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Re: big ramshorns
Olga wrote Friday, Sept. 12:
>I'm looking at a ruler and those are awfully large Ramshorn snails. I've
>never seen any that big but then that may be just because I haven't seen
>any that big. :) Are you sure they were Ramshorn snails? Maybe some snail
>experts out there can tell us how big they get. Mine are about a 1/2 inch
>and I thought those were big.
>
>Even if they are Ramshorn snails I think your mistake was getting such big
>ones. I have read that they eat plants only when they get large and if one
>has too many. If this is so you can raise them and let them eat algae and
>then remove them when they get too big. I put a new Java Fern in my tank
>with some of the older leaves algaed (let's make algae a verb!) and my
>snails headed right over there and are cleaning the leaves, not eating
>them.
>
>Sorry you had a bad experience, Frank but if you could have seen my tank
>before and then after the snails you would be impressed.
>
>Snail experts -- what's the word on Ramshorns?
I am definitely not a snail expert, but I think I recall somewhere reading
about a Columbian ramshorn snail that was that big and a known voracious
plant eater. I vaguely recall that it had visible striping on its shell.
The regular ramshorns do not have any striping and are at most only about
1/2 inch, and they sometimes chew a few holes in tender new leaves, but
usually they just keep the soft attached types of algae under control and
behave themselves very well. I consider them absolutely essential in my
plant tanks.