snails

I have been posting and reading in the goldfish news group about snails.
and it seems as if some posters feel that snails are danggerious to
their goldfish. Basically buying plants and the snails on the plants
having diseases. what my question here is, how many people here have had
a fish get sick or die due to a snail?

Kay

I have not had any sickness or problems in
my pond. I have only lost fish due to winter conditions I didn't get ahead of.
That said if I had fish that I was
very attached to or very valuable I would be
careful with snails.
When buying plants you can soak them in a solution (jj or ingrid will post and
let you know
the procedure) that will kill the snails and deal with any eggs. You can also
physically search for the eggs which usually look like a strip of clear jelly.
Mystery and Apple snails lay eggs that look like clumps of salmon eggs.

I like the variety and scope of a pond where all are welcome, including
predators and creepy crawlies. But I also admire and understand ponders who
raise fish for pets and pure loverlyness ;-)

Will be interested to read other posts to this thread.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Ka30P wrote:

I have not had any sickness or problems in
my pond. I have only lost fish due to winter conditions I didn't get ahead of.
That said if I had fish that I was
very attached to or very valuable I would be
careful with snails.
When buying plants you can soak them in a solution (jj or ingrid will post and
let you know
the procedure) that will kill the snails and deal with any eggs. You can also
physically search for the eggs which usually look like a strip of clear jelly.
Mystery and Apple snails lay eggs that look like clumps of salmon eggs.

I like the variety and scope of a pond where all are welcome, including
predators and creepy crawlies. But I also admire and understand ponders who
raise fish for pets and pure loverlyness ;-)

Will be interested to read other posts to this thread.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

I wanted to see how many people had illiness to their fish from snails
because I disagree with Ingrid on the instances. I know there a black
spot disease that come from infected snails, but I think that its not
common at all, if not rare, with snails that hitch a ride on a plant
bought from a petstore. Since lots of people if not all have goldfish,
koi I wanted to see if anyone had fish sick from snails and if so what
did they do and what illiness. Basically like a poll of fish keepers
with pond and aquariums.

Thanks for the info,

Kay

Let's see, it might help to know what kind of
snails folks have.

ramshorn (or orb snail), little pond snail (lots and lots of these), pointed
winkle and japanese trapdoor.

I've made an effort, when buying plants, to collect different types from the
growing pond.

No fish disease noticed.

I feel nursery snails are safe. Snails from the wild I don't think I'd bring
into my ponds. I've never added plants from the wild into my pond except by
seed (cord grass, cattails and rush) or birdy business (bladderwort).


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

The problem is, you may or may not be able to lay the cause of a recent
outbreak at the (ahem!) feet of the snails. They're just SUSPECT - always.
Once upon a time I had apple snails: was a real treat to watch them. Then my
fish got sick. One of the possible culprits were the snails. Didn't know for
sure, didn't want to take the risk: gave them to a kid who only wanted the
snails in a tank with no fish. Also, a lot of medications that you may wish
to treat your fish with will play havoc with snails. Which in turn plays
havoc with your water quality. And then there's this to consider: there
are no snails in the pond where the fish are (they're munchies if found!);
however, I just had to tear my Ultima II down over the weekend because it
had slowed to a trickle. The fins were clogged solid with the little black
common pond snails. They're a nuisance. They serve no good (other than
munchies). If they can be prevented, they should be. After they're in the
pond, it's nearly impossible to be rid of them.

Lee

"Kay" wrote in message
news:5cqqc.111931$Ik.9128532@attbi_s53...
I have been posting and reading in the goldfish news group about snails.
and it seems as if some posters feel that snails are danggerious to
their goldfish. Basically buying plants and the snails on the plants
having diseases. what my question here is, how many people here have had
a fish get sick or die due to a snail?

Kay

"Kay" wrote in message
news:5cqqc.111931$Ik.9128532@attbi_s53...
I have been posting and reading in the goldfish news group about snails.
and it seems as if some posters feel that snails are danggerious to
their goldfish. Basically buying plants and the snails on the plants
having diseases. what my question here is, how many people here have had
a fish get sick or die due to a snail?

