We have these neat snails that bop around in the water. I'm not sure what they are; they have spiral shells and I believe they have live births. They don't lay eggs.
2007-08-01 16:32:41 · 14 answers · asked by greyeyedgirl 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
We have these neat snails that bop around in the water. I'm not sure what they are; they have spiral shells and I believe they have live births. They don't lay eggs.
I WILL NOT go and dump them in a lake or pond or anything. That would be horrible to the native species. I know that.
I can't just outright kill them. I just can't.
2007-08-01 16:34:51 · update #1
We have these neat snails that bop around in the water. I'm not sure what they are; they have spiral shells and I believe they have live births. They don't lay eggs.
**I WILL NOT go and dump them in a lake or pond or anything. That would be horrible to the native species. I know that.**
I can't just outright kill them. I just can't.
I also don't have ANY fish. We just keep snails - for whatever reason we are just unable to keep fish alive and we started feeling really bad about them dying on us all the time.
We live in Queens, NY.
2007-08-02 02:22:47 · update #2
Snails do not give live births. They lay gelatin like egg blobs that are very hard to see. Usually they hitchhike in on live plants or in fish bags. Get a small loach like a striated or skunk. They will eat the snails. You will never be able to get rid of them by picking them out with your hands. This leaves you with three options. Letting a loach eat them, using had-a-snail poison, or you could just continue to watch them. They aren't hurting anything.
Edit - Thanks to Copperhead: http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug,%20Snails,%20Malaysian%20Trumpet.htm
Malaysian trumpet snails do give live birth.
2007-08-01 16:42:19 · answer #1 · answered by fivespeed302 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Never release your snails in local ponds or rivers, in some countries it is actually an offence to do so, if they are not native to that area you could be introducing a new species that could be harmfull to the enviroment around you, I would take it to your local pet shop and they will be able to identify what sort of snail it is, sounds like you could have a good business going if they are interested, also if they are becoming a problem in your tank then I suggest either selling them or giving them to the local pet store or buy a fish that thinks snails are a delecasy, CLOWN LOACHES are a beautiful peaceful fish that LOVE snails, a few of those will certainly help your problem as long as they are compatible with the other fish in your tank, if it is a pond I would not add these. Pet store is your best bet tho.
2007-08-01 16:59:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is this the species you have? (see photo and article: http://www.yamatogreen.com/MalaysianTrumpetSnails.htm) These are Malaysian Trumpet snails, they are desirable, especially in planted aquaria because they are capable of cleaning into the gravel around the plant roots where you risk damaging the root systems if you were to use a siphon. They stay relatively small (only about an inch long) and these don't eat plants.
And these ARE livebearers! I keep them in my own tanks.
If you're having problems with population control, you may be overfeeding the fish (only give what your fish will eat in 2-3 minutes, twice a day, and remove any food that's not eaten after the three minutes are up). You may also need to do more frequent cleaning of the gravel. If they doen't have a plentiful source of food, the reproduction slows down. You don't say what fish you keep, but the cooler the water temperature, the slower these produce as well.
2007-08-01 16:59:48 · answer #3 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
These are the so called mystery snails because they just appear and you can't explain where they came from. All snails lay eggs. If you look around your aquarium you may see the egg clutches. They are a translucent slime look gob. You probably got these snails from some improperly washed plants. It is near impossible to get rid of these snails. As they can reproduce asexually. Each snail is both male and female. They really are more of a nuisance than a pest. Although left uncheck you could have a population explosion.
Edit: After some research there are some live bearing snails, although yours are most likely the mystery varity.
2007-08-01 18:49:36 · answer #4 · answered by Morty Smith C137 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I understand. I love all animals, even the smallest of the critters. I just put a snail in my tank today and it turned out that these snails are hermaphrodites. So its a good chance I will be getting lots of snails in the future. My tank is little bitty (1.5) and I cannot have anymore critters in it. So I got the idea that if my snail does lay eggs that successfully hatch, I will call up the pet store and ask if they need the excess snails for algae eaters of just for a tasty snack for the loaches. I know, I dont like the idea of them getting eaten either, but what are you gonna do? I mean there is only so much you can do with a snail.
2007-08-01 16:41:36 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
from your discriptions those are trumpet snails alright.
they are useful snails in many ways: they eat the rests on the ground, they dig the ground around and they also are an indicator of bad water: they usually come out in the night but if you see them during the day, especially lots of them hanging on the top of the fish tank near the surface then you must do an immediate 50% water change.
anyway, there is an easy way to control the snail population: feed less. that's all you have to do.
2007-08-01 19:56:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hate to say it but you have 2 choices. You can keep em, or kill them. Theres many ways of killing them, but I don't believe in letting them go to waste, I'd rather let nature take its course and put a preditor in there. You might have a 3rd option. Look in your phone book for smaller fish stores (not petco or petsmart) or those people who maintain aquariums. They might want them. But as far as I know, not many hobbyists like snails. They are pests. They are the roach of the aquarium. You start off with one, before you know it you have 5, then 20, then your tank's crowded with them.
2007-08-01 20:46:02 · answer #7 · answered by vago 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if u wanna kill them then use copper medicine or a medicine for getting rid or snails, ive seen many at fish stores.
If u dont want to kill them then u can give some to ur local fish store, im sure they would be willing to take them if they r healthy.
Or, some fish just love to eat snails, checkout wat fish u have and research on the net if they like to eat snails =]
Wel hop i helped! =]
Best of luck with ur snail invasion!! ^-^
2007-08-01 19:41:26 · answer #8 · answered by o0bubblie0o 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i've got faith that aquatic snails are speedier because of the fact they circulate in water. particularly than backyard snails which circulate on land that's likely slower particularly because of the fact of their narrow, that's washed away by using aquatic snails.
2016-10-09 00:49:52 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What kind of aquarium setup is it and what types of fish are in there? Try and find a compatible snail eating fish. Any botia loach, some chiclids and amazon puffers will munch snails.
2007-08-01 18:09:00 · answer #10 · answered by Palor 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