River Snails

[fish]

I can get hundreds of small black snails from a near by river. They are pea size or smaller. Would they be benificial to a pond?

 

[koiguy1969]

if they are egg layers ..they may may become a nuisence, or they may carry disease, as is the risk from pulling anything from local natural sources. i would stick with the trapadors.

 

[oldmarine]

I wouldn't risk introducing any small native egg laying snails of any type to my pond. They are usually intrucive and my eat more of your aquatic plants than you want them to. It's one thing to have them in your pond to help create a balanced ecosystem, but to have them take over and suddenly find you can't control their population growth. They would be hard to control.

That's why I like the Japanese live bearing / trap door snails. they are about the size of a chestnut, and they only eat algee and any uneaten food on the bottum of the pond. Tricker.com sells them, and they are affordable.

At any time you want or feel a need to remove them from your pond, they are big enough to see and catch. Just so long as you have an adequate food source, they also co-habitate well in a indoor aquarium.

 

[DoDad]

I have lots of those in my system but not in the pond. I did not put them there, they just showed up.

 

[mheiderscheit]

I just bought 2 trapdoor snails. I hadn't thought of it before, but I won't have trouble with them getting in my skimmer and line to my waterfall, will I?

How many should I have in my pond. It is about 10x16.

Thanks.

 

[Billkeyups]

Tricker.com has a calculator for determining the number you need.