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snails on plants
Snails -
I also had some snail eggs from some shop bought plants. I was lucky
enough that from the two original eggs I gained two separate species of
snail. Can anyone identify them?. One is a pond type (rustic copper with
light brown speckles, cone shaped, and has a kind of silver glittered
effect to the coloration of it's foot and fleshy parts). This snail is a
few weeks old and about 1/2' in length. The other is an apple/mystery snail
shape. I do not believe either are plant eaters. In fact the pond snail
type I observed on a tender leaf of stargrass and was not tempted.
I find them an interesting and attractive addition to the diversity of the
tank and presume that they don't do harm and they are probably doing good
by eating algae and dead material. Another possible benefit if you have
hard water is their ability to soften the water by extracting the minerals
they build their shells with. I don't know to what extent they would be
able to do this (perhaps someone would like to estimate), but again no harm
done.
There are snails out there that are plant eaters and the trick is to gather
information and descriptions on species of snail. I have this to offer:
Trumpet snails
They will eat any type of algae (even cyanobacteria if it's weakened), and
will also reduce your numbers of ramshorns if introduced to your tank.
Trumpet snails require harder water than ramshorns. Trumpet snails carry
their eggs inside their shell until they hatch.
Mystery Snail (Pomacea cuprina)
They will eat algae and not plants. However, there are several species or
sub-species of mystery snail that can't be identified by morphology, some
eat plants others do not.
Pond snails
They lay large, gelatinous egg clusters everywhere. They will eat most
types of algae and will usually leave healthy plants alone. Pond snails do
not tolerate extremely soft or acidic water well.
The Colombian Ramshorn snail
They are large (1 1/2") with brown and white stripes, and they will destroy
a planted tank (usually from the bottom up).
Brilliant Red Ramshorn Snails (Planorbis corneus or Palnorbis umbilicatus)
There are three colors of body - blood-red, dark-gray or black, and a sort
of muddy white. The shells are either transparent or brown, but young
brown snails sometimes have spotted shells. They have a very narrow shell
that they lay over on the side while they are young. They are very
effective algae grazers and don't damage plants. They tolerate extremely
low water hardness values. Both lay tiny egg sacs on plant leaves. They
are available in the standard "Daleco" catalog ($4.95 + postage).
Fish That Eat Snails
clown loach, Botia striata in fact most botias - skunk botia's as someone
mentioned recently eat the small snails and leave the large ones alone.
Any additions or corrections gratefully accepted.