I have some snails that have appeared in my tropical fish tank......?

Question

I have some snails that have appeared in my tropical fish tank, how did they get there and are they good or bad for the tank?

Answer 1

Some types of snails are BAD some are OK

If your snail is horn shaped its prob a mylaisian(sp?) trumpet snail and ifso is one of the best snails to have in your tank - they stir up the gravel keeping it loose, letting plant roots thrive and preventing hydrogen sulfide biuldup. they only eat plants if they have no other food. - best population contol is not to overfeed your fish. if there are TONS you can net them out and crush there shell and dump them back in (free FISHTREAT ) only ise something other than you finger as ANY snail can harbor bacteria that can cause harm if it gets into your system via a sharp shell shroud.

if they are rounder they are probably pond snails

Answer 2

BAD! Snails bad, dude. Did you buy a plant or a fish recently? Sometimes, you'll get some snail eggs scooped up from the dealer tank, and wind up with these snails, which can take over the tank if left to their own devices. Before they get out of control, I would suggest getting a couple of clown loaches. They love snails. Also, you could try cleaning out all the gravel and decorations and removing the snails already in there.

Answer 3

Snails can come in a variety of ways, water transfered with a new fish, plants etc they can actually be beneficial to tanks as they eat algae and food that the fish may have missed. The drawback is that they can breed pretty fast and soon can overrun the tank. the only real way to get rid is to totally clean out the tank and remove them all by hand (net)

Answer 4

they were probably introduced with plants that you have added recently
although they are not harmful as such they can put a extra load on your filter and cause it to not work so well meaning more cleaning of the tank and filter medium
to get rid of them buy a clown loach these fish are very efficient snail eaters and will live happily in a community tank
some shops that sell these will tell you they have to be kept in groups of 3 or 4 I have had a single fish in my tank for the past year and when I had 3 the others died so I believe that they are loners

Answer 5

Have you recently bought any plants, or fish and poured the water along with the fish right into your tank? You should never pour water from any other tank into your fish tanks. They should be fine, they will help keep the tank clean. But if they multiply to much, take a piece of lettece and attach it to a rock by rubberbands, and leave in in there for about 2 hours, Then when it is covered in snails, just take out the lettece and discard in the garbage.

Answer 6

I had the same problem, and i found out that they were in the fish food, and if what you have are the real small ones, I can tell you for a fact that they will multiply like crazy, i mean hundreds of them, there are some chemicals out there for snail problems but they are really not that good unless you dump the whole bottle in then you have a new problem, like it will start killing off your fish, what i suggest is get as many as you can out and quit using that particular brand of fish food, put some of the chemicals in there to get rid of the remaining snails and buy a couple of mollys. good luck.

Answer 7

Snail eggs usually come attached to a live plant. Wash all new plants carefully before adding to your equarium. Once snails are introduced in the tank, they can be extremely difficult to completely get rid of. They're not all that bad as they keep algae off your tank but they look very ugly as they increase in number. It's possible to limit their population by limiting their food. Make sure that your fish are not leaving any food uneaten. The more food they get, the more they'll reproduce. You can also remove any plant that snails in your tank like to chomp on. You can see very tiny white snails eggs in little clusters around plants; siphon them off while cleaning your tank. Another trick is to use a slice of cucumber attached to some weight and leave at the bottom of the tank overnight, that'll attract snails; you can remove the cucumber and all the snails attached to it in the morn. You can tier a thread to it to make it convenient to lift it off tank bottom. It'll take continuous effort to keep the snails population to near invisible level. I did have a bigtime snails infestation once, I used all of the above and physically removed any single snail I ever saw... my tank is now free of snails. It takes a bit of obsession to the rid of snails. Starting over completely will be easier for you, but a lot of stress on your fish. Amen.

Answer 8

probably brought into the tank as eggs when you put in extra plants. They will eat algae off the glass, and as such are good as you will be able to see the fish. They also multiply fast. You can get a chemical to put into the tank which will kill the snails but not harm the fish. Ask at your usual aquarium shop.

Answer 9

A few are good, but a lot are bad. Often they could in on plants. Apple, mystery, or trapdoor snails are greatly good as they eat algae and breed slowly. Ramshorn snails tend to get out of control. Of course some fish love snails, and others love baby snails.

If you don't want them, or they are reproducing like mad go to your fish store, and look at the anti-ich (aka ick) meds buy one that warns you about it's effects on invertebrates, and scaleless fish. Or in a larger tank you could get a coolie(khuli) loach, or clown loach. Also you could just drop a cumber in with a string on it, and reel it it in after they swarm it.

Answer 10

I've just fully cleaned 2 of my tanks trying to get rid of them.

they multiply rapidly.
a few are ok they eat all the crap at the bottom and if you fish die they'll eat that. they do clean algae but....they multiply.

if your not care full they will block your filter. if you want to keep them to clean up your tank you will have to keep the numbers down by killing the visible ones every day.

if you can see them on the glass you are already infested.

my pet store told me to place a small piece of meat in between 2 saucers and the snails will go in it then you just have to scoop them out every day or couple of days.

i got fed up of killing them every day so i did a full clean out, gravel everything.

even then you have to be thorough, it only takes 1 to survive and soon enough you'll be back where you started.

mine came in on a new plant. never again!! it's plastic 4me!!