Water snails???

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so I was messing around on the internet keeping me occupied whilst I wait for winter to end when I came across snails in ponds, what are people's opinions on them?

Are they worth adding to my pond or should I stay clear?

Thanks for your opinions.
 
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Personally I find snails interesting and have them in my aquariums and pond.

In my opinion they are a part of a normal healthy aquatic system.

I bought my Japanese trapdoor snails for the pond online. They are hardy to my area in Ohio and don't multiply like crazy.
 
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Also does anyone know anywhere I can get trapdoor snails in the U.K.?
 
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About four weeks ago I bought 50 Japanese trapdoor snails from a site on EBay.... They sent me 52..... One was a empty shell..... So they sent me 51 live ones..... I think they were just messing with me sending the empty shell.... Sarah has it sitting on the window ledge above the sink in the kitchen.... Are snails going to make any difference on your algae..... No.... Do they add to the bioload..... Yeah maybe.... Do I enjoy when I come home from work going out and counting how many I can see..... So far haven't found an empty shell or in my skimmer or pump pre-filter basket..... So if you want them to get rid of algae...... The algae grows faster than they can eat..... But if you want them just for some diversity in your pond..... I enjoy them.... Jimmy
 
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About four weeks ago I bought 50 Japanese trapdoor snails from a site on EBay.... They sent me 52..... One was a empty shell..... So they sent me 51 live ones..... I think they were just messing with me sending the empty shell.... Sarah has it sitting on the window ledge above the sink in the kitchen.... Are snails going to make any difference on your algae..... No.... Do they add to the bioload..... Yeah maybe.... Do I enjoy when I come home from work going out and counting how many I can see..... So far haven't found an empty shell or in my skimmer or pump pre-filter basket..... So if you want them to get rid of algae...... The algae grows faster than they can eat..... But if you want them just for some diversity in your pond..... I enjoy them.... Jimmy



I don't have a massive algae problem wasn't looking at them for a bit of diversity and more for the debris that is on the pond floor, thanks for the reply!
 
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I don't have a massive algae problem wasn't looking at them for a bit of diversity and more for the debris that is on the pond floor, thanks for the reply!
I would be willing to bet as many garden ponds as there is in the UK..... Somebody in the UK sells them..... They are very hardy.... Since I have had them the water temperature got down to 40 degrees.... Never seemed to bother them..... And my Koi other than flipping them over with their tails..... They just turn themselves over and go on about their business
 
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I would be willing to bet as many garden ponds as there is in the UK..... Somebody in the UK sells them..... They are very hardy.... Since I have had them the water temperature got down to 40 degrees.... Never seemed to bother them..... And my Koi other than flipping them over with their tails..... They just turn themselves over and go on about their business


You have 50, how big roughly is your pond?
 
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IMG_0141.JPG
You have 50, how big roughly is your pond?
3000 gallons.....
 
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We addd about a dozen five or so years ago. We do the same as @Jimmy Gibson - try to see how many we can spot on a sunny day. We follow their little clean trails across the algae on the rocks to find them. Some of them have more algae than our rocks do, though! I'm careful when I scoop the pond to check for snails - always manage to scoop up one or two. I'm not sure how useful they are, but they are fun!
 
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I added about 20 (mail order) trap door snails last year when I added my first round of plants. There was not a lot of algae in the pond and I think almost all of them did not make it. :( I found a lot of floaters. I think once summer really gets going here I will pick up 10 or so locally and re-seed the population. My pond is about 2500 gallons, and IIRC 50 is the recommended number for me. But they can reproduce to get up to that number.
 
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I probably wouldn't need 50 then lol. Will look around and see what I can find
I am off work today and this morning sitting by the pond having coffee.....I spotted three sets of my snails engaged in Hmmm how to say this...."Mutual Admiration"..... Since trapdoor snails give live birth..... And they only have 5 to 10 babies at a time chances of me having a population explosion is slim..... Since my Koi will probably eat the babies..... But glad they are happy anyway.... Lol Jimmy
 
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I introduced ramshorn snails to my pond last year and they are nice to look at. They will not act as a solution for algae but I think it is nice to have some variety in the pond. I bought them on ebay uk. Im in Scotland and they seem to have survived the winter. They will not do any harm.
 
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I introduced ramshorn snails to my pond last year and they are nice to look at. They will not act as a solution for algae but I think it is nice to have some variety in the pond. I bought them on ebay uk. Im in Scotland and they seem to have survived the winter. They will not do any harm.
I will look into that..... And you are right they are not going to even slow down your algae..... But I do enjoy going out each day and watching them
 

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