Re: snails

• To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
• Subject: Re: snails
• From: "Charlie Bay" <cbay at jeppesen_com>
• Date: Thu, 08 Feb 96 07:27:49 MST
• Encoding: 37 Text

     Robb D. VanPutte wrote:
> 1. If getting a loach(s) is the way to go, are they picky about what kind of 
> snails they like 
> to eat?
> 2. Will the snails eat the plants?  I cannot report on which species I have, >
> but I'm sure they 
> arrived in the tank via the plants.  I purchased the plants in Houston, TX.  
> I do not know 
> where the plants were originally purchased from either.
     
I'm keeping several snails, with good success.
- Malaysian trumpet snails, up to 1/2" long, long fluted shell,   
  very narrow, burrow into the substrate.  Highly desirable, IMHO.
- Ramshorn snails, rounded shell, up to 1/2" long.  Eats dead and
  dying vegetation.  Also desirable.
- Pond snails, rounded shell but with a "point" on the butt end,
  unlike ramshorn snails.  Not long and fluted like the malaysian
  snails at all.

I tell my kids they can dispose of the "pointy-butt" snails (pond 
snails), but not the others.  They have no trouble distinguishing
these three types of snails.

Clown loaches (a botia) will eat snails (especially pond snails), 
but apparently don't eat the ramshorn snails (or not as much).  I 
have ramshorns in the same tank as clown loaches... go figure.

I find that MTS and ramshorns don't eat my plants, but dead and 
dying vegetation only.  The pond snails are only in there by 
accident, but will eat anything (going for the weaker plants like 
moneywort first).  However, these numbers don't get out of control 
either, possibly from competition with the other snails.

Just my $.02.

--charley
cbay at jeppesen_com

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