Hello,

I've recently inherited a five gallon tank with about seven pond snails and no fish. I've become quite enchanted with the little things but everyone I've spoken with damns them as a pestilence and insists they will overrun my tank. Will the population become too great a biological load requiring daily cleaning or the disposal of some snails (something I hope to avoid)? Can I just keep the population in check without killing any?

Also, if you have any ideas on how to clean their tank I would really appreciate them. It's come to me really disgusting (algae an inch thick in the rocks, furry decorations) I think I need to scrub it thoroughly and replace the gravel but I'm afraid to remove the snails. Each is only the size of an eraser and very delicate, removing them from the glass, or finding them even, proves a great challenge. Any help you could offer would be invaluable.

Thank you

I have many pond snails in my 10-gallon aquarium and in a jar where I grow hornwort to feed my crayfish. They seem to do well in both containers even though the jar doesn't get filtered or regular water changes. Some seem to live in a bucket of water I have sitting in my room because it once held an amazon sword plant; I take the snails out of that one as I see them since they don't really have a food source; when I get them removed I'm going to dump the water. Neither of the containers are overrun with snails; the ones in the hornwort jar never even get fed, and seem to do well just living off the plant as it grows. It's almost like one of those horrific "ecosystem in a jar" school projects, but this one seems to work for some reason; maybe it's because the load of plant-to-snails is tilted in the plant's favor (it's gotten huge with only little snails eating it instead of a big crayfish).

I believe overfeeding will contribute to overpopulation, so if you feed sparingly they will have fewer offspring. I think scrubbing the tank clean might be overkill. You could take an algae pad to clean off the algae (careful not to squish any snails), then do a large (maybe taking out almost all the water) water change and gravel vacuum.

The gravel might contain a lot of good bacteria that keep the snails' ammonia they produce from building up before it is converted into nitrite/nitrate, just like with fish. I think vacuuming the gravel would be a better way to get out the debris and waste without losing as many of the good bacteria.

You might want to get a product called Kent Marine Liquid Calcium. It is good for snails and other invertebrates. I usually add one or two drops per 5 gallons every day for my tanks with invertebrates. If you have ramshorn snails (these are ones shaped like a cheese danish, or a @) it is more important than if you have regular pond snails (where the shell coils a little to the right, o>) or Malaysian Trumpet Snails (which have a loonnggg shell pointing to the right, like a cone basically; these snails can survive just about anything). Ramshorns seem to get shell erosion easily.

Thanks so much Ralph! That really helped a lot. :)

And for anyone else curious as to how to gently remove snails from a tank: just tap them or really gently slide them along the glass. They will lock up in their shells making it easy for you to catch them.

I tend to like to have things clean. So, I would remove the snails and clean the tank. As Ralph said though I wouldn't overclean the tank so good bacteria would remain. If you feed the snails sparingly with fish foods or, better yet, add aquatic plants on which they can feed, they shouldn't become too overpopulous. Their populations usually keep themselves in check. If too many end up in the tank, often there will be a die off. If that happens, you may have to clean it out as the ammonia will spike. Anyway, it may be a long time before you have too many snails in there if ever.

Thanks Robyn,

I ended up replacing the gravel, rinsing the toys, and wiping the slime away. In doing so did I obliterate the good bacteria? If so is there a way to introduce it back into the aquarium?

Thanks again for all your help!

You buy the bacteria at the fish/pet store or a pond nursery..or online. For an aquarium you wouldn't need much. I used to get mine at Home Depot, in it's pond section...now I buy it online ( different brand ). It goes ounce per gallon.

If you didn't disinfect everything, there may still be some good bacteria. Most of it though was probably in the gravel. Did it have a filter? If not, I suggest getting one. I had a Stingray filter in my 5 gallon but didn't really like it. If there's a filter with a biological component, that would also have good bacteria. If the gravel was not maintained well, it would not only have good bacteria but bad bacteria and be generally disgusting so new gravel was probably a good idea. You can buy ammonia and nitrite test kits to monitor the nitrogen cycle. I suspect there will be a little spiking of those numbers but, unless the snails are huge, it shouldn't be too bad. You can buy bottled good bacteria but there is dispute over how useful it is. I figure it can't hurt. Do weekly 50% water changes with added dechlorinator. If you can use a small gravel attachment to keep the gravel clean, that is useful.

Yay. I love it when I accidentally get things right. I just found some clear egg sacks in my tank, do you know when I can expect hatchlings? Searching online has been fruitless thus far.

Thank you again for your suggestions!

Snail eggs hatch in 2 to 4 weeks depending on the species and temperature. Enjoy the babies!

The best way to limit their population is moving them. If they are pond snails or ramshorn snails or trapdoor snails, you can move them to your pond. They will live fine there.