Little Black Snails

[fish]

I looked closely at the large rocks on the side of my pond and saw hundreds of small black snails. They are about the size of a match head. Does anybody know anything about little black snail? I wonder if they might do harm to the water or fish? I haven't a clue where they came from.

 

[Robyn]

Pond snails. Nasty buggers. Fish love eating them... if they can get to them. No real threat... but can clog filters. Visiting birds or any added plants can bring them in and they multiply like wildfire!

 

[bunnymp]

2 weeks ago I saw tiny black snails on the bag of media in the biofalls. They are so small that if they didn't move, I probably would not of even noticed what they were. I never purchased any snails so I have no idea where they came from. This weekend I saw that they are moving out of the biofalls into the water fall. Maybe they are the same type. I really do not like them there but my fish can't reach them. SHould I get rid of them and how?

 

[koiguy1969]

if you find little clear gelotinous globs with white dots in it thats their eggs..destroy them!!!!

 

[bunnymp]

what about the adults?

 

[Olee]

These are not Trapdoor snails i take it, as they eat algae that forms onthe sides, and rocks. Trapdoor snails will not harm the pond and they will not overtake the pond either.

 

[koiguy1969]

trapdoor snails are live bearers they dont mass produce

 

[Chris Kostuk]

I have the little buggers as well, I just found them today! Thanks for the low down, Robyn.

 

[Zel]

Loads of these in my pond for last few years. I don't have a pump or filter as dug as a frog pond. No fish. Pond is clear as a bell. Mum has similar size pond but no snails and always cloudy. I'm sure they're good to have

 

[Criscar]

Ponds are outdoors. These probably aren’t the first and definitely won’t be the last unintended inhabitants

If you post a close up clear photo (hard on small things but at least they don’t run away quickly) it would help in identifying them. There are several types of pond snails and they all eat algae. Some of the more common ones to find in most ponds are pond snails (sort of oval shaped with a small point at the far end), ramshorn snails (flat spiral, the shell is usually parallel to the surface they are on when they are small but when they get large they hold the shell upright) and bladder snails (smaller than the others, look like someone sprinkled a tiny amount of glitter on them). I have tons of all of these in my pond and am glad to have them, they clean algae off the bottoms, sides, leaves of healthy plants. I even introduced some to my aquarium a while back where they quickly cleared up my Blackbeard algae outbreak. Since outdoor ponds rarely run out of algae, they usually stick to that and don’t bother your plants. Exceptions are some of the very large invasive snails, those can definitely do a number, but they are all golfball size or larger as adults.

 

[dadrab]

Snails are a very natural addition to a healthy pond. They are also very adept at coming and going, too. They will populate when your pond needs cleaning and die off when their job is done…until next time.
They will enhance water quality and fish usually leave them alone because they can’t get into the shells.
They’re not crazy about moving water, but will thrive (and clean) the still areas. How convenient is that?

 

[Mgessert]

My first snails arrived a month ago with my Payitkoi plants. They do warn buyers that the plants are not snail free.

 

[vicktor fresco]

Pond snails. Nasty buggers. Fish love eating them... if they can get to them. No real threat... but can clog filters. Visiting birds or any added plants can bring them in and they multiply like wildfire!

Thanks for the info. Very kind and helpfull.

 

[j.w]

@vicktor fresco

 

[GBBUDD]

Thanks for the info. Very kind and helpfull.

Robin wrote that post back in 2009