# how many snails is too many snails?



## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

snails are worst than wild rabbits. I now have Grandpa an grandma snails uncle and aunt snails daddy and mommy snails baby snails cousin snails in-law snails nephew and niece snails and they just keep on comin.

should I let the family be? should I remove some and put them in a near-by creek? I dont know what to do I feel sorry for them I mean the just wanted to have a family 

they are Acute Bladder snails.

thank you guys for your help.


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## Guppie luver (Feb 2, 2011)

leave them be they will eventualy die because of the alge they wont have anof so just leave them be i had that to so


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Ugh. I had them everywhere once! Every morning there were a kazillion more! Micro-mini to huge.

I couldn't take it anymore so I emptied the tank completely ~ including the substrate. 

Never again.


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## lipadj46 (Dec 30, 2010)

They can quickly overrun a tank so be carefull.


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## Guppie luver (Feb 2, 2011)

you do have to be careeful


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

leogtr said:


> snails are worst than wild rabbits. I now have Grandpa an grandma snails uncle and aunt snails daddy and mommy snails baby snails cousin snails in-law snails nephew and niece snails and they just keep on comin.
> 
> should I let the family be? should I remove some and put them in a near-by creek? I dont know what to do I feel sorry for them I mean the just wanted to have a family
> 
> ...


Do not release them to a nearby creek! Damage to ecosystems have been caused by well meaning persons by releasing non-native critters to habitats not their own.
How about getting an assasin snail? I picked one up and he's done an amazing job at keeping the snail population in check. He's also a cool looking snail. I love him! Also, snail populations tend to explode by overfeeding the tank.


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

holy crap I am definitely overfeeding the tank! lol so far I counted 67 snails...and I know I missed alot :l

assasin snails? omg I have to hire an assasin? will it be painless for the other snails?


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I have hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of snails in my tanks. They don't bother me. The way I look at it, they are obviously eating "stuff" or they wouldn't survive, and the "stuff" they are eating is not going to pollute my tank or harm the fish if they eat it.

I certainly do not overfeed my fish. Which means that in a healthy system there is a lot of "stuff" and having these busy beavers getting rid of it suits me just fine.

I have had a 10g running for several months now with only one Farlowella fry in it, and it feeds exclusively on algae. I never put food into this tank. Yet there must be a couple hundred Malaysian Livebearing snails in there. I've no idea what they are eating, perhaps partly the algae, but obviously something is feeding them, as they can grow up to 3/4 of an inch just by eating "stuff" in the tank.

They are nature's vacuum, and the service they perform in an aquarium is a blessing indeed.


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## Pufferfish22 (Feb 6, 2011)

Why not put a post on the pufferfish bit of this site, Puffs love them and keepers will happily take them off your hands (Puffs bite them in half so death is swift and painless, they know nothing about it!) I'd take the lot but unfortunately I'm in the UK so a bit to far to come!


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

Byron said:


> I have hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of snails in my tanks. They don't bother me. The way I look at it, they are obviously eating "stuff" or they wouldn't survive, and the "stuff" they are eating is not going to pollute my tank or harm the fish if they eat it.
> 
> I certainly do not overfeed my fish. Which means that in a healthy system there is a lot of "stuff" and having these busy beavers getting rid of it suits me just fine.
> 
> ...


alrighty then, the'll stay for now  I just hope they dont eat the little cryptocoryne they are all over it! seems intact though..for now..



Pufferfish22 said:


> Why not put a post on the pufferfish bit of this site, Puffs love them and keepers will happily take them off your hands (Puffs bite them in half so death is swift and painless, they know nothing about it!) I'd take the lot but unfortunately I'm in the UK so a bit to far to come!


yeah your a bit far..I'll try to see what happens I mean there are snails everywhere I look!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

The common small snails, by which I mean Malaysian Livebearer, Acute Bladder and Pond Snails, will not eat healthy plants, only dead, dying or decaying leaves. I can assure you that with all the plants and snails I have, any plant damage would be very obvious if they did. So you're OK.

For the record, Ramshorn snails are often said not to eat plants, but another member here found that was not accurate, so I would be on guard with ramshorn snails.


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

Byron said:


> The common small snails, by which I mean Malaysian Livebearer, Acute Bladder and Pond Snails, will not eat healthy plants, only dead, dying or decaying leaves. I can assure you that with all the plants and snails I have, any plant damage would be very obvious if they did. So you're OK.
> 
> For the record, Ramshorn snails are often said not to eat plants, but another member here found that was not accurate, so I would be on guard with ramshorn snails.


oh okay thats good Im 95% sure these are all Acute Bladder snails but that last 5 percent Im not too sure.

Ramshorn..hhmm okay ill keep an eye to see what happens thank you Mr. Byron as always so informative


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## Blabomb (Jan 30, 2011)

The way I see it you have a snail infestation. If I were you I would get rid of every single one of your snails and stock your tank with nerite snails. Nerite snails can only reproduce in saltwater so the are perfect for a freshwater tank. 
Good luck!


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

ill check em out thank you!


