Beneficial Snails??

I've read quite a lot of bad press about snails in freshwater tropical
aquariums. Does anyone have anything good to say about them, and
recommendations?

"rapdor" wrote in message
...
I've read quite a lot of bad press about snails in freshwater tropical
aquariums. Does anyone have anything good to say about them, and
recommendations?



If you have no plants, (most snails will nibble them) and you don't mind how
they look, by all means, let them be! They really do help keep the tank
clean, and add to the variety of creatures in your little ecosystem.

Apple Snail (Pomacea bridgesii), Malasian Trumpet Snails

They really do help keep the tank
clean, and add to the variety of creatures in your little ecosystem.

"rapdor" wrote in message
...
I've read quite a lot of bad press about snails in
freshwater tropical
aquariums. Does anyone have anything good to say about
them, and
recommendations?

I have voluntary snails of several varieties, including the
dreaded great pond snail, all brought in on plants. They
were my excuse to buy my first ever loaches and now I have
small loaches in two of my three tanks. I cull some snails
every other day or so (feed the loaches) and keep them in
check that way. But they do reproduce like mad. They don't
seem to hurt the plants and the glass is cleaner than when I
only had otos (which I still have, fat & happy). And snails
can be interesting to watch.

On balance, I like having snails.

And yeah, the loaches get other kinds of food, not just
snails.

Gail

"rapdor" wrote:

I've read quite a lot of bad press about snails in freshwater tropical
aquariums. Does anyone have anything good to say about them, and
recommendations?

I have a heavily planted 20 gallon. Along with the plants came the
inevitable 'pond snails', as well as a ramshorn. I have also
intentionally introduced a lot of Malaysian Trumpet snails, and a
'true' apple snail, Pomacea bridgesii.

All of these snails eat algae, and none of them has damaged any plants
in my tank. In addition, the Malaysians constantly churn through the
gravel, keeping it from developing dead pockets. All of these snails,
then, are beneficial.

In my experience, the only snail that I've had trouble with is another
species of apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, which was highly
destructive.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

The pond snails that invaded my 20 gallon tank feed on green algae and
debris, as far as I can tell. The snails don't eat all of the algae off the
rocks, plants etc., but they do keep the glass immaculately clean; and they
don't bother any of my plants.

One thing to be careful of is that pond snails breed like rabbits. When I
first noticed the snails, I had been trimming my plants back every water
change (every 2 wks) so the plants were mostly small. Once the snails
started breeding, the tank looked pretty gross. There were snails on every
flat surface, more than I could count.

My solution was to first stop trimming the plants back. Once the vegetation
had grown in, the snails moved (mostly) off of the rocks and the glass and
onto the plants, where I can only see a few of them at a time. A few snails
is very pretty, where 60 or so snails visible at once was kind of
unsettling.

Second, I reduced the number of shrimp pellets I was feeding to my catfish.
I had been feeding 4 pellets daily and the snails on average got 1 or 2.
More food = more snails. I now feed only 2 pellets, and the snail breeding
rate has slowed appreciably.

In article ,
"rapdor" wrote:

I've read quite a lot of bad press about snails in freshwater tropical
aquariums. Does anyone have anything good to say about them, and
recommendations?

Yes. Malaysian trumpet snails - wouldn't be without them:
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/plant/lotech.html

I also like ramshorns in coldwater tanks (MTS do well in coldwater tanks
too!).

Mike.
--
Mike Edwardes Tropicals
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net

"Aqua" wrote in message
...
Apple Snail (Pomacea bridgesii), Malasian Trumpet Snails


Do the MTS consume algae? IME, they just disappear into the substrate.

I'm convinced that my MTSs are eating holes in my plants. I've had
the snails for at least a year now and I didn't have a problem until
recently. My guess is that the population has gotten so big that
there isn't enough food for them and they eat the plants. They've
turned many, many leaves into lace. I've started picking lots of
snails out - about 50/day - and the plants don't seem to be eaten as
much. Anybody else had the same experience?

Cris

On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 07:24:07 +0100, Mike Edwardes
wrote:

In article ,
"rapdor" wrote:

I've read quite a lot of bad press about snails in freshwater tropical
aquariums. Does anyone have anything good to say about them, and
recommendations?

Yes. Malaysian trumpet snails - wouldn't be without them:
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/plant/lotech.html

I also like ramshorns in coldwater tanks (MTS do well in coldwater tanks
too!).

Mike.

Yes, but they prefer fish food and will eat that before the algae.

Cris

On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 05:09:02 -0700, "Dinky"
wrote:


"Aqua" wrote in message
...
Apple Snail (Pomacea bridgesii), Malasian Trumpet Snails


Do the MTS consume algae? IME, they just disappear into the substrate.