I've found a small snail in my tank. Must have come in with the new plants.

Pros and Cons? I know they multiply. Is it best to leave and control them or to oust them all together?

Pros, aerate and move the substrate, clean up excess fish food and algae.

Cons, some people find them ugly and may eat more delicate plants.

I personally like them so long as the tank's not infested. The cleaner you keep the tank, the less of them there will be.

Which snails?

I personally like them they are a good indicator in feeding, If you feed too much you will be infested but if not you will probably see only a few

con - they're snails, not fish.

:nilly:

con - they're snails, not fish.

:nilly:

Agreed! :slfg:

Pro - they provide entertainment when being hunted by dwarf puffers and loaches, and cheap food when ive run out of bloodworms.

I have Malaysian trumpet snails but I only see them in the filter or occasionally on the gravel. I think if they come out of the stones my loaches harrass them :gigl:

Sometimes see the loaches trying to dig for them.

I personally think the trumpet snails are beneficial for your plants.

I've spotted only one. Keeps disappearing. Not an apple, just plain brown. Will try to get a pic.

if it is a brown mystery snail, kiss goodbye to your plants

more likely it is a small ramshorn, which are normally harmless until they get out of control, but great food for puffers and loaches

Can't find it!! There is a new hole in my java fern...

Can't find it!! There is a new hole in my java fern...

And it only gets worse...

Ugh. Solution?

If you find a solution that isn't "kill everything", loaches, or a puffer, let me know

Found it. So is this a harmless addition to watch, or a plant killing demon spawn?

Snail by danaj2009, on Flickr

Although I am a fan of the clown loach...

Commonly called a paper snail (around here anyways), less of a problem then many snails.

will tend to nibble on your plants, breeds unusually quickly and is the favorite food of just about all snail eaters, consider getting yourself a mini dwarf puffer tank....

can be easy to control if you lower your pH to around 6.0 - 6.5 and keep your water soft, they can't build their shells and become prey for everything in your tank, still good excuse to get a gang of chain loaches

No matter how much I google, you lot still have the most practical and clear answers/advice lol.

Chain loach you say, sounds good. I do like clowns, do they offer the same solution?

Not overly familiar with puffers.

PH is giving me some grief. Tried 2 brands of PH down products and still it sits at 7.6 with regular water changes. Got the original water from the LFS and they kept it well over 8. I suspect I'm just being a tad impatient. :nilly:

I'm still at 4 male Gourami and one bristle nose in a 215ltr. I've been toying with what to add next. Tank is only 3 weeks old so was opting to give the filter some time. I need some bottom feeders and something that schools. The loaches would take care of the bottom.

I wouldn't bother using chemicals to bring the ph down, it's a waste of money and will do more harm than good. 7.6 will be fine for nearly every shop bought fish as long as you acclimatize them first. Driftwood and peat seem to be the easiest way to lower your ph if you really do have your heart set on it.

don't bother messing with your pH too much as it will cause more trouble than good.

Chain loaches are good and cool to watch, don't get big and are reasonably peaceful

Clowns are awesome, colourful active and act like idiots most of the time, but don't forget that you need at least 3 (more like 5 or more) and that they grow to around 30cm +

Zebra loaches are a good middle ground, as well as golden Zebra loaches, Pakistani(yo-yo) loaches

etc... good range around there, and lotsa info on the web. do your research and don't be surprised if you cannot get the ones you like as the range in NZ is very small.

one type I will warn you about is the skunk loach, Extremely cute, active grows small so should be suitable but have a major taste for the fins of just about every fish you have. still almost worth a tank on their own.

as for puffers, check out dwarfpuffers.com, or search youtube for some cute videos.

Those are "Pond snails" Kill them, kill them all! They do nothing but breed, and poop then breed some more.

and munch your plants....

but soft shells make them easy prey for many fish

I have lots of those snails in my bugs trough and I harvest enough for the loaches to have one or two small ones each and then squash them into the tank. They usually don't get to the bottom as they are snapped up as they sink.

LFS had some chains. Off shopping tomorrow....

Like I said, love the clowns, but LFS has some fully grown and I don't think my tank would hold them long term lol.

You guys rock!! :love:

I've got the same snail and MTS as well.

I kill the Pond Snails as they appear, I agree with what others have said, Snails are like Canary in coal mines , they tell you a lot about over feeding and water Quality.

I don't get too worried about them , Auckland Water is fairly Soft , they don't really Thrive in my Tanks.

I like them as part of the natural order of things.