Snails?

Austin

Ok, so I have some hijackers on my plants whom have yet to die (from when I bought Java Moss for that tank years ago!!! I've cleaned the tank with the hose once too when I was changing it...)

But their population is starting to pick up, again.

I wonder if they are good or bad, and if someone can tell by the bad pictures I'm attaching.

The reason I put this in plants was because they hijacked on plants, and I am wondering if they are ok for my plants, because, some people have said snails eat algae off the leaves and such and keep the tank clean, so I'll move some upstairs if they really are goood.....

They are about 2 mm wide maybe 3 mm high they have a spiral shell. Very tiny!

Maybe I should buy some other types of snails? Suggestions?

Thx! :)

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1077

Hard to tell from pictures but they may be Malaysian trumpet snails which really don't do damage to plants. Some other types will munch on your plant's.

Austin

I'm pretty sure they aren't... aren't malaysian trumpet snails way larger? I haven't seen a larger one than those typically in the years I've had this tank... They appear on and off.

stephanieleah

it looks like that to me as well but usually they burrow and just come up now and then. if your snails are overpopulating, i'd check and make sure you aren't overfeeding that tank. they won't over-reproduce if there isn't an abundance of food. just a thought.

Austin

Ya, I'm going to feed less. It's my fry tank so I do feed them quite a bit. Apparently they aren't eating it all though...

Byron

They look like Malaysian Trumpet/Livebearing snails to me too, and they are considered good snails by most aquarists. I have them by the hundreds. They are super at keeping the substrate loose and not compacting, which is especially useful with sand but also good with gravel. They eat any leftover food or decaying plant or fish matter they find, and they do eat algae off plant leaves though I suspect this is minimal. As mentioned, these snails are live bearing, not egg-laying. I have some that attain about 3/4 of an inch. I consider them a good resident in a healthy balanced aquarium.

I have to keep adding them (from the other tanks) to my SE Asian setup because the loaches do eat them and it keeps the numbers minimal in that tank.

Austin

I thought MTS were likeeee... something you'd have to buy, not get for free hitchhiking on plants. Also I'm pretty sure these lay eggs. I had some in an old fish tank that were similar and I'd see eggs on the wall..

Plus I thought malaysian trumpet snails were larger? :S Well, I'm glad if that's what they are. It's just hard to believe when I look at pictures on google. But ya'll are the experts. xP

Byron

If the "snail" is that tiny white spot in the centre of the moss, it certainly looks like a MTS to me. The shell is conical and spiral. What are the "eggs" like, can you post a photo? Might be something else.

Austin

hmm, haven't seen eggs for this snail. But years ago I had snails that looked like this that I got from the LFS for free (you know, the ones all over the tanks sometimes) and the eggs looked like clear jelly stuff with white dots in the center. I also had some with circular shells so maybe that's why. I also have a few tiny ones with circular like shells... should I get some ics of those too? Those are only in my 29g I think.

Byron

I thought you previously meant that these snails were laying eggs; if as most of us have suggested they are MTS, they are livebearing snails. The other common small snails are bladder and pond snails, they lay eggs.