What kind of snail is this?

[Lady Hobbs]

I've been jumping for joy that all pond snails have disappeared from my tank. I mean from hundreds to 0! I added a couple assassin snails several months ago but no way could they have eliminated that many pond snails, I don't believe.

But I dropped this cucumber in my tank last night for the corys and this is what I have now. Trumpet snails, I believe but I have no idea where they come from. Same plants have been in this tank for 2 years. There are about 10 on this cucumber and mostly wee babies.

Now I guess I need to ask, will my assassins kill them......and.....do trumpets kill pond snails? (Still trying to figure out where all the pond snails went.) That big one must be the mama snail. She's a biggie and I can't believe I've never seen her.

[Lady Hobbs]

Checked tank with my magnifying glass. LOL There are 37 snails on this cucumber and they are all over the place in the tank.

And then it hit me.......I bought some java fern from one of our great members here last month. Now I know where all the extra meat come from.

[frefal13]

Shes probably busy digging through the substrate throughout the day!

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, I re-moved some of them. No point in getting rid of one pest snail only to have another take over. I just read trumpets can also be a problem and take over a tank and I'm not wanting to get into that deal again.

[frefal13]

I've read pretty mixed reviews about the snails. I know Jenn keeps a bunch of MTS in all her tanks to stir the substrate and I have read that they really only get bad if you over feed a lot. I actually considered getting some for my 10 gallon tank but I don't think they would appreciate the size of my gravel so I decided against it.

[KingFisher]

I have a ton of MTS in my 90g. They do a good job of keeping the sand stirred up and taking care of any dead plant matter and leftover food. When their numbers get too high I just scoop a bunch out and dump them in the 50g with the assassin snails. The assassins make quick work of eating them in there.

[Trillianne]

You assassins will eat those too.

My fish shop will pick snails out of their big plant bins for me when I'm there as a special assassin snail treat.

[SmokeyCFH]

I had a ton of those in my tank and assassin snails took care of every last one of them.

[Lady Hobbs]

That's good to hear. I can see where they take over in short order. I must have counted at least 60 and until yesterday never had seen even one.

[SmokeyCFH]

they can be hitchhikers on all sorts of things, like driftwood or plants from your LFS. all it takes is 1 and you'll be over run in no time.

[toddnbecka]

Annoying buggers if they jam the impeller of your hob filters or powerheads, but overall not a bad critter unless they become a plague. I had a 30 gallon tank some years ago. Never had a clue there were more than a few little mts in the tank until I got home late one night and turned on the lights. The entire bottom of the tank was a moving carpet of snail shells, with more climbing the sides. Never saw them by day, they burrowed among the gravel until the lights were off.

[Alasse]

I have MTS in all but my cichlid tank, the loaches cleaned em up in there. I like em, beneficial things. For me the pros far outweigh the cons in having them in tanks. If i see an abundance i know i've overfed and need to cut back

[Lady Hobbs]

With my pond snails all killed off, I needed some meat in the tank for my assassin anyway.

I'm not all that sure on the over-feeding thing with snails. I have always fed a very small amount in the morning and a small amount at night. And my pond snails multiplied by the dozens. My son also got over-run with them and he "forgets" to feed his fish for 2-3 days at a time. But, it's what I always hear makes them increase but I'm still not convinced. I think they breed worse than rabbits regardless.

[funkman262]

Why do so many people hate snails? I have several types in my tank (all hitchhikers on plants) and it's not like they bother anyone. As far as I'm concerned, they just help to create a more natural ecosystem.

[Lady Hobbs]

Like guppies, some hate them and some don't. I LOVE looking at my tank and only seeing in the tank what I put in the tank, not what invaded the tank or snuck in.

[Alasse]

With my pond snails all killed off, I needed some meat in the tank for my assassin anyway.

I'm not all that sure on the over-feeding thing with snails. I have always fed a very small amount in the morning and a small amount at night. And my pond snails multiplied by the dozens. My son also got over-run with them and he "forgets" to feed his fish for 2-3 days at a time. But, it's what I always hear makes them increase but I'm still not convinced. I think they breed worse than rabbits regardless.
I can only speak of my experience. I havent had a snail explosion in the majority of my tanks for over 8 months, why, because i dont overfeed. The only tank i do over feed is the fry tank, and yep, the snails are absolutely feral in there *L*

In 8months if they were going to overpopulate my tanks they would have by now. They certainly have the potential to be like rabbits, not my experience though, as i said, unless i overfeed