About snails and covering the tank

[WaveSurfer]

Hi all,

I just added some plants to my new tank, and noticed one or two small snails floating around or stuck to the tank/plants. May I know if these snails are beneficial or harmful to my plants/aquarium (eat up plants?). Thanks.

Also, as my tank comes with a cabinet and cover, I can fully cover up the top of the tank. Is this practice advisable? 'cos after the lights are switched on and the covers are covered, the aquarium water seems to be warmer than usual, which I supposed is not healthy to the plants?

Thanks.

Snails basically fine except that they tend to be an eyesore. The only problem will arise when the population explodes beyond control. You can use the au naturale method by just taking them out by hand, or by fauna control (getting a puffer, for example) but I don't recommend this.

Lastly it is chemical if you are really desperate. I wrote a review on one of the products before, you can search for it if you want.

Plants generally prefer cooler waters but is OK with warmer waters. Kinda like human, cooler temperatures of around 26 is best but its ok to hit 29 or so. Alot of people say moss cannot grow over 27 degrees or so and its a big misconception. They can grow, only slower. Just like us when its hotter we tend to be less productive.

You can get a chiller (if you have the budget) since the canpopy is all closed up and its hard to slot in a fan. Otherwise try to mod around the canopy if you are technically apt at such stuff to fit a fan or 2 in.

-Calvin

[WaveSurfer]

Hi Calvin,

Thanks again for your tips. I thought the snails would eat up the leaves.

Think the chiller would be beyond my budget now, so I will just leave it as it is for now. Anyway, why is covering up the aquarium preferred? (so no dust etc will enter from the surface?) Would covering up the aquarium restrict flow of air on the surface and into the aquarium?

Thanks.

Better remove the snail as the population will increase very fast if don't do any thing.

[WaveSurfer]

Originally Posted by Torpedo

Better remove the snail as the population will increase very fast if don't do any thing.

Okay thanks for the advice. Will seek out these snails.

Not easy to catch them as they might be hiding in the bushes of the plants; disturbing the plants will cause them to fall into the sands. Do you guys use a pincer or something?

Snails are primarily scavangers and tend to feed more on rotting matter and leftover food more than healthy leaves so you should not worry too much about that.

For now, just take out as many snails as you can manually. Unless they really have a population bloom, doing it by hand is the fastest and cheapest way for now. Puffers are not recommended [by me] as after clearing off the snails you will find it difficult to feed them and they can be nasty fin nippers to other fishes in the tank.

So far I have never had a canopy over my tanks. If you are worried about surface dust you can use a surface skimmer. It clears up the excess film of protein on the surface of the water too. Canopy will restrict air-flow, that is a definite. You can "mod" it by boring holes or vents in the canopy if it don't have it.

-Calvin

I have snail explosion experience before. They snail looked like the spiral on naruto's belly and shoulder (comic character) and the problem with this kind of snail is that you can't determin or spot them when they are at young age. They infest my entire tank while i was serving army and when i got back...the population multiplies by x 3 every week. I have no choice but to turn the whole tank over and rescape eveything. Best method of getting rid of snail is to remove them while they are still young and wash you plant carefully. And to look out for snail in the tank where you got those plants from. The snail with spiny back is still okay as they will not multiply at young age and you can spot them easily near the glass as they seems to like there alot.

when i spot snail, i would crush them against the glass with my fingers....haha...a bit paranoid..

wow.. sounds scary.. but i agree with u that they do multiply like mad. i accidentally introduced some snails into my tank. (The spiral shell kind) I already washed my plants throughly and somehow they still managed to get in. first week i saw only abt 1-2. 2nd week 5-6. thrid week abt 10 and i was getting worried. i tried to remove all i could find. I was quite happy that i managed to remove all visible ones and tot my problems were over. on the 3rd day, i saw small baby snails all over. Dint really bother much. And yest, after leaving it for another few daes, i took out 30+ snails! I was shocked man..

Rescaping the tank isnt really an option for me. dosing chemicals nope and puffers are also out of the question cause i'm keeping CRS in my 2 ft tank. Any other suggestions?

I wonder how the bros with 4-5 ft tanks manage their snails.

[WaveSurfer]

Originally Posted by Barra21

wow.. sounds scary.. but i agree with u that they do multiply like mad. i accidentally introduced some snails into my tank. (The spiral shell kind) I already washed my plants throughly and somehow they still managed to get in. first week i saw only abt 1-2. 2nd week 5-6. thrid week abt 10 and i was getting worried. i tried to remove all i could find. I was quite happy that i managed to remove all visible ones and tot my problems were over. on the 3rd day, i saw small baby snails all over. Dint really bother much. And yest, after leaving it for another few daes, i took out 30+ snails! I was shocked man..

Rescaping the tank isnt really an option for me. dosing chemicals nope and puffers are also out of the question cause i'm keeping CRS in my 2 ft tank. Any other suggestions?

Now I'm getting paranoid too; sounds really scary.

Time to seek out these snails; how do they multiply so far anyway? They mate very often?