Unidentified Snails

[JSUBritt]

Hi! I introduced a new plant from Wal-mart- probably my first mistake-in March and when I came home from college in May I noticed twenty or so snails in my aquarium. But I've NEVER had snails so I'm guessing they came from the plant. I was told that they were parasitic and I should dispose of them or they would harm my fish. Not being the snail killing type I want a second opinion before I do anything about them. They do not look like the malaysian snails discussed before. They are solid black with round smooth shells. Help! I don't want to get rid of the snails but I really don't want to lose all of my fish to them either!

[Courtney]

they could be pond snails, or little ramshorns, which wont hurt your fish

[Damon]

They will not hurt you fish, and probably won't bother your healthy plants. They may repoduce exponentially. They usually only eat decaying plant leaves but some will eat healthy ones. Either crush them against the tank wall and let the fish feast or add lettuch at night and remove it a cpl hrs later with most of the snails on them. Copper chleate will kill them but may harm shrimp also.

[ALFA WOLF]

oh that sso cruel simp. i say get em out and give em to someone kilign them like that doestn od any good.

[ijedic]

Most likely physa acuta. They make great puffer food, you ought to put them up in the buy sell trade section and trade them to someone for something. Just a thought. Have fun, Shannon

[LilD]

I let mine run free but they grow like CRAZY so you can't even see my pretty little fish now... the same thing happened to me, I bought some live plants for my fish and there was one in there... now they're going buck-wild.

[fishn00b]

I have an infestation of MTS and I wanted them out, after weeks of picking them out one by one I was finally defeated as they just reproduce too fast for me. I finally gave up without a better idea how to take them out. It seems killing them won't do anything because there always seem to be more. If they dont harm your fish and plants I would just keep them in, but if you're having trouble with seeing your fish or you don't like them, I would definately try what Simpte suggested and place the lettuce in the tank. It seems like a good enough idea, maybe I'll try it if I decide to join the war again.

[PetMax]

ive used a chemical called Had-A-Snail before. Works great. I only had a few small fish at the time so it wasnt a big deal if they died. But fish seemed fine and all the snails are gone.