General Care Discussion :: snails

[melnez]

So, this past weekend I went to the pet store and bought some aquatic plants for Da Vinci to eat. Well, yesterday I was staring in my tank like I usually do and I saw a snail. I heard that there was a chance that I might get one with a plant but...they just hatched and there is about 10 of them. They are really small but growing fast. Does anyone have any idea what kind they are and..since Da Vinci's not eating much I'm afraid they'll start multiply to fast so, does anyone have any ideas on how to...dispose of them if I get too many. They are fun to watch though.

[jenaero]

I usually just put them down the sink. They're probably ramshorn snails.

[cam722]

I've never had a problem with an over population of snails. I have them in the tanks with my fish. I'm not sure if they just don't lay eggs or if the fish are eating them. Either way they are rather small and clean up some of the gunk on the plants etc.

[missibsu]

I breed my snails, and the ones that I ended up with from the plants were cornucopia snails. They are fast breeders, but I have never had a problem with them over populating. My turtles eat them though. My guess is your turt will too, when he notices them. Also, my guppies do tend to eat some of the eggs.

[melnez]

do snails poop? this might be a dumb question...

[missibsu]

yeah, and they can be slightly messy that way. Depends on the size of the snail and the quantity.

[sarah]

Hey, I was thinking about getting a snail for my tank (my turts don't tend to eat live food) but I have an opening in the back where a filter should go (we don't have one in) Could they get out?

[missibsu]

Could they, yes. Will they, who knows. I have never had a problem with mine, but when doing research it mentioned keeping a lid on the tank. My large snail has to have room to exit the water to lay eggs and can survive for better than a day out of the water.

[melnez]

oh that'd be awesome...baby snails crawling all over my dorm room. My roommate would love it...hehe. Thanks for the heads up before that happens.

[missibsu]

I have never found any of my snails above the water line...if that makes you feel better. I have a lid but I also have a waterfall style filter, so it doesn't lay flat. I wouldn't worry too much about them getting out. I love having a ready supply of snails around. It's amazing the things that they eat, and the shell is a good source of calcium for the turt.

[daredevilgirl013]

I have about six snails and the only time I have ever seen them above water was when one of them crawled on the turtle dock to eat the algae off the top. They will only go above the water line to lay eggs or search for food if they have none. So if you feed them they will stay in the water.

[melnez]

ok...after about 3 weeks of snail, I'M DONE!

The first time I cleaned the tank I put about 30 tiny snails done the drain. The second time I cleaned it they were everywhere so, I just drained them all because it was just going to get worse and Da Vinci isn't eating them yet. Maybe I'll get some more when he can stay on the bottom, which i'm thinking might be this weekend!

So...snails are bad.

[daredevilgirl013]

You gotta get big ones. Not baby ones. I have some that are about an inch shell width wise and length wise and then one about the size of a baseball. Get ones that you can clearly see that they are snails and only get like three at a time. Ramshorns are good for size and realizing that they are snails. My turtle will eat them when they start to slow down or float around the tank because they go into a hybernation period kinda. He's eaten 12 snails so far.

[zuse]

When my friend started her fish tank a bunch of the new plants came with small snails. They poop a lot (it's weird to see a little snail poop). Anyways, we rounded up a bunch of them and put them in my betta's tank. Even the largest one "disappeared" within a week! :-X Now here kuhli loaches take care of them.