SNAILS!?

[ahmandi2]

Along with Ich, a parasitic infection, and a couple of plants, I believe that our ex LFS also included some SNAILS free of charge. Generous -_-.
They are small and dark. The loaches and other fish don't know that they are food. I pick them out when I can, but with such a deep tank, I can't get them if they're on the bottom; and I KNOW if I'm seeing them above, they're probably thriving underneath...
ugh. Is there a reason I should be worried about this? (Aside from the fact that snails make me gag when I see them, don't know why..). Will they affect my fishies?

[Lindsey]

What type of loaches do you keep? Many are snail eaters, but some less so than others. I would imagine this is true within each species from one fish to another as well...Perhaps yours have never come across snails or just haven't developed a taste for escargot yet.... Or maybe they prefer the food you're feeding!

I dont mind snails one bit. If it's a substrate dwelling type they are helpful to stir things up a bit and clean up any leftover food. You can keep their population at bay by not overfeeding- if there's not any extra food for them they wont breed (much) and you'll probably end up with only a couple and eventually none. One day you might come home and find empty shells, or better (funnier) yet, a loach with a snail in its mouth!

[ahmandi2]

We've got 3 golden dojo loaches . I'll just keep picking the things off the walls when I find em, and continue with a fast day every few days so that they fishes clean the bottom up and don't have any "freebies" for the snails down there....

[starsplitter7]

I love snails. I am different from most people, so let me tell you the benefits of snails. I grow them in all my tanks.

I breed them in some tanks. When I have too many snails they go in the loach tanks.

Benefits of snails:
1.) Early warning system if your tank is going bad. The snails will go to the top of the tank if the oxygen drops. This behavior has notified me of a problem on a couple occasions and saved my fish.

2.) The best algae eaters. They can get into every crack and crevice, and clean up extra food -- even food that you didn't know was hiding somewhere.

3.) Great indicator that you are overfeeding. If you don't overfeed, the snails can't breed out of control.

4.) They keep the tank clean.

5.) MTS keep sand turned, so you don't get dead pockets. THey usually only come out at night unless your tank is about to crash.

As Diana will tell you, if you crush the shell a little the Dojos will get the idea and take care of the snails. Of course, I can't do this, because I really like snails. I would grow more snails, but my water is really acidic.

[ahmandi2]

Hi, I managed to grab a snail out of the big tank and (cringe) smashed its shell a bit, then tossed it into my Betta's tank. He was fiercely excited, until it hit the bottom lol, and you know what that means...it's no longer food to him. So I fished it out and tossed it in the big tank....the danios went MAD.
I need to get something very long and pinchy to grab these little devils off the bottom of the tank. I was thinking of those telescopic forks I've seen....or something like that. I would like to make them regular treats until the fish figure out that the things on the bottom are the same thing as I toss in the tank
Thanks!