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## Blabomb (Jan 30, 2011)

Your welcome! Also if you buy them online I'd love to know where you buy them from because the lfs around me don't stock them.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

The Assassin is a wonderful Little population control snail. Don't add too many. I actually only have 1 in my 60 gallon tank and the numbers of Ramshorns have dropped greatly. In fact, I have to really look to fin any ramshorns in there anymore. In the 25 gallon which was so over run with Ramshorn snails there was hardly any room for anything else, I added 2 Assassins. I can't find any Ramshorns in there at all anymore.


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## CoffeeMan (Dec 27, 2009)

I have literally hundreds of Maylasian Trumpet Snails in my 15g tank. I recently got on assassin snail to help control the population... so far I've only found 8 empty snail shells. Hopefully he picks up the pace. I wouldn't mind having some in there, but sometimes there's so many crawling on the glass that you can barley see in the tank.


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

CoffeeMan said:


> but sometimes there's so many crawling on the glass that you can barley see in the tank.


HOLY COW! you can barely see in the tank! omg lol


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

Inga said:


> In the 25 gallon which was so over run with Ramshorn snails there was hardly any room for anything else, I added 2 Assassins. I can't find any Ramshorns in there at all anymore.


really??? oh man those arent Assasins those are some straight up cold-blooded merciless terminators!!!!


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## Guppie luver (Feb 2, 2011)

wow


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

leogtr said:


> really??? oh man those arent Assasins those are some straight up cold-blooded merciless terminators!!!!


Well, why else do you think I named my assasin snail, "Ahnuld"?? ;-)


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## CoffeeMan (Dec 27, 2009)

leogtr said:


> HOLY COW! you can barely see in the tank! omg lol


Well, that might have been a little bit of an exaggeration, but yeah... it's bad.


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## amazon21 (Jun 28, 2010)

I agree with Byron on this one. In real habitats there are a lot more invertebrates than fish, and by having snails in an aquarium, you are replicating this. The acute bladder snail is one of my favorite snails infact. They are great indicators, if you see them all crawling towards the top of your water, you know theres something wrong in your tank. Like byron said, they are constantly eating stuff, I have one that hitched a ride with my daphnia culture, and even though I never feed enough for anything bigger than daphnia to live on, my snail remains fat from whatever "stuff" is in the aqurium. acute bladder snails are pretty cool creatures too, they have adapted to breath air from the surface, so you commonly see them upside down on the waters surface. They can also walk upside down on water which is pretty neat. I can go on and on about the benefits of bladder snails when compared to some boring assasins


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## Guppie luver (Feb 2, 2011)

ya you right


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

aunt kymmie said:


> Well, why else do you think I named my assasin snail, "Ahnuld"?? ;-)


:rofl:I had to google that! LOL



CoffeeMan said:


> Well, that might have been a little bit of an exaggeration, but yeah... it's bad.


do your snails look sometimes as if their raining down when they get swept by the current from the little waterfall runing down from the filter? because mine are starting to do that but they dont look like rain yet..but you do see them floating down from the top from time to time..its kinda funny I bet they have alot of fun when they do that. 

I'd have fun 



amazon21 said:


> I agree with Byron on this one. In real habitats there are a lot more invertebrates than fish, and by having snails in an aquarium, you are replicating this. The acute bladder snail is one of my favorite snails infact. They are great indicators, if you see them all crawling towards the top of your water, you know theres something wrong in your tank. Like byron said, they are constantly eating stuff, I have one that hitched a ride with my daphnia culture, and even though I never feed enough for anything bigger than daphnia to live on, my snail remains fat from whatever "stuff" is in the aqurium. acute bladder snails are pretty cool creatures too, they have adapted to breath air from the surface, so you commonly see them upside down on the waters surface. They can also walk upside down on water which is pretty neat. I can go on and on about the benefits of bladder snails when compared to some boring assasins


oh thats great thank youl! I love these little guys I dont think Im gonna get some mercenary snail to be rid of them. afterall they are one big happy family


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

My common ramshorns have never ever touched a live plant. I have lots of both snails and plants.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Inga said:


> The Assassin is a wonderful Little population control snail. Don't add too many. I actually only have 1 in my 60 gallon tank and the numbers of Ramshorns have dropped greatly. In fact, I have to really look to fin any ramshorns in there anymore. In the 25 gallon which was so over run with Ramshorn snails there was hardly any room for anything else, I added 2 Assassins. I can't find any Ramshorns in there at all anymore.


 Then again, ramshorns are far slower breeders compared to physas. Physas produce eggs like no tomorrow. In my experience, I struggled to breed ramshorns in mass. I guess I should have left them alone instead of insisting them to breed more ramshorns for me.


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## leogtr (Jan 19, 2011)

Mikaila31 said:


> My common ramshorns have never ever touched a live plant. I have lots of both snails and plants.


Mikaila I just saw your aquarium video that was so nice! whats the song??



Lupin said:


> Then again, ramshorns are far slower breeders compared to physas. Physas produce eggs like no tomorrow. In my experience, I struggled to breed ramshorns in mass. I guess I should have left them alone instead of insisting them to breed more ramshorns for me.


you should get Acute Bladder snails those will multiply like wild rabbits!! plus they dont eat your plants!


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I've kept all these snails regarded as pests but I dislike physas honestly. They're faster than the ramshorns for my assassins to even get to them.:roll:


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## 1stAquarium (Jan 4, 2010)

Get a good few assassin snails, they will keep the population under control. BUT you will be left with lots of empty snail shells!


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