View Full Version : Yay new addition!
dfreas
February 28th 05, 10:06 PM
I was just looking into my tank a moment ago and saw a brand new snail
species that's never been there before crawling across the glass.
Probably came in with the new plants I bought two weeks ago.
Unfortunately the snail is very small (I'd guess about a month old if
growth rate is similar to ramshorns) and seems to be the only one in
the tank so I don't know if it will ever lay any eggs or not, but
hopefully there's another one or two in there that I just haven't seen
yet.
I already have two species of ramshorns in the tank doing quite well.
This new addition is some kind of pond snail - I'm hoping to see ten or
twenty of them crawling around in there by the end of the month!
-Daniel
Justin Boucher
March 1st 05, 01:33 AM
It could very well be different for different people. I had a pl*co chow
down nearly all my live plants once. And snails, the only ones I've been
able to trust with live plants is MTS. So, if I'm not planning on live
plants, then the pl*co is a very real option (especially for 240gal), but
for now, MTS, Ottos and true SAEs are going to do just fine.
Justin
"dfreas" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Bah. I don't believe that for a second. Most plant people seem to be
> paranoid about snails but I always ask the LFS to leave the snails on
> the plants I buy and I've never had them eat much of anything. Mostly
> they stick to dead leaves and algae - they get everything that my pl*co
> misses. YMMV but I like snails.
>
> -Daniel
>
Billy
March 1st 05, 02:21 AM
"dfreas" > wrote in message
oups.com...
|
| I already have two species of ramshorns in the tank doing quite
well.
| This new addition is some kind of pond snail - I'm hoping to see
ten or
| twenty of them crawling around in there by the end of the month!
|
I wouldn't get too excited. Most pond snails (the type that generally
hitch-hike on plants) are likely to begin eating your plants soon.
dfreas
March 1st 05, 03:03 AM
Bah. I don't believe that for a second. Most plant people seem to be
paranoid about snails but I always ask the LFS to leave the snails on
the plants I buy and I've never had them eat much of anything. Mostly
they stick to dead leaves and algae - they get everything that my pl*co
misses. YMMV but I like snails.
-Daniel
Richard Sexton
March 1st 05, 04:48 AM
In article . com>,
dfreas > wrote:
>Bah. I don't believe that for a second. Most plant people seem to be
>paranoid about snails but I always ask the LFS to leave the snails on
>the plants I buy and I've never had them eat much of anything. Mostly
>they stick to dead leaves and algae - they get everything that my pl*co
>misses. YMMV but I like snails.
There's no hard and fast rule. Used to be I had real snail problems;
they'd eat everything. Now they don't and I ignore them. I do get rid
of pond snails though; I think they're ugly. I prefer ramshorns, nice
red ones and nerite snails.
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Margolis
March 1st 05, 03:17 PM
If you see one now, you will see many more before too long ;op
--
Margolis
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Larry Blanchard
March 1st 05, 05:35 PM
In article >,
says...
> If you see one now, you will see many more before too long ;op
>
Amen to that! And it's really hard to hold a miniscule snail with
fingers, tweezers, or anything else I've tried. I can't trap them with
food, the fish would get rid of it first. I can't use chemicals because
of the live plants. And I don't have room for a loach.
I wonder if there's something you can dip in the water safely that's
sticky?
--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description
dfreas
March 1st 05, 09:11 PM
I know a LFS owner nearby who controls snails by keeping three or four
dwarf puffers on hand and cycling them from tank to tank. They eat all
of the snails fairly quickly and then he moves them to the next snail
infested tank.
They only cost about $4 so you could easily buy one and then donate it
back to the LFS when it had done it's job - or even trade it for store
credit. Keep a close eye on it though - when they run out of snails
they switch to fish (or so the owner told me).
My girlfriend keeps bugging me to get one of them because she think's
they're cute. Somehow the fact that it would kill all my fish and
snails and require a steady diet of live food doesn't register past the
"but it's cute!" block in her mind.
-Daniel
Gill Passman
March 1st 05, 11:21 PM
"dfreas" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I know a LFS owner nearby who controls snails by keeping three or four
> dwarf puffers on hand and cycling them from tank to tank. They eat all
> of the snails fairly quickly and then he moves them to the next snail
> infested tank.
>
> They only cost about $4 so you could easily buy one and then donate it
> back to the LFS when it had done it's job - or even trade it for store
> credit. Keep a close eye on it though - when they run out of snails
> they switch to fish (or so the owner told me).
>
> My girlfriend keeps bugging me to get one of them because she think's
> they're cute. Somehow the fact that it would kill all my fish and
> snails and require a steady diet of live food doesn't register past the
> "but it's cute!" block in her mind.
>
> -Daniel
>
My Clown Loaches devour any stray snail that ends up in the tank and don't
appear to have a tendency to eat anyone else - although I do wonder about
the neon tetras from time to time. Depends on the size of your tank and how
many fish you already have - they can't be kept alone.....
I have the same experience as you. My tiny snails used to eat the
brown slime on the leaves of my plants. These days I no longer have
brown slime. I have no idea what the snails eat. Similarly I have no
idea what my Corys eat. I have had them for months so they are
obviously not starving, but they just seem to ignore any food I throw
into the tank. Same observation for my Bamboo Shrimps. No idea what
they eat but that are obviously not starving.
NetMax
March 2nd 05, 02:05 AM
"Larry Blanchard" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> says...
>> If you see one now, you will see many more before too long ;op
>>
> Amen to that! And it's really hard to hold a miniscule snail with
> fingers, tweezers, or anything else I've tried. I can't trap them with
> food, the fish would get rid of it first. I can't use chemicals
> because
> of the live plants. And I don't have room for a loach.
>
> I wonder if there's something you can dip in the water safely that's
> sticky?
>
> --
> Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description
I've heard / read:
A small piece of cooked meat on a string dropped in before lights out.
At first light, you pull the string, meat and most of your snail
population out and into the trashbin. It will not wipe out your snail
population, but put a serious dent into it.
--
www.NetMax.tk
Elaine T
March 2nd 05, 03:59 AM
NetMax wrote:
> "Larry Blanchard" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>In article >,
>>says...
>>
>>>If you see one now, you will see many more before too long ;op
>>>
>>
>>Amen to that! And it's really hard to hold a miniscule snail with
>>fingers, tweezers, or anything else I've tried. I can't trap them with
>>food, the fish would get rid of it first. I can't use chemicals
>>because
>>of the live plants. And I don't have room for a loach.
>>
>>I wonder if there's something you can dip in the water safely that's
>>sticky?
>>
>>--
>>Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description
>
>
> I've heard / read:
> A small piece of cooked meat on a string dropped in before lights out.
> At first light, you pull the string, meat and most of your snail
> population out and into the trashbin. It will not wipe out your snail
> population, but put a serious dent into it.
I've used tender leaf lettuce for the same effect. Snails collect on
the lettuce and you pull out lettuce with snails. But pygmy chained
loaches are pretty small and a loach works SO much better.
--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
Elaine T
March 2nd 05, 07:23 AM
dfreas wrote:
> I know a LFS owner nearby who controls snails by keeping three or four
> dwarf puffers on hand and cycling them from tank to tank. They eat all
> of the snails fairly quickly and then he moves them to the next snail
> infested tank.
>
> They only cost about $4 so you could easily buy one and then donate it
> back to the LFS when it had done it's job - or even trade it for store
> credit. Keep a close eye on it though - when they run out of snails
> they switch to fish (or so the owner told me).
>
> My girlfriend keeps bugging me to get one of them because she think's
> they're cute. Somehow the fact that it would kill all my fish and
> snails and require a steady diet of live food doesn't register past the
> "but it's cute!" block in her mind.
>
> -Daniel
>
You obviously need to give her her own fishtank. That's what a BF did
for my birthday when I was fascinated by his fish many, many years ago
and it totally hooked me.
--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
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