# Can someone tell me what kind of snail this is?



## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

I started a fluval ebi tank a week ago with some plants, and today I found this snail in my tank that I have not noticed for the past week!  I'm guessing it might have come with the plants/substrate? Can someone help me identify this snail and tell me whether it is good or bad to keep? It is quite small now but how big will it grow?? I am completely new to this hobby so any help will be appreciated 

Thanks a lot!!


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

It's a common pond snail, and it definitely came in on your plants. Most people don't keep them as they multiply quickly and can munch on plants...


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

That looks like a pond snail. They will mulitply like crazy. But of all the unwelcome snails, these are the easiest to get rid of with an introduction of a pea puffer.

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## Viki (Aug 1, 2011)

Easy solution, keep an assassin snail and get rid of all snails and snails eggs in present and for future as well.

By far I think assassin snails are the safest choice for any aquarium if you want to get rid of unwanted snails in your "Piece of Nature" => Aquarium 

Hope this helps.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

carmenh said:


> It's a common pond snail, and it definitely came in on your plants. Most people don't keep them as they multiply quickly and can munch on plants...


nah, I've never seen any of my pond snails munch on plants.

Some pond snails are fine (and inevitable) as long as you don't over feed. Shrimps also help control their population by scavenging food and reducing the amount those snails can get.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

They can also be rid of ove a few weeks by having your aquarium temperature to 84 F and above (not recommended to go above that as it'll start affecting your other creatures).

I'm not sure why, but at elevated temps, they don't seem to reproduce as fast/at all. Might be messing with their fertlilty or something else - but either way, I've found it's the most effective method for getting rid of physa snails. Doesn't work for ramshorns or MTS, but it does for sure with physa (pond) snails.

Also, it avoids adding additional creatures that you might not have a use for once the snails are all gone.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks a lot guys! I think I will leave it alone for now and avoid overfeeding. As long as it doesn't eat my plants or multiply like crazy, I don't mind it there (it's actually quite interesting to watch...). But just in case I do have to remove it, what should I do? Should I just pick it out and kill it or something? :S


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

If there's something else living in the tank, squish it. They'll probably eat it.

Look up "pond snail egg sacks", you want to watch out for an abundance of these.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

Something like this?









When I see them do I just take them out? Should I kill them before I discard them?


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Something like that, usually just a small bubble smaller than a pea. The egg sacks are nearly indistructable, but you can trust that if you see a few egg sacks, that a snail invasion is on it's way and you should prepare some population control of some sort.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

okok... gotta be really careful with those :S Thank you so much for helping!!


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

I gave the snail to a friend today but found 2 new ones!! I wonder how many more I am gona find... its been almost 2 weeks since I started my tank @[email protected]


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

ahyuu said:


> I gave the snail to a friend today but found 2 new ones!! I wonder how many more I am gona find... its been almost 2 weeks since I started my tank @[email protected]


You're gonna find a lot more snails, guaranteed.

I keep mine at levels where I can always see 5-6 if I look for them, no more than that, but I know that there are a lot more where I don't see.

They can be quite useful. You can cycle new tanks with them, you can crush them to give your fish some live food (my guppies love them), and you can put them in a El Naturel tank for algae control. I have a bucket on my balcony with two guppy fries as an experiment, and I'm using these snails for algae control.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

I think i will keep 1-2 then (my tanks isnt that big). how do you crush them to feed your fish?? do you just crush the shell and feed the rest to them? does it get messy? :S


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

ahyuu said:


> I think i will keep 1-2 then (my tanks isnt that big). how do you crush them to feed your fish?? do you just crush the shell and feed the rest to them? does it get messy? :S


When you see a snail on glass, use a stick or anything rigid to crush it against the glass. The snail's shell is actually very brittle and doesn't take a lot of force to crush. It doesn't get messy at all as you're only crushing the shell (so don't go overboard, eh? ), and your fish tends to zero in on it real quick.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

solarz said:


> When you see a snail on glass, use a stick or anything rigid to crush it against the glass. The snail's shell is actually very brittle and doesn't take a lot of force to crush. It doesn't get messy at all as you're only crushing the shell (so don't go overboard, eh? ), and your fish tends to zero in on it real quick.


So I should do this when the snail is still tiny? the biggest one i have is already like 1/2" :S i gave that one away but have 2 tiny babies. should i crush them when i next see them? i have 2 guppies in my tank


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

ahyuu said:


> So I should do this when the snail is still tiny? the biggest one i have is already like 1/2" :S i gave that one away but have 2 tiny babies. should i crush them when i next see them? i have 2 guppies in my tank


I would leave the bigger ones alone. I'd rather have a few big snails where I can get at them than have a lot of tiny snails that takes forever to fish out, should I feel the desire to do so. Larger snails eat more than smaller snails, so they act as a resources limitation by themselves.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

I found small 8 snails this morning... maybe I should start crushing the tiny ones, and leave the bigger ones to grow and take care of my algae :S


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

That's it... I just found 3 egg sacks... something has to be done.........


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## Lee_D (Jun 11, 2010)

I like my snails. I've got dozens in each of my tanks. They do wonders at keeping the tank clean. When they first showed up I tried the "Squish everything in sight" tecnique but ultimately the snails won. Now I use them more as a gauge as to whether the tank is healthy or not. The more snails I have, the healthier the tank. Population control is performed by the filter inlets (they suck the snail clean outta the shell!).

Lee


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

ahyuu said:


> That's it... I just found 3 egg sacks... something has to be done.........


Chill, it's not the end of the world. In fact, it's no big deal at all.

Two of the most important lessons I've learned from this hobby is this:

1- Never panic. Never make decisions in haste. Never make big changes to your tank, especially not in panic. In an aquarium, any change that happens quickly is almost always BAD.

2- Don't try to change Nature. The point of this hobby isn't to control every aspect of your aquarium. It's to appreciate all the incredible things that a tiny slice of Nature can do. Pond snails are one of them. Like algae, they are best controlled indirectly, by working with Nature instead of against her.

8 snails is nothing, and just because you found egg sacks doesn't mean you'll soon be overrun with tiny snails. I know, I've been through that phase as well, as have a lot of other hobbyists. Just sit back, relax, and be patient.


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## ahyuu (Aug 4, 2011)

solarz said:


> Chill, it's not the end of the world. In fact, it's no big deal at all.
> 
> Two of the most important lessons I've learned from this hobby is this:
> 
> ...


hmmm.. i got 4 small assassin snails today... is that bad then?  I thought they would be nice to keep


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