation is that tanks with snails never have hydra thriving in them here. I feed wild caugh food items in some tanks together with some unwanted hydra. In the snail tanks they never establish themselves permanently. I know other keepers have experienced this as well.

 

[amberose1]

I don't mind snails . i have heard a lot about them being bad for the tank although i don't know why.???

 

[JoshBA]

I prefer to have snails in my tanks to add to the biodiversity. They just create a TON of detritus (with their crud) in my unfiltered tank.

 

[sde]

I don't mind snails . i have heard a lot about them being bad for the tank although i don't know why.???

I think some people do think that, but I love e'm! They help keep the tank clean, and can be an extra food source, and I think they are cool looking! But they can eat plants, breed like crazy, so if you put two in you could have several dozen in a matter of weeks/months. And if they are too big newts and salamanders might try to eat them and get them lodged in their throat.
That's why I have small ones

 

[Boomsloth]

I think the people who dislike snails in their tanks are referring to the fact that they spend so much time making their aquariums pretty only to be looking at the butt end of a bunch of little snails on the glass. This seems to be more of a case with aquariums that have fish that do not eat the snails and snail populations get out of hand. I think snails are pretty neat.

 

[dennis]

It surprises me how accurate n precise my axolotls can be honing in on the smallest snails to eat! They hunt worms when they are the least bit hungry but they will let pellets rot on the tank bottom unless they pass right in front of their face....I don't feed my sallys much pellets at all though so I think they are kinda put out by them.....

I've seen them notice a tiny half a sesame seed size snail in very very carefully stalk them n devour. Very interesting. I can't seem to ever keep a population of snails alive because even when introduced adults come in on plants and manage to lay eggs every baby seems to get its lunch before it grows up.....so I started a snail farm tank I throw all my excess duckweed n what not in....I have a couple pretty heavy planted 40 gallon tanks ya would think they could hide in but I actually have a problem with an inch a dead plant matter n moss on the bottom of my tanks cuz I'm afraid to put a goldfish or something to clean up cuz a disease the catfish family is not an option and the snails cant survive......anyone have any ideas for a healthy biological clean up crew in a sally tank besides snails? .......I've introduced scuds a few times but they are devoured super quick too my sallys will tear the tank apart digging them up.....

 

[frogman]

I have snails in all my tanks, they don't bother me and I don't bother them

 

[Griffin8891]

Snails must have come in on the anacharis plants for my N. kaiseri tank. In the beginning when I was trying to keep track of how much and how often the newt was eating ibloodworms it was really irritating since the snails would also scavenge them.

 

[Smoxolotl]

Definitely not Apple snails after reading #36 of this Caudata Culture Articles - Species Mixing Disasters

 

[Shortcircuit05]

I prefer to have snails, but only apple snails as they don't infest the tank and become a problem as often.

Edit: after seeing the above post I checked out the link. That has never happened to me.

 

[Smoxolotl]

I'm glad that it hasn't! I would be devastated if a snail took out one of my axies! Just not worth the risk to me. I enjoy snails, I think they create alot of interest in a tank. They also give my axies something to bother! I've always had Ramshorn and Bladder snails in my tanks, and they never seem to become a problem in my axolotl tanks. I also have Mystery snails but I think those are going to get pulled out soon, as they are just big enough to worry me about becoming lodged in one of my axies throat or something. Sofar, they just hide in their shells whenever my lotls come sniffing!/:lick:

 

[Mevv]

they aren't a problem for me and find them interesting to watch some times. I was surprised the other day to find out my one snail began producing eggs. I only bought one to try and keep the population from getting out of control. Only later did I find out the snail I bought is asexual...

 

[eyrops]

So,

I added some snails to my tank and I was wondering what people think about having snails, are they a nuisance? etc. Please VOTE and leave a REPLY if you want too. Also say why you like or dislike them please. :grin:

-Seth :rofl:

I like snails sometimes for themselves, and certain sorts in fish tanks. I try to avoid having them everywhere. Some seem to be as prolific as duckweed and become a visual nuisance or eat the plants. I would be interested if anyone has knowledge of snails hosting parasites that affect amphibians. I would be surprised none did. Snails are a varied tribe. I had a tank with a large population of what I think were Malaysian trumpet snails, which spent most of their time on the surface of the substrate or burrowing in it. I introduced a local unidentified species of large livebearing snail with an operculum. It also burrowed. My trumpet snail population suddenly crashed. I suspect the other snails ate them.

 

[littlebignafe]

I had some snails come into to my tank by accident on the plants i brought from the shop. Left them there as they were very small, biggest was smaller than my little finger nail by a fair margin, and they disappeared pretty rapidly as a light snack for Terrance i enjoyed having them there... while it lasted

 

[NewtB]

I started with one mystery pond snail and have had many snail babies that have all been lunch for my larvae - which suits me just fine - so long as they're eating! However I kept wishing I had at least a couple with how quickly the little guys get wiped out. I accidentally swiped another pond snail whilst getting more pond water and this guy has luckily survived as well. I love them because they keep my tank pretty clean and I actually enjoy watching the eggs grow and hatch. And like someone else said - free live food! Can't beat that! I have heard they get into filters and can cause quite a bit of trouble there, but since I don't have filters, I quite enjoy my little snails. We have even named them. :grin:

 

[Biev]

I use nerites to clean nearly all of my tanks. Love ‘em love ‘em love ‘em.

 

[LittleLotti]

I have 3 adult axolotls in my main aquarium so snails in the tank is a big no no. I don't want the axies to eat them as they will not be able to digest the shells. I do however have a seperate smaller tank where I cultivate my own daphinia for my hatchlings. ^.^ I love love love snails in there (I have red and tortoise shell ramshorn snails) and also have some fresh water shrimp. They all seem to help each other thrive as the culture is going strong.