Can anyone ID these snails?

1671 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Flear, Apr 6, 2014

KeshiaB

Discussion Starter · Mar 31, 2014

I'm not sure what they are, I've been told they could be MTS but I'm unsure as they appear to have been munching on my plants (unless they are only eating dying leaves)... They burrow during the day and come out in the early evening for the night. So far I've counted 20, but they seem to be multiplying like bacteria!

Best pic I could get of a snail:

My damaged plants:

Plant Aquarium decor Flower Aquatic plant Herb

Plant Leaf Flower Terrestrial plant Houseplant

And the whole tank:

Aquarium decor Aquarium Freshwater aquarium Aquatic plant Plant

I am in the process of upgrading my lighting from a rubbish LED the pet store sold me, this may or may not help my plants...

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djembekah

· #2 · Apr 1, 2014

That looks like an underdeveloped ramshorn to me!

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KeshiaB

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 1, 2014

Thanks... that's what I'm thinking as well. Do ramshorns normally burrow? It's strange because some of them are clear and some are really dark brown. All are tiny, like less than 3mm. I feel a bit bad because I've been squishing every one I see for weeks now :-( I don't want them but I guess I'm stuck with them!

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djembekah

· #4 · Apr 1, 2014

All kinds of snails like sticking their faces into gravel, sand, and dirt. Not sure ramshorn snails actually burrow like MTS, but every snail I've owned dug their faces into my sand

if you don't have snails you want to keep or breed, maybe look into an assassin snail!

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KeshiaB

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 1, 2014

I don't think you can buy Assassin snails in Australia :-(

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Sylverclaws

· #6 · Apr 1, 2014

Certainly does look like ramshorns. A nice young one who will probably get color soon, or maybe not. lol My youngsters tend to stay see-through until they're around a month old, then start getting color.

If you don't want them, find and scrap up all their eggs, they're big egg layers. If you want something to eat them and can't get assassins...crayfish will eat them, though wont help much if you have a huge problem, loaches will help sometimes too. My kuhli loaches eat my ramshorns often, but not all of them. And not all kuhli loaches will, but some types of loaches will feast on them. So will fancy goldfish. Your betta will eat it if you crush the shell. Eesh, hate doing that, but not many will eat them shell and all, though some will eat youngsters, others don't like how hard they feel and spit them out.

You can probably sell them online as feeder snails, or just as ramshorns, if you have a lot of them, it's a nice little baby that you have a photo off, good shell, no white scrapes or anything. You'd be surprised how many will buy them in the bulk. =)

They do like to dig about in sand and gravel, but they aren't big on burrowing. In sand, they may a little, but they wont tunnel like MTS's do as Bekah said already.

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cwmorrow

· #7 · Apr 4, 2014

Another vote for ramshorn. MTS resemble a very thin ice cream cone, and I rarely see them out of the substrate.
I don't believe ramshorns eat healthy plants, but they will eat damaged plant material.
Are you fertilizing your plants? Your new light will help plant growth as well.
You can float a lettuce leaf or squash slice in the tank, and the snails will congregate on it, making for easier removal. Of course, wash any fertilizer or insecticide from the bait before it goes into the tank.

My wife has a tank of loaches. They eat snails avidly as well as normal fish food, but they constantly root about in the substrate. We have a canister filter on that tank to clean up after them.

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Flear

· #8 · Apr 6, 2014 (Edited)

mini ramshorn snails (not sure of the latin name)
adult size, about 5mm
shells are flat & typically lay flat against the surface they 'walk' on

tank g/f had (no longer does) found they do like strong water flow

Edit:
they are not responsible for the issues you are having with your plants
-i would suggest considering nutrient deficiencies (snails tend to eat dead things, not healthy plants - not even the remaining leaf when the rest of the leaf has died)

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