HOW MANY SNAILS?

[Mmathis]

Is there a rule-of-thumb for how many snails to keep in your tank? I have a 20 gal. that I'm keeping a couple of my [not-so-much-now] babies inside. I started out with 2 trapdoor snails in the tank with them, but it looks like they aren't keeping up with the algae. So I pulled a few more from the pond -- there are about 8 total [I felt sorry for them -- it was so cold in the pond].

 

[MitchM]

There's really no limit for how many snails you can keep.
The available food for them will dictate their numbers.

 

[Mmathis]

There's really no limit for how many snails you can keep.
The available food for them will dictate their numbers.

Well, duh! That makes perfect sense! If/when these guys finish up the current algae (and it's not a big problem), guessing they'll start munching on the plants next, so that's what I need to watch for? I'd like to keep a sort of balance between snails & algae, if that's possible.

 

[MitchM]

Right, but keep in mind that the snails are only temporarily getting rid of the algae.
Their poop will still have some nutrients that will feed new algae growth, so be sure to do your water changes and vacuum out any detritus that you find laying on the bottom.
If you completely run out of algae and the snails are attacking your plants, maybe try feeding them some lettuce to spare your plants.
I'm not sure if trap door snails will eat that though. I would be worth a try.

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks, Mitch! From what I've learned about them, TD snails will eat plants, but are less likely to do so than many other snails. Had thought about the lettuce, as well as adding algae wafers, if necessary. And with these guys, I can just pop some of them back in the pond if they get too hungry in the tank [after a temperature adjustment for them, of course -- I wouldn't literally just toss them back in the pond straight from the tank -- BRRRR!!].

 

[bettasngoldfish]

ramshorn snails make great clean up crews and are cute to watch as well

I have trumpet snails, ramshorn snails and apple snails (since the apples are quite a bit larger than the others I do try and give them 21/2-5 gallons of water each) I don't have trapdoors so I'm not sure about them.

I feed gel food, algae wafers, lettuce, and zucchini in my tanks that have snails. They will eat any fish food that *might* be leftover but usually they are slower to get to the food and don't get enough (in my opinion anyways) lol

Just keep in mind the more well fed they are the more they will reproduce.

I hope to get some trapdoor snails for the pond next year :biggrin:

 

[sissy]

my koi ate all my trapdoor snails .I caught aggie eating escargot .

 

[bettasngoldfish]

my koi ate all my trapdoor snails .I caught aggie eating escargot .

Fish will do that sometimes ; )

 

[sissy]

do it they ate all 18 of them . :cheerful: I put the snails in the waterfall but dummies did not stay there .

 

[Mmathis]

Have trapdoors only, and some pretty good sized ones -- they are live-bearers, too, so don't overpopulate like some can.

I had a few fish that had "yellow grubs" earlier in the year. I found out that the ramshorn snail is a primary host in the life-cyle of this trematode pest! So any of those that I find in the pond are history.

Sissy, I'm looking at possibly adding a couple of smaller butterfly koi in the spring, primarily to eliminate the ramshorns, but I know that they will probably take out my trapdoors, too. Oh, well!

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Hmm, I have only kept the rams in aquariums with tropical fish (mostly bettas and guppies) although I'm sure I have the occasional one end up in a goldfish tank.

I will have to do some reading on the yellow grub infections

 

[Mmathis]

https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/landowner/fishgrubs.pdf

The helisoma they mention is the ramshorn. Now, I haven't found any other information, but it does sound like this trematode is pretty much snail-specific. So don't know if it would even be a problem for it to infect other snails. And it's a 3-stage life cycle. Guessing indoor tanks COULD become infected, but doubt it.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Interesting....So what happened with your fish that got infected with the grubs?

 

[Mmathis]

Interesting....So what happened with your fish that got infected with the grubs?

I, um, did a little surgical procedure -- pierced the skin/scales with a very small gauge needle, and the grubs popped out! Then treated the areas. Fish are fine, so far!

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Glaf your fish are okay. Did you happen to take any photos of the fish? Or is there a thread here on it?