Yay new addition!

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

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

"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.

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

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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If you see one now, you will see many more before too long ;op

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
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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 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

"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.