I 'm thinking of getting a few trapdoor snails for the pond. Is it a good idea or not? My wife is afraid the pond will be overrun with them in no time.
Thanks
Thanks
Snails for pond?
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taherrmann4
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I put in 5 this spring lost one and have not seen the others since putting them in there. It is my understanding that the trapdoors do not spread as fast like the other type of snails. I will tell you that the one that died smelled really really bad...
I asked that question with the Tech person at Aquadyne Bead Filters and he said not to have any snails in pond as they will eat the good bacterior.. I always thought the opposite, so you might get a better opinion from one of the resident experts on the forum. I have since dredged up a couple larger back door snails and threw then out inbstead of back in the pond. I think I have about four or five of them along with a lot of smaller snails in the pond right now. I should have searched further on the subject before as well..
i have small black snails in the pond but it is very rare i ever see them, i have seen a few snail eggs about recently
humans and earth spring to mind with that quote pondboy !!Pond Boy said:
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I put a whole bunch in my big pond, some in my little ponds, they crawl around eating algae. Even seen two breeding.
They only have live births and just a few babies at a time, so it would take a long time to overrun your pond.
They only have live births and just a few babies at a time, so it would take a long time to overrun your pond.
ive put around 80 snails from my aquariums into my pond. I have a few hundred snails in my aquariums. They are anywhere from 1/4"-1/2" in size. I have not been able to see them since i put them in. I also put in a few mystery snails a couple years ago. I just seen one of them the other day and it was roughly 2.5"-3" in size.
trap doors ONLY eat dead or rotting stuff... i put 2 dozen in my pond and they just move around making tracks! they are all at least golf ball size and have neat little "antennas" too! half i cant find cause they stick to rocks and stuff....
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addy1 said:
I never knew that snails have live births! I remember as a child, finding tons of the little black snails (maybe 1/4" long) on the plants in the golf course pond. I put them in my aquarium, and they would lay a small mass of eggs, maybe 1/2" in diameter, on the glass. The tiny snails that hatched were almost microscopic.
I know that I have the tiny black snails in my farm pond, as I now have them in my koi/ goldfish pond. But, I figure the fish will probably eat some of them, and they will work on the algae, so all is good and they will stay in balance. My farm pond would not be thriving with all those cattails and other pond plants if the snails were eating all the good bacteria, or so it would seem.
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JAPANESE TRAPDOOR SNAILS (Viviparis malleatus)
A pond isn’t complete without adding algae eating pond snails. The trapdoor snails are black in color and range from 1” to 3” in size. They are live bearing and will multiply. These snails can survive cold winters and temperatures below 0 degrees. To keep your pond algae in control along with plant coverage a snail will keep eating the algae on the sides of your pond, on the rocks, sides of plant containers and even on plants. Trapdoor snails will even eat decaying matter left over from fish food and plants. Japanese trapdoor snails only produce about 20 young snails in their lifetime and do so over a number of years. In calculating the number needed for your pond the rule of thumb is you should use approximately 1 snail per 20 gallons of water. If you have a larger pond you could add a percentage needed per year. Overall they are less expensive than adding algaecides weekly.
It is normal for these snails to sometimes have algae attached to their shells as they have no way of cleaning themselves. This will not promote algae in your pond and the algae will disappear from them after being in the pond if your pond is mostly algae free.
Not sure I would put one per 20 gallons.........that would be around 500 snails.
A pond isn’t complete without adding algae eating pond snails. The trapdoor snails are black in color and range from 1” to 3” in size. They are live bearing and will multiply. These snails can survive cold winters and temperatures below 0 degrees. To keep your pond algae in control along with plant coverage a snail will keep eating the algae on the sides of your pond, on the rocks, sides of plant containers and even on plants. Trapdoor snails will even eat decaying matter left over from fish food and plants. Japanese trapdoor snails only produce about 20 young snails in their lifetime and do so over a number of years. In calculating the number needed for your pond the rule of thumb is you should use approximately 1 snail per 20 gallons of water. If you have a larger pond you could add a percentage needed per year. Overall they are less expensive than adding algaecides weekly.
It is normal for these snails to sometimes have algae attached to their shells as they have no way of cleaning themselves. This will not promote algae in your pond and the algae will disappear from them after being in the pond if your pond is mostly algae free.
Not sure I would put one per 20 gallons.........that would be around 500 snails.
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Great info, Addy. Thanks for sharing. I learn more new stuff on this Forum all the time! I had never even heard of the trapdoor snails until I was looking at pond items, and saw them on Ebay. That would be neat, 3" snails, and live bearers at that! I may have to look into them, since I sure have plenty of algae for them to eat. Maybe something to get next spring, give them all summer to grow and eat! Yeah, a per 20 gallons seems like someone that is selling them. And, after all the algae is gone (if that ever happens), then what will they eat? I'd rather go will far less and see if they do some good.
Maybe something to get next spring, give them all summer to grow and eat! Yeah, a per 20 gallons seems like someone that is selling them. And, after all the algae is gone (if that ever happens), then what will they eat? I'd rather go will far less and see if they do some good.
jagan314
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I don't know about your ponds.. but my koi would eat those snails.. even the little ones. My son's 400 gal pond (no koi, just a few goldfish, mosquito fish, platy's and killifish) have 3 different kinds of snails in them.. the giant snails are laying their red eggs on the taro and cana lily stems.. Not sure if they are fertilized.. they are out of the water about 3-5 inches above the water line on the stem... I see the snails go at it alot... (they aren't shy).
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I don't have koi so my snails are safe, have seen them wandering around the pond.
country your pond will never run out of stuff for the snails to eat, unless you have one of those almost sterile koi ponds that some build.
country your pond will never run out of stuff for the snails to eat, unless you have one of those almost sterile koi ponds that some build.
jagan314
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Addy, that's good information... my son's pond is clear and has a well groomed amount of algea.. thanks to these snails. I heard you could eat them as well.. (don't remember where I heard this.)