I have had many snails arrive in my pond. Some from my bro in law. Some from
Jim Hurley. Some from plants I bought. Some from who knows where. They are
also in a variety of sizes from "can't see 'em" to "golf ball sized". To
date, I have not had any plants destroyed by snails, and I have lost only
one fish, which entered the pond and died the next day. He was old, and I am
guessing didn't travel well.

I agree with K30. You can pond for your fish, and in that case be anal about
critters. Or you can go au-natural and build it...they will come.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Kay" wrote in message
news:5cqqc.111931$Ik.9128532@attbi_s53...
I have been posting and reading in the goldfish news group about snails. and it
seems as if some posters feel that snails are danggerious to their goldfish.
Basically buying plants and the snails on the plants having diseases. what my
question here is, how many people here have had a fish get sick or die due to a
snail?

Kay


I have, but not in a pond. I also raise fresh and salt water aquarium fish. I
have had snails wipe out an entire tank. I don't remember the specific species
that did it, but some snails carry parasites that are deadly to fish, while
others carry deadly bacteria. In addition, some really nasty ones will grow in
their larval stage attached to a fish's gill tissue, sucking fluids out of the
fish, and introducing parasites and diseases along the way. Most, however, are
harmless to fish. Ususally the problem snails get into a tank or a pond via
introduced plant populations. Which is why, in my view, a good habit to get
into is to wash any plants before you introduce them into an aquarium or pond.

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Let's see, it might help to know what kind of
snails folks have.

ramshorn (or orb snail), little pond snail (lots and lots
of these), pointed
winkle and japanese trapdoor.

yep yep huh? yep. (Don't know what a pointed
winkle is.)

I've made an effort, when buying plants, to collect
different types from the
growing pond.

No fish disease noticed.

Ditto. But I only have minnows and common
goldfish/comets/shubunkin. I have had fish die
(not recently), but have no idea what caused it.

I feel nursery snails are safe. Snails from the wild I
don't think I'd bring
into my ponds. I've never added plants from the wild into
my pond except by
seed (cord grass, cattails and rush) or birdy business
(bladderwort).

Except for the Japanese trapdoors, which I
bought on purpose, all of my snails have come
in on plants purchased locally. If they're
diseased I haven't noticed but not sure what
to look for.

kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a
pond/A

Gail

I had small snails raised in a tub with a catfish and a terror, and in a tub
with minnows and GF. I couldn't catch enough snails to feed the Clown Loach
in an aquarium. I did not have any unexplainable fish death.

Kay wrote:

I have been posting and reading in the goldfish news group about snails.
and it seems as if some posters feel that snails are danggerious to
their goldfish. Basically buying plants and the snails on the plants
having diseases. what my question here is, how many people here have had
a fish get sick or die due to a snail?

Kay

Most people have no idea why their fish die. And frankly, it isnt my opinion that
snails are not a good "companion" animal for pond fish. It is the opinion of the
experts that breed fish, the experts that write the text books. I did start out my
graduate studies in parasitology, so I have enough information to be very impressed
with how nasty parasites are that spread thru intermediate hosts.
consider that the dermal variety of schistosomiasis AKA swimmers itch is spread by
snails... and the Pond Lady was getting horrendous itching and sores on arms and legs
from her ponds.
as for people buying snails to put in their pond... whatever winds your motor
applies.
Ingrid

Kay wrote:
I wanted to see how many people had illiness to their fish from snails
because I disagree with Ingrid on the instances. I know there a black
spot disease that come from infected snails, but I think that its not
common at all, if not rare, with snails that hitch a ride on a plant
bought from a petstore. Since lots of people if not all have goldfish,
koi I wanted to see if anyone had fish sick from snails and if so what
did they do and what illiness. Basically like a poll of fish keepers
with pond and aquariums.Kay



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