Fish: Re: [tropical fish club] snails

Larry,
The first question I would have asked would be what species of snail was in question? There are various species of snails that people refer to as "pond snails", yet they make up a wide range of species, some of them herbivore, some of them omnivore, and some of them, like the trumpets, that are detrivore.. and yes there are carnivore snails, too.
Another consideration is the plant species mixed with a specific snail species... some snails tend to like certain plants more so than others and find them irresistible. Ram's horn snails will devour an amazon sword quickly, yet offer them a tank full of onion plants and they don't bother them at all. (the same applies with most goldfish)

I have rams horn in most of my tanks, along with trumpet and assasin snails and some nerites. The ram's horn eat some of my plant species but not all of them, and they eat some species of algae, and they also eat fish foods and some of the detritus. The trumpets don't bother the plants, but I do see them feeding on algae from time to time, as well as fish food and waste in the tank.

Nerite snails are good for eating algae without harming plants, in case that interests you?

There are also a number of species of snails that look a lot like each other, and can be confusing to properly identify, especially when they are young. Apple snails and mystery snails are often confused, especially in the pet stores, for example. I would suggest maybe asking Rhonda what species she was speaking of and then compare it to what you have or maybe even get some help properly identifying the species you have...

Also remember that snails are not the only creatures in an aquarium that can eat plants, leaving holes behind. Some types of plant diseases can also leave holes, as can problems with environment for a given species... lighting that is even a little "off" can also cause issues. Some species of fish are also good plant eaters... including livebearers. My angelfish eat naja grass... as do my carnivorous geophagus, yet they don't bother any other species of plant and neither fish is commonly known to eat plants. There is a wide range of possibilities to explain the differences between yours and Rhonda's experiences with "pond snails".

Hope that helps a little...

Dawn

Dawn Moneyhan
Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
To learn more about me go to
http://www.helium.com/users/449334

--- On Sun, 10/3/10, Larry Blanchard <labl@comcast.net> wrote:

From: Larry Blanchard <labl@comcast.net>
Subject: [tropical fish club] snails
To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, October 3, 2010, 12:01 PM

Responding to another posters snail query reminded me of something.

In a recent issue of TFH, the natural aquariums writer stated that pond

snails didn't eat her plants. I wrote and told her the pond snails in

my tank certainly did. I told her my plants constantly had snails on

them and they were chewing holes in the leaves. Sometimes they'd

completely sever a leaf on a plant like val.

So what's others experience been? The response I got from Rhonda was

that I must have some very nasty snails :-). Is that the case or do

others have plant-eating pond snails as well?

BTW, I also have trumpet snails and they do not seem to eat the plants.

